by Noel | Dec 13, 2010 | CobraHead
In the past when we’ve encountered ladybugs in the house, they have been treated with disrespect and vacuumed up or tossed outside. With the onset of the Asian variety in the Midwest, these garden friends have become a pest solely because of their exploding populations. In winter, they find their way into the house and collect in corners and other warm spots. I found this one basking under the grow lights in the marjoram plant. I’ll let it alone and...
by Noel | Dec 7, 2010 | CobraHead, Gardening
Less than three weeks ago I posted about my new grow light setup. I’m happy to report that things are working out well. We picked our first small salad today. The top picture shows thinnings and cuttings of a salad mix that germinated profusely. The mix can be seen in the second flat from the right in the second picture. On the far right I’ve got a flat of lettuce mix which did not have spectacular germination, but is still putting out some nice...
by Noel | Nov 16, 2010 | CobraHead, Gardening
I started playing with LED grow lights three years ago when I bought three small LED spotlights from a vendor I met at the Cincinnati Flower Show. My initial approach to using the lights was very haphazard. I mainly used the spots to augment natural light from the south facing glass wall in the sunroom for starting vegetable seedlings in the spring. The results for enhancing plant growth were noticeable and LEDs are way easier to work with than fluorescents and...
by Noel | Nov 14, 2010 | Environmental Issues, Gardening
I was digging horseradish roots out of the compost area when I uncovered a little spotted salamander. They seem out of place here. I would expect them in much wetter areas, but I come across them frequently so I guess they like the garden surroundings. Judy was cleaning up our leek harvest nearby so I put the salamander in the wheelbarrow she was using while I fetched the camera. I took the picture and returned the little creature back to where I had found it. ...
by Noel | Nov 8, 2010 | CobraHead
Yesterday, two weeks past my target October 24th plant date, I got my garlic into the ground. That’s a lot better than being six months late, and with the very warm fall we are having, I’m sure the garlic will do just fine. Here in Wisconsin, garlic does best when it’s planted in the fall and covered to protect it from the hard winter freezes. The cloves start setting roots under the covering long before the snow is gone. The crop is larger...
