John Barleycorn To The Rescue



Rhode Island Nurseries barley field

 There was three kings into the east,

Three kings both great and high,
And they hae sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn should die.
 

They took a plough and plough'd him down,

Put clods upon his head,
And they hae sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn was dead.

Last month's trip to Massachusetts gave opportunity to drive by farms and nurseries on Rhode Island.  When I passed this field, it was striking to see the varying hues of blue, green, and gold, waving with the summer's breeze.

I couldn't identify the blue haze of the color-partitioned grasses growing so I stopped in at the farm, only to find out it was the Rhode Island Nurseries.  I talked with Jesse Rodriguez, the General Manager and found out that the fields were a mixture of last year's rye along with barley for their new project:  growing barley as a non-chemical approach to inhibit algae in ponds.

                                  

Reducing algae by throwing bales of barley into the water is a growing trend.  Not only environmentally friendly but also inexpensive way to control algae without using chemicals.  As barley straw decomposes in water with sufficient oxygen, sunlight, and heat, algae growth is restricted but not killed. It is not a algaecide but a biological alternative. It is safe for fish and wildlife.

Here's to John Barleycorn's fatality as a legacy as a biological alternative to help protect our water! I'll drink to that!

John Barleycorn Green Man

A big thanks to Jesse Rodriguez for being so helpful to a stranger in the parking lot.

Additional links:

The history and EPA's view of using barley as algae control. - Purdue University

Penn State University barley study

Chemung County Soil and Water Conservation District, New York on barley

Harvesting barley

Never heard of John Barleycorn or the cycle of his life?  Here's Robert Burns poem to the crop's legacy.

To Bee or Not To Bee... that is the question

Mark Winston's article in the New York Times, "Our Bees, Ourselves" is a must read for those who want a sane and logical explanation of what is happening in our environments with the bee colony collapse disorder. 

Honeybee collapse has much to teach us about how humans can avoid a similar fate, brought on by the increasingly severe environmental perturbations that challenge modern society.

Honeybee collapse has been particularly vexing because there is no one cause, but rather a thousand little cuts. The main elements include the compounding impact of pesticides applied to fields, as well as pesticides applied directly into hives to control mites; fungal, bacterial and viral pests and diseases; nutritional deficiencies caused by vast acreages of single-crop fields that lack diverse flowering plants; and, in the United States, commercial beekeeping itself, which disrupts colonies by moving most bees around the country multiple times each year to pollinate crops. 

 

Read Winston's synopsis of what the real issue is that's creating the inevitable worldwide environmental disaster. "Our Bees, Ourselves."

August 4th update:  Swiss Pesticide Company Plan to Bring Back The Bees

Growing Organically Is Looking Up!

The Living Towers Farm

As you drive down the hill to the Living Towers Farm, turning a wooded corner, you don't know quite what to expect. Seeing the greenhouse was the logical assumption for growing vegetables and herbs organically, but what was unexpected was walking into the screened nursery and realizing it's a small world!  Looking down the towering rows, I felt like I had been transported to EPCOT, Disney's Experimental Prototype Community of Tommorrow!  At EPCOT you can take the boat tour, Living with The Land, and see hydroponic vegetables, fruit trees, herbs, and flowers growing up to the sky, symbiotic aquaponic farming, where fish and plants live harmoniously.  There's a good explanation for the similarity:  the creator of the vertical towers, Tim Blank, was head horticulturist and researcher at EPCOT's The Land for 12 years.

Hydroponic Boat tour, The Land, EPCOT 2013

At the Living Towers Farm, over 5,000 plants grow in a 2,200 square foot prototype of futuristic food production where everyone will be able to harvest enough food to feed their family, even in a small space.

The product for growing vegetables, herbs, and flowers is a tall, expandable, cylinder with a 20 gallon reservoir that pumps mineral-infused water over the plant roots on a time schedule that is set by the owner.  Starting off with seedlings, this oxygen-rich process will boost the growing time for the vegetables and herbs so that within weeks you have fully mature plants ready to harvest.  Powerful side benefits of no weeding, tilling, kneeling, or sweaty-dirty clothing, as well as knowing where your food comes from and how it's been grown are attractive to those wanting a more health-conscious diet.  Living Tower's Tower Garden TM 's motto is "the world's first plug and play vertical garden."

Living Towers Introduction.with Dr. Jan Young, ND, CBE
 

One complete Tower Garden TM can be purchased for $525, or in payments of $45 a month. The entire kit includes:

• (1) Tower Garden vertical aeroponic garden tower
• Seeds for growing gourmet lettuce, cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, basil, and cucumber
• Seed starter enviro-dome
• 20 rock wool seed starter cubes and net pots
• Pump, timer and drain tube
• Tower Tonic Mineral Blend plant food (1 qt each)
• pH test kit and 1 bottle each of pH+ and pH-
• Measuring cup

You have your choice of seedlings when you visit their online store.

I think my husband would love to have two Tower Gardens for his birthday! Have a look at the harvest-ready Tower Gardens TM  vegetables and herbs that you could be eating tonight at your table.

Tuscany Kale, Nasturtiums, Cherokee Lettuce

Bibb Lettuce, Italian Parsley

Herb Towers

Bibb Lettuce Towers

Basil Tower

Nasturiums

Eggplant and Zucchini

Parsley

Kale, Swiss chard, Eggplant

Eggplant

Swiss Chard

Green Kale

 

Used all your Chives? No worries - they are already growing back!

 

 

Eggplant

Zucchini buds, flower, and fruit

Zucchini flower

Strawberries

Tuscano Kale

 

Strawberries Towers

 

Would you like a Tower Garden TM? Contact information :

 

Living Towers Farm

19621 Lake Lincoln Lane

Eustis, FL 32736

352-357-4453

 

info/livingtowers.com

www.livingtowers.com

 

Open Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am - 6pm.

 

 

A big hat/tip to Dr. Young, Jason Lucas, Greenhouse Manager, and Tracy DeCarlo, distributor of Tower Gardens TM. 

Making Your Bath More Luxurious

Creeping Rosemary, Rosemary officinalis 'Prostratus'

Studies have proven that not only is working in the landscape good for your mental health,  but you can also relieve stress and help your skin with the herbs grown in your garden. Taking a steamy, relaxing bath every night, especially after digging in the dirt all day, is part of my "getting ready for bed" ritual.  Adding different plants, herbs, and flowers can be added to your bath to help clean, soothe and revigorate your skin and bath recipes are easy to prepare. 

You can use fragrances you enjoy the most singularly or combined with other herbs. This is where a little bit of this and some of that works for anyone.  You can be as creative as you like.  Add ground oatmeal to your herbal concoctions to help defoliate dried skin cells, soothe irritation, and reduce inflammation of sunburns and insects bites.
Warning:  Check with your doctor before ingesting any herbs for medicinal purposes.

Flowers, foliage, roots, and seeds that can be used in your beauty routine:

• Artemesia ~ Baths
• Basil ~ Baths
• Catnip ~ Potpourri, baths
• Calendula ~ Astringent, highlights hair
• Chamomille ~ Astringent, highlights hair
• Comfrey ~ Reduces skin irritation and inflammation
• Dill ~ Baths, facials
• Elder ~ Baths,
• Eucalyptus ~ Baths, facials
• Fennel ~ Astringent, baths
• Geraniums, Wild ~ Astringent, baths
• Hops ~ Baths, soporific
• Hyssop ~ Cleanses pores, used with thyme and rosemary in baths
• Jasmine ~ Baths, muscle relaxant, relieves inflammation
• Juniper berries ~ Baths
• Lady's Mantle ~ Astringent, baths
• Lavender ~ Baths, used as a vinegar helps oily skin
• Lemon Balm ~Astringent, baths, skin
• Lemon Verbena ~ Energizes
• Marjoram ~ Energizes
• Mints ~ Baths
• Oatmeal, Baths, soap, facials, cleanses pores
• Oregano ~ Baths, muscle relaxant
• Nettle ~ Baths, hair conditioner, facials for oily skin,
• Parsley ~ Facials for oily skin, hair rinse for dark hair
• Peppermint ~ Astringent, freshner and energizer
• Rose ~ Astringent, skin hydration
• Rosemary ~ Baths, soaps. energizer, facials for oily skin, hair rinse for dark hair
• Sage ~ Astringent, baths, muscle relaxant, conditioner for dark hair
• Rose Geraniums ~ Baths
• Thyme ~ Antiseptic, baths, energizes
• Valerian ~ Baths, soporific
• Violets ~ Soaps, Facial steams
• Willow ~ Baths, relieves pain and inflammation, muscle relaxant
• Yarrow ~ Astringent, baths, facials for oily skin

Combine your favorite herbal scents with oatmeal or powdered milk in a muslin  or cheesecloth bag, tied with rubber band or pretty ribbon.  Place in your bath water as it fills or hang from the bath faucet to allow the warm running water to release the fragrances.

To make an infusion for your bath: Mix 4 cups of boiling water with 4 tablespoons of fresh or dried herbs and flowers, soak for 20 minutes, then strain through cheesecloth or sieve.  Add to bath water. For hard organic materials such as bark, seeds, and roots, boil ingredients for 20 minutes then strain.

Mexican Sage, Salvia longistyla

Here's a great recipe for adding Kama Sutra mint potion to your bath, courtesy of our friends at Top Tropicals Nursery.

Harvest 1 cup of fresh leaves. In a large thermos, mix the leaves with 4 cups of boiling water and. Seal the cap tightly and let sit for 24 hours, then pass the decoction through a sieve, squeezing the most you can out of the leaves. Add juice of one freshly squeezed lemon to the mint concentrate - it is an essential part of the recipe that keeps active ingredients of Kama Sutra Mint at most effective level and helps making your skin smooth and velvet. Add 1-2 table spoons of your favorite bath gel, stir. Fill a bath with cool or slightly warm water. Add mint/lemon potion.

References:

Culbertson, Molly ed.. Book of Herbs. 1st. Des Moines, Iowa: Meredith Corporation, 1994.

Tolley, Emelie, and Chris Mead. Gifts from the Herb Garden. 1st. New York, New York: Clarkson N. Potter Inc., 1991.

Top Tropical Nursery, Retail Garden Center located at 300 Center Road, Ft. Myers, Florida  http://www.toptropicals.com/

Ms. Teresa,

I'd like to have some of the seeds you offered on last Tuesday's program 22 May, 2012.

Also, do you know a natural bug deterrent to enjoy outdoor backyard. I've read that rosemary is a good deck/patio plant.

Thanks for your show, In Your Backyard.

Linnett

Linnett,

Please send me your home address so I can send the rain lily seeds, too.

There really is no vegetative bug deterrent for mosquitos. Rosemary has flowers that can attract bees so I don't see it as a "bug deterrent." But rosemary is a wonderful fragrant plant for a deck container. Mosquitos need water to lay eggs, so I would make sure there is no standing water anywhere in your backyard vicinity. including bird baths, mulch, gutters, pots, children's toys. DEET is an excellent, safe product to repel mosquitos.

Mosquito myths

Mosquito repellents

Thank you for writing and listening to the show!

Teresa

No Rain? Best Way To Help Your Plants

I think I saw a rain drop yesterday.  That was it.  A rain drop.  Here in Central Florida we are now facing our third month with below normal rainfall and heading into a dry spring season.  Add summer time temperatures to the lack of rain and we have stressful conditions for our landscape. 

The good news is that we know that with these weather patterns that we can control how we take care of our landscape.  We can adjust our irrigation, reduce our fertilization and pruning, replenish our mulch, but what else can you do to help your plants handle the temporary drought cycle?

You can add amendments to your garden beds and surrounding shrubs and young trees. Adding organic materials to your sandy soils will help keep the moisture in the ground, provide nutrients that will help plants thrive, and reduce the amount of garden chores that usually come from having 'less than optimum' sand.

Myakka Sand

Our state soil 'Myakka' was designated in 1989, because Florida (an Indian word for 'Big Waters') has more total acreage of Myakka sand than any other soil type. This native soil which is wet sandy soil with an underground layer of organic subsoils is not found in any other state. 

While most new residents from up North like to complain about our dirt. Its not bad. It just is. Myakka sand can provide good drainage, easy to dig in, and does have macronutrients and minerals in it.

Yet sandy soils do not retain moisture very long and can have microbacterial conditions that allow for quick decomposition, leaching nutrients, and nemotodes. Adding organic amendments to your soils is a great way to help your plants survive easier during hotter, dryer periods.

How much should you add?  For a typical 10 square feet, you can add one bag (20 lbs) of top soil, one bag of peat moss, and one bag of manure.  Or you can substitute similar amounts of mushroom or your own seasoned compost.  Work the amendments into the top six to eight inches of your garden bed or apply it around to your shrubs and trees and work it into the ground.

Be careful not to add green compost ingredients, i.e. coffee grounds, manure, in large amounts to your plants as they can have unintended consequences such as increasing acidity or binding nutrients up.  Add fresh coffee grounds, tea leaves, etc to your compost pile and let them age.

• More information on composting.
• 163 things to add to your compost
• Compost - Living Green - IFAS
• Compost Tips For Home Gardeners - IFAS

Free Gold For Your Garden

One of the best soil amendments you can add to your yard is mushroom compost.  A by-product of mushroom farming, mushroom compost is rich with macro and micronutrients, good bacteria, and organic soil enhancements that improve water infiltration and retention. Its great to add to sandy and clay soils.  And while this soil amendment is one of the best, its not the cheapest to add to your soil. 

But not this week! Today through Saturday from 7:00am to 3:00pm, the Monterey Mushroom Farm in Zellwood, Florida is giving away free mushroom compost.  Bring your own containers or truck beds.

Their location is 5949 Sadler Rd Zellwood, FL 32798, and their telephone number for more information is
(407) 905-4000.

Mushroom compost is derived from all organic materials such as hay, straw, horse bedding, chicken litter, cottenseed meal, cocoa shells, and gypsum.  It can used to amend soils before sod laying, adding plants to your garden beds, prevents destructive artillary fungus from establishing, decreases the need for liming soils, and reduces the need to fertilize for a year.

Mushroom Compost Organization

Mushroom compost landscape uses

Take advantage of this wonderful, free supply that Monterey Farms is providing! Remember its only through this Saturday.

In Your Backyard: "Gray Skies Are Going To Clear Up"

Last week's "In Your Backyard" radio show was a "Best Of" so that I could stay in bed and recover from a very bad cold. I still have a cough and a frog in my throat so listening this morning, you'll probably hear it.

Last weekend was the 2010 UF/Natural Resources Leadership Institute (NRLI) graduation for Class IX. The graduating fellows are an exciting and diverse group of environmentalists, municipality, federal, and state agency representatives. The class's final tour event and NRLI board meeting was held at Rosie Koenig's Organic Farm in Gainesville. There is so much to learn about the intricacies of growing and marketing organic vegetables.






On today's show - organic gardening - what does it mean?

USDA - Organic Gardening

On Sunday, we went to Leu Garden's Plant Sale in Orlando. What a great event! Great plants, unusual gardening items! I was able to bring home nun's orchids, vanilla orchid, smoke bush, and herbs.


Will update with your phone calls this afternoon!