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Dear Friends,
Here is the 164th issue of our weekly gardening newsletter for Houston, the Gulf Coast and beyond. We really appreciate all of our readers hanging in there with us, sharing stories and inspiring us in so many ways.
Thanks so much!
This newsletter is a project of The Lazy Gardener, Brenda Beust Smith, John Ferguson and Mark Bowen (John and Mark are with Nature's Way Resources). We also have a great supporting cast of contributing writers and technical specialists who will chime in and tweak away regularly. We would love to keep receiving your input on this newsletter . . . . comments . . . . suggestions . . . . questions. . . .Email your thoughts to: lazygardenerandfriends@gmail.com. Thanks so much for your interest.
Please or sign yourself up to receive this newsletter by clicking the "Join Our Mailing List" link just below. We will never sell or share our mailing list to protect the privacy of our subscribers.
Enjoy!
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A "Lazy Gardener" approach to celebrating the Fourth: red, white & blue flowers that bloom in July, l to r, canna, althaea and plumbago
CELEBRATING TREASURED FLORA FRIENDS
By BRENDA BEUST SMITH
"...believe me, at my age, I take everyone seriously, that is, everyone I have any liking for.
When you're young, you can afford to discard or ignore or even abuse your friends . . .
It's not that we become kinder when we grow old, we simply become more careful. -- Lady Cray, "Rainbow's End" by Martha Grimes
The first time I read this quote, a softly-moving parade of treasured friends floated through my mind.
Suddenly, in their midst, was my dear departed porterweed. Had to laugh.
That porterweed lived to be at least 20+ years old. It grew 6+ foot tall and so ugly with sparse gangly branches going this way and that. It always reminded me of Ray Bolger's Wizard of Oz scarecrow. Even more sparse was the color. Mine bloomed nothing like those pictured in books with hundreds of tiny flowers that created long brilliantly colored wands (pictured below left).
Had I any inkling it would produce such an unattractive, minute-blooming six foot "weed," I'd never have planted it in our house's front garden, the one overlooked by my kitchen sink window.
My porterweed's long spindly branches would become dotted with hundreds of buds. About one inch of the tiny peach-colored flowers would open at one time. After that inch died, another inch of color would appear. That inch would die. Another inch would open, etc. Every year I hoped they'd all get on the same bloom schedule. Never did.
You're probably wondering why didn't I just take it out?
Because . . . hummingbirds LOVED that those one inch spans of tiny flowers. How can you take out a plant -- no matter how annoying -- that brings hummers to your kitchen window all summer long? I treasured that plant, overlooked its pitiful growth and bloom habits and wanted it to live forever.
It survived four feet of Allison flood water (for over 24 hours). It cheerfully acquiesced to all my efforts to thicken its growth by cutting the top off and, when that failed, to turn it in to a more tree-like sculpture by pruning off side branches. Nothing worked. It marched to its own drummer for decades . . . until Ike. The wind-beating it took did what none of my torture ever could. Afterwards it produced a little scraggly new growth, and then no more.
I didn't replace it. How can you replace such a treasured friend?
My porterweed never looked like those in ads, left. Mine's pictured at center. At right, Trish's treasured mother-in-law's tongue.
When I mentioned Martha Grimes' quote (at top) and my porterweed to Cousin Trish Smith, she smiled, nodded and said "my mother-in-law's tongue." It was a gift she received back in the '70s from friends who had brought it with them when they moved from Florida to their Tennessee hollow. Trish recalled that lush, peaceful, quiet "hollow home" was her "most favorite place on earth."
When Trish moved on, that mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata) moved with her -- not always an easy task given its extremely sharp, pointed sword-like leaves -- which don't quite fit in with Trish's interest in feng shui! (On the other hand, it is touted to improve air quality!)
But Trish doesn't care either way. Hers is a treasured friend loaded with memories that more than outweigh any hassles.
And then there are the Powers, Scott & Ann, whose candelabra cactus (above) has -- in spite of the challenges of keeping it in bounds -- become quite a family treasure. It was a tiny plant, only inches high in a pot, when Scott bought it decades ago. He was assured that it would "do well" if planted in the ground!
Scott's about 6' tall. So you can see why passersby often do double-takes. That newly sprouted stalk on the left gives a good idea why pruning takes infinite patience. Even so it definitely has "treasured friend" status. On top of that, the Powers' cactus is an excellent example of why it's a good idea to ask about the mature size of any plant BEFORE you purchase!
I'm sure you have a treasured flora friend too -- or many of them. We all seem to.
Something else to celebrate this weekend!
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Speaking of garden challenges, Harris County AgriLife Extension Agent Skip Richter sent in this update on AgriLife's and Harris County Master Gardeners' challenges at their Bear Creek Park center:
AgriLife Extension Office in Harris County Update
by Skip Richter
The heavy rains and floods in mid-April resulted in floodwaters inundating our Extension testing and demonstration gardens and entering our office building. Virtually everything in the way of garden plantings, books, files and a lot of equipment was destroyed. Our building is now gutted and not expected to be ready for us to move back for many months, maybe not until 2017.
Despite these losses the AgriLife Extension Office in Harris County is still in business in a new temporary location where we will remain until our old office has been renovated and we are able to move back in. Our old phone number (281-855-5600) and mail address are still good and are being routed to our new location.
Our Master Gardener Phone Room is back in action to assist the public with their gardening questions. Plant samples for diagnosis can be dropped off at the new location, on the 3rd floor of the county annex building at 1721 Pech Rd., Houston, TX 77055.
Our gardens at the Precinct 2 location on Genoa Red Bluff Rd. were not affected by the flooding and educational programs continue as planned for that location.
We look forward to being able to return to our original location and rebuild our testing and demonstration gardens. In the meantime our educational programs will continue to be offered at various sites around Harris County thanks in large part to our great Harris County Master Gardener volunteers!
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SAD NOTE JUST IN - LAUREL SMITH, HOUSTON URBAN GARDENERS
Laurel Smith Ph.D., an outspoken environmentalist and one of our horticultural community's true treasures, has passed away. Laurel founded HOUSTON URBAN GARDENERS, better known as HUG, a resource that helped those of us trying hard to adapt our gardens to busy, often very challenging city lives. It was a huge surprise to Laurel when, in 2009, her very first called meeting saw 100 gardeners turn out. Shows what a huge need there was for such an enterprising endeavor!
HUG'S meetings, eNewsletter, Facebook page and special events have given Houston city gardeners access to so many of our area's experts. Laurel was also a big promoter of the very topic we covered last week: planting edibles in front yards. In a 2012 Houston Chronicle article, Laurel was quoted as saying:
"Vegetable gardens in a front yard can create a focal point for neighbors to drop by and chat. With a little care, a vegetable garden can look lush and interesting. Unlike a lawn, a vegetable garden will have sweet scents, a variety of colors and movement caused by birds and butterflies."
Laurel set up such a strong foundation, HUG's next meeting will be held as usual:
MON., JULY 11: KITCHEN GARDENING & PREPARING FOR YOUR FALL GARDEN 6:30pm, Metropolitan MultiService Center, 1475 W. Gray. Free. Houston Urban Gardeners event. info@houstonurbangardeners.org
Laurel will be so terribly missed and we should all be so grateful that she came into our lives. A memorial service for Laurel will be held on July 15, Friday at 2 pm at the Unity church Pyramid, 2929 Unity Drive, Houston 77057. A reception follow. HUG is a strictly volunteer organization that can use your donations. Details on the website, houstonurbangardeners.org, or email info@houstonurbangardeners.org
Brenda's column in the free, emailed LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS HOUSTON GARDEN NEWSLETTER
is based on her 45+ years as the Houston Chronicle's Lazy Gardener. Two favors? 1. If I don't respond to an email, assume I didn't receive it and send it again! 2. Always check the calendar for submitted event notices. If you don't see them, let me know immediately at lazygardener@sbcglobal.net
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JOHN'S CORNER
News from the wonderful world of soil and plants
Researchers at Penn State University have found that bumble bees can sense which plants have nutrient rich pollen and they choose a plant based on the quality of the pollen (Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences/Science Daily). Hybridization of plants have resulted in many species having inferior pollen quality. Plants grow on nutrient poor soil also have lower quality pollen.
There were some interesting data in the recent spring issue of "Tree Planters Notes" published by the USDA Forest Service on weeds:
- If one yellow nutsedge plant is allowed to mature, it can produce more than 2,400 seeds.
- A mature wild purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) can produce more than 52,000 seeds.
- A single redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) can produce 117,000 seeds
- One tuber of purple nutsedge produced 1,168 plants and 2,324 tubers in just 6 months.
I remember another article on nutsedge. Nutsedge reproduces by both seeds and stolons that form new tubers (plants). The example given was on day one, there is one plant, a week later, there is five plants, a week later there is 25 plants by the end of a month there can be over 3,000 plants! They reproduce geometrically, hence we have to stop them early, or a simple easy task becomes a mountain of work to remove.
For gardeners this tells us that weeds; MUST be prevented from going to seed. This includes our lawns, flowerbeds, fencerows, and other areas. Weeds are easy to control (hoeing, flaming, vinegar, and other methods), IF we get to them when they are little and before they have time to spread or seed out.
Another article in "Tree Planters Notes" was on Black Walnuts and the chemical juglone that they produce. They recommend that some species like Pines, River Birch, etc. not be planted within 35 feet of edge of the drip line from a mature Black Walnut. The allelopathic effects extend far beyond the drip line.
A paper released by the Rodale Research Institute (which has been running a study for 35 years comparing conventionally and organically grown corn and soybeans). Only in the first few years during the transition period were the yields from the organic system less than conventional. The organic system produced consistently matched or surpassed the conventional system. In adverse conditions, the organic system produced 31% more than conventional systems. The yields of the organic system have continued to improve over the years as the quality of the soil improved.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin in the journal PLOS Pathogens, 2016 (via Science Daily) have identified one method that plant roots use to protect themselves from bad bacteria (R. solanacearum) known to cause destructive wilt in a wide range of plants. On pea and tomato, roots the plants secreted sticky DNA that entangles the bacteria. When the roots were exposed to harmless bacteria, no DNA was excreted.
This is a false-color electron micrograph depicting bacteria (blue) and the DNA-based trap (yellow).
Credit: Tran et al.; CCAL
The University of Queensland in Australia (Scientific Reports, 2016) found that people who visit parks for 30 minutes or more are much less likely to have high blood pressure or poor mental health like depression. In Australia, the savings to public health budgets would be immense. Australia spends $A 12.6 billion a year on depression alone.
Most gardeners love butterflies and take steps to protect and encourage them. Using aerial drone's researchers have found that Mexico has not kept its promise to protect the Monarch butterflies winter reserve area. The photos the drones took clearly show that illegal logging is taking place. You can read more at http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/06/22/drones-uncover-illegal-logging-monarch-butterfly-habitat?cmpid=tpanimals-eml-2016-06-25
In the June 25th issue of Science News, researchers found that killing bacteria in our gut may hurt our brain. In animal studies, their results found a powerful connection between the functioning of the brain and bacteria in the gut.
Food for thought: Mental health and dementia issues are becoming rampant in our society today.
- We add chlorine to our water systems to kill bacteria and then we drink it
- Antibiotics kill bacteria, we feed them to our poultry, swine, and cattle, and then we eat the meat from them full of antibiotics
- In addition to being an herbicide, glyphosate is patented as an antibiotic as it kills bacteria and as a mineral chelater to clean pipes as it ties up nutrients and prevents them from being absorbed by plants or animals. We then eat food containing high levels of glyphosate (particularly genetically modified food (GMO's)) which kill bacteria.
There is an interesting article last week in the E-newsletter "takepart" called "Shredded Wheat: 100 Percent Whole Grains With a Touch of Weed Killer". It talks about the latest tests showing contamination by glyphosate in many food products. It is found at http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/06/23/glyphosate-shredded-wheat?cmpid=tpfood-eml-2016-06-25
There was another interesting article called "The 8 most SURPRISING places you'll find GMOs". It is at: http://www.naturalnews.com/054461_hidden_GMOs_food_ingredients_non-GMO.html
Another interesting article came out by The Health Freedom Alliance on many of our common food producers and the toxic chemicals in the food. It can be found at: http://www.healthfreedoms.org/many-mainstream-american-food-suppliers-are-laden-with-unhealthy-additives-to-humans/
Many people suffer from seasonal allergies. An article that describes the relation between allergies and our food supply is at: http://ecowatch.com/2016/06/27/mark-hyman-get-rid-seasonal-allergies/ Several studies have shown that the fats in raw butter protect our brains as it is used in the mycelium sheath around the nerve fibers to protect them. The FDA is stopping the sale of raw butter. An article can be found at: http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/blog/2016/06/23/raw-butter-communicable-disease/ The reasons to purchase organic foods, garden organically and grow our own fruits and vegetables organically continue to mount.
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WEEKLY GARDENING EVENTS &
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALENDAR
TO SUBMIT AN EVENT FOR THIS CALENDAR, PLEASE NOTE.
Events NOT submitted in the EXACT written format below may take two weeks or longer
to be reformatted/retyped. After that point, if your event does not appear, please email us. Submit to: lazygardener@sbcglobal.net
If we inspire you to attend any of these events, please let them know you heard about it in THE LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS HOUSTON GARDEN NEWSLETTER
WED., JULY 6: EDIBLE LANDSCAPE by RON RICHTER, 10:30am, Glazier Senior Education Center, 16600 Pine Forest Lane. Free. pct3.com/senior-centers/glazier-senior-center
SAT., JULY 9: FLORAL GARDENING IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 9-11am, AgriLife Extension Office, 9020 Airport Road, Conroe. Montgomery County Master Gardener event. $5. 936-539-7824; mcmga.com/
SAT., JULY 9: ALL ABOUT GINGERS by LINDA FIELDS, 10-11am, Buchanan's Native Plants, 611 E 11th. Free. 713-861-5702; buchanansplants.com/events
MON., JULY 11: KITCHEN GARDENING & PREPARING FOR YOUR FALL GARDEN, 6:30pm, Metropolitan MultiService Center, 1475 W. Gray. Free. Houston Urban Gardeners event. info@houstonurbangardeners.org THURS., JULY 14: ANNUAL ICE CREAM SOCIAL, 7pm, Cherie Flores Garden Pavilion, 1500 Hermann Dr. Free. Houston Rose Society event. houstonrose.org
THURS., JULY 14: GROWING GRAPES by RAYMOND HAAK, 10am, Clear Lake Meeting Room, 5001 Nasa Parkway. Harris County Master Gardeners at Precinct 2 event. Free. hcmga.tamu.edu
MON., JULY 18: OPEN GARDEN DAY, 8:30-11am, Genoa Friendship Garden, 1202 Genoa Red Bluff Rd. Harris County Master Gardeners at Precinct 2 event. Free. hcmga.tamu.edu
SAT., JULY 23: PLUMERIA SOCIETY OF AMERICA SHOW & SALE, 9:30am-3pm, Fort Bend Country Fairgrounds 4310 Texas Highway 36, Rosenberg. theplumeriasociety.org
SAT., JULY 23: PECKERWOOD GARDEN OPEN DAY, 10am-2pm tours, 20559 FM 359 Road, Hempstead. $10. Garden Conservancy event. peckerwoodgarden.org 979-826-3232; info@peckerwoodgarden.orgSAT., JULY 23: FALL VEGETABLE GARDENING, 9:30am-noon, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Moran Hall, 5555 Hermann Park Dr. Urban Harvest event. $45. 713-880-5540; urbanharvest.org.
TUES., JULY 26: HARRIS COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS OPEN GARDEN DAY & SEMINAR: FALL VEGETABLE GARDENING 10-11 am, Weekley Community Center at 8440 Greenhouse Road. Free. ogd.harrishort@gmail.com\SAT., JULY 30: SUCCESSFUL FALL VEGETABLE GARDENING by LUKE STRIPLING, 9-11:30 am, Galveston County AgriLife Extension Building, Carbide Park, 4102-B Main St. (Hwy 519), La Marque. Master Gardeners event. Free, but register: galv3@wt.net; http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/
SAT., AUG. 6: PECKERWOOD INSIDER'S Tour, 10am, 20559 FM 359 Road, Hempstead. Garden Conservancy event. $10. Register: peckerwoodgarden.org, 979-826-3232; info@peckerwoodgarden.org
THURS, AUG. 11: CONTAINER GARDENING BY HARRIS COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS. 6:30-8:30 pm. Barbara Bush Library, 6817 Cypresswood Dr., Spring. Free. hcmga.tamu.edu/Public/docs/2016-green-thumb.pdf; 281-855-5600SAT., AUG. 13: STARTING A COMMUNITY OR SCHOOL GARDEN WORKSHOP, 8:30am-2:30pm, University of St. Thomas, Malloy Hall, Rm 017, 2812 Yoakum Blvd. Urban Harvest event. $20. 713-880-5540; urbanharvest.org. MON. AUG. 22: ORGANIC METHODS IN GARDENING- THE SOIL FOOD WEB, by JOHN FERGUSON, South Montgomery County Friends of The Library (SMCFOL), 2pm, Mitchell Library, 8125 Ashland Way, The Woodlands. 281-681-0470
TUES., AUG. 23: HARRIS COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS OPEN GARDEN DAY & SEMINAR: CONTAINER GARDENING 10-11 am, Weekley Community Center,8440 Greenhouse Road. Free. harrishort@gmail.comSAT., AUG 27: PECKERWOOD GARDEN OPEN DAY, 10am-2pm tours, 20559 FM 359 Road, Hempstead. $10. Garden Conservancy event. peckerwoodgarden.org 979-826-3232; info@peckerwoodgarden.orgWED., AUG 31: CHILDREN'S PHOTO & PRESCHOOL PICTURE CONTESTS ENTRY DEADLINE. Matzke Butterfly Garden competition. Contest rules: matzkebutterflygarden.blogspot.com
SAT.-SUN., OCT. 1-2: SPRING BRANCH AFRICAN VIOLET CLUB ANNUAL ALL SALE, 10am-4pm Sat., 10am-3pm Sun., Judson Robinson Jr. Community Center
, 2020 Hermann Dr. 281-748-8417, kjwross@yahoo.com
SAT., OCT. 8: PECKERWOOD GARDEN OPEN DAY, 10am-2pm tours, 20559 FM 359 Road, Hempstead. $10. Garden Conservancy event. peckerwoodgarden.org 979-826-3232; info@peckerwoodgarden.orgTUES., OCT. 11: GROWING PLUMERIAS, 7:30pm, Cherie Flores Garden Pavillion, Hermann Park Conservancy, 1500 Hermann Dr. Free. Plumeria Society of America event. theplumeriasociety.org
OCT. 21-23: AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY SOUTH CENTRAL DISTRICT CONVENTION. houstonrose.org. SAT., OCT 24: PECKERWOOD GARDEN OPEN DAY, 10am-2pm tours, 20559 FM 359 Road, Hempstead. $10. Garden Conservancy event. peckerwoodgarden.org, 979-826-3232; info@peckerwoodgarden.org SAT., NOV 5 : PECKERWOOD INSIDER'S TOUR, 10am and 6pm, 20559 FM 359 Road, Hempstead. Garden Conservancy event. $15. Register: peckerwoodgarden.org, 979-826-3232; info@peckerwoodgarden.org SAT., NOV 12: PECKERWOOD GARDEN OPEN DAY, 10am-2pm tours, 20559 FM 359 Road, Hempstead. $10. Garden Conservancy event. peckerwoodgarden.org 979-826-3232; info@peckerwoodgarden.org SAT., NOV 26: PECKERWOOD GARDEN OPEN DAY, 10am-2pm tours, 20559 FM 359 Road, Hempstead. $10. Garden Conservancy event. peckerwoodgarden.org, 979-826-3232; info@peckerwoodgarden.org SAT., DEC 3 : PECKERWOOD INSIDER'S TOUR, 10am and 6pm, 20559 FM 359 Road, Hempstead. Garden Conservancy event. $15. Register: peckerwoodgarden.org, 979-826-3232; info@peckerwoodgarden.org SAT., DEC 17: PECKERWOOD GARDEN OPEN DAY, 10am-2pm tours, 20559 FM 359 Road, Hempstead. $10. Garden Conservancy event. peckerwoodgarden.org, 979-826-3232; info@peckerwoodgarden.org
If we inspire you to attend any of these events, please let them know you heard about it in . . .
THE LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS NEWSLETTER!
TO SUBMIT AN EVENT FOR THIS CALENDAR, PLEASE NOTE.
Events NOT submitted in the EXACT written format below may take two weeks or longer
to be reformatted/retyped. After that point, if your event does not appear, please email us. Submit to: lazygardener@sbcglobal.net
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THIS NEWSLETTER IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE FOLLOWING SPONSORS |
ABOUT US
BRENDA BEUST SMITH
WE KNOW HER BEST AS THE LAZY GARDENER . . .
. . . but Brenda Beust Smith is also:
* a national award-winning writer & editor
* a nationally-published writer & photographer
* a national horticultural speaker
* a former Houston Chronicle reporter
When the Chronicle discontinued Brenda's 45-year-old Lazy Gardener" print column a couple of years ago, it ranked as the longest-running, continuously-published local newspaper column in the Greater Houston area.
Brenda's gradual sideways step from Chronicle reporter into gardening writing led first to an 18-year series of when-to-do-what Lazy Gardener Calendars, then to her Lazy Gardener's Guide book and now to her Lazy Gardener's Guide on CD (which retails for $20. However, $5 of every sale is returned to the sponsoring group at her speaking engagements).
A Harris County Master Gardener, Brenda has served on the boards of many Greater Houston area horticulture organizations and has hosted local radio and TV shows, most notably a 10+-year Lazy Gardener run on HoustonPBS (Ch. 8) and her call-in "EcoGardening" show on KPFT-FM.
Brenda recently ended her decades-long stint as Production Manager of the Garden Club of America's BULLETIN magazine. Although still an active horticulture lecturer and broad-based freelance writer, Brenda's main focus now is THE LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS HOUSTON GARDEN NEWSLETTER with John Ferguson and Mark Bowen of Nature's Way Resources.
A native of New Orleans and graduate of St. Agnes Academy and the University of Houston, Brenda lives in Aldine and is married to the now retired Aldine High School Coach Bill Smith. They have one son, Blake.
Regarding this newsletter, Brenda is the lead writer, originator of it and the daily inspiration for it. We so appreciate the way she has made gardening such a fun way to celebrate life together for such a long time.
JOHN FERGUSON
John is a native Houstonian and has over 27 years of business experience. He owns Nature's Way Resources, a composting company that specializes in high quality compost, mulch, and soil mixes. He holds a MS degree in Physics and Geology and is a licensed Soil Scientist in Texas.
John has won many awards in horticulture and environmental issues. He represents the composting industry on the Houston-Galveston Area Council for solid waste. His personal garden has been featured in several horticultural books and "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine. His business has been recognized in the Wall Street Journal for the quality and value of their products. He is a member of the Physics Honor Society and many other professional societies. John is is the co-author of the book Organic Management for the Professional.
For this newsletter, John contributes articles regularly and is responsible for publishing it.
MARK BOWEN
Mark is a native Houstonian, a horticulturist, certified permaculturist and organic specialist with a background in garden design, land restoration and organic project management. He is currently the general manager of Nature's Way Resources. Mark is also the co-author of the book Habitat Gardening for Houston and Southeast Texas, the author of the book Naturalistic Landscaping for the Gulf Coast, co-author of theBayou Planting Guide and contributing landscape designer for the book Landscaping Homes: Texas.
With respect to this newsletter, Mark serves as a co-editor and periodic article contributor.
Pablo Hernandez is the special projects coordinator for Nature's Way Resources. His realm of responsibilities include: serving as a webmaster, IT support, technical problem solving/troubleshooting, metrics management, quality control, and he is a certified compost facility operator.
Pablo helps this newsletter happen from a technical support standpoint.
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COUPON: Nature's Way Resources. 50% off pomegranates, apples, asian pears and selected antique roses.
(Offer good for retail purchases of this product (101 Sherbrook Circle, Conroe TX). Expires 07/30/16.
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