Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
November 2010
Volume 8, Issue 11
November 3, 2010
HCMG monthly
meeting is at
1 p.m. at Kerr
County AgriLife
Extension Office.
We will
Vote for officers
and review our
year.
Contents
Reminder Message
Calendar of Events
September Minutes
Groasis Waterbox
Bed Bugs
Medicinal Plants
Build a Patio
Nov. Veg. Garden
Flower Gardening,
Citrus Greening
Fall Plant Exchange,
Website of Month
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Page 2
October 19 - Kerr
November 3 - HCMG monthly meeting at 1:00
Cactus and Succulent
p.m.
Well be voting on our 2011 slate of officers
Society meets at 7:00 p.m.
and reviewing our activities for the past year.
at Butt-Holdsworth Library. Dave Gutman will
address Surprise Succulent Gardens. Visitors
welcome.
November 6 Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne is
hosting an Ethnobotany Workshop. From 9 a.m.
October 23 The Garden Conservancy hosts
noon. Fees/information http://www.cibolo.org/
Open Day in San Antonio, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. $25
calendar/event/ethobotany-workshop
for all six gardens. For a list of the gardens and
locations, http://gardenconservancy.org/opendays/ November 10 Fredericksburg Garden Club
events.pl?ID=394&SortBy=&State=
meets at 2:00 p.m. at the Memorial Presbyterian
Church Fellowship Hall, 607 N. Milam. Carol
October 26 Fredericksburg Chapter of
Seminara (HCMG) will present program on Glass
NPSOT meets at 7:00 p.m. at Gillespie County
Historical Society Bldg. in Fredericksburg. Travis Flowers of the Harvard Museum of Natural
History. Visitors welcome.
Gallo of Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center,
will discuss The Impact Non-native Exotic Plants
Have on Our Texas Eco-systems. Visitors
welcome.
Page 3
Groasis Waterbox
by Bernadell Larson
Page 4
Page 5
use of DDT after the war. Other factors may be increased resistance to pesticides, increased immigration and people moving back to urban areas.
The common bed bug is not totally nocturnal but
does feed mainly at night coming out of its tiny hiding places in your bed. It must have a blood meal
between molts or instars. The feeding mechanism is
rather ingenious as it is a two-tube system, one tube
puts an anticoagulant into its victim and the other
tube removes the blood. The bite will produce itching and, rarely, an allergic reaction in sensitive individuals. Over-the-counter cortisone creams will relieve the itch.
Old folklore would have you sleep with the lights on
or put cups of kerosene under the legs of the bed.
Unfortunately, conventional insecticides are not effective against bed bugs. If you suspect you have
picked up bed bugs in your travels, call a pest control company. On a happy note, cockroaches are
their natural predators as well as some ants. And
remember the old childrens rhyme, Night, night.
Sleep tight. Dont let the bed bugs bite.
When tough tree and shrub "volunteer seedlings" (AKA weeds) just wont give,
grab onto the stem with a pair of old pliers and tug. This works well on woody
plants.
Revive dirty window screens with automotive plastic and vinyl protector (Armor
All, as an example.) A light wiping on both sides of the screen will have your screens looking
like new again.
Pour boiling water on sidewalk cracks to get rid of weeds without using chemicals.
Betty West
Medicinal Plants
by Judy Fleming
Page 6
St John's Wort is widely known as a herbal treatment for depression. In some countries, such as
Germany, it is commonly prescribed for mild depression, especially in children, adolescents, and
HCMG has provided this material for your information.
where cost is a concern. A study by the German
medical insurance system conducted a clinical trial It is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise
investigating the antidepressant effects of SJW by and advice of your primary health care provider.
comparing it to fluoxetine. The study concluded,
"the two treatments are essentially equipotent in
their antidepressant effects." Furthermore, the
researchers asserted that there was "no
evidence to suggest an advantage in treating these
patients with fluoxetine." However, other studies
St. Johns Wort
by pharmaceutical companies disagree.
Currently studies are underway for the use of SJW
for alcoholism, ADHD and fibromialgia. Recent
evidence suggests that daily treatment with SJW
may improve the most common physical and behavioural symptoms associated with premenstrual
syndrome. A research team from the Universidad
Complutense de Madrid (UCM) published a study
entitled, Hypericum perforatum. Possible option
against Parkinsons disease, which suggests that
this plant with antidepressant properties has antioxidant active ingredients that could help reduce
the neuronal degeneration caused by the disease.
St. John's Wort, indigenous to Europe, is a yellowflowering, perennial herb with extensive, creeping
rhizomes. It has been introduced to many temper-
Page 7
Also helping were the cousins who know dirt. One told me
how much sand I needed for a base 2 inches deep. The second told me how much crushed granite to hold the rocks in
place. Both estimates were on target.
Second lesson: Read how-to articles and ask advice from
someone who has done it. The best instruction I received
came from a fellow gardener who built a patio years ago with
her husband. "Weed cloth, edging, sand and crushed granite,
in that order,"
she told me.
Laying
the stone
Third lesson:
Enlist the help of
a joyful worker.
At 9 a.m. May
18, a month
after the rocks
arrived, my
sister and I commenced building. For three days, we hauled
wheelbarrow loads of sand from the driveway to the back
yard.
First lesson: When you are going to build your own patio, it
pays to know People. My sister knew whom to get the rocks
from ("I think the owner is a cousin," she reported). And we
have several
cousins who are
Before
experts in the dirt Then we began the real fun -- placing rocks. Row by row, we
placed them and checked each row horizontally and vertically
business.
with a level. Some days she could not come and I laid rocks
When my birth- by myself, only to have us take them up the next day because
day rolled around they were too small.
in April and I
On June 8, I laid the last rock, ordered a yard of crushed grannoticed spring
had already been ite, and put it down with the help of my sister. We swept it into
the cracks
here several
weeks without a between the
patio to celebrate on, I gave myself a birthday present guaran- rocks, and
teed to jump-start construction: a pile of rocks in an inconven- watered it down.
ient place. First, I took a tour of the rock yard while I asked the It settled and we
applied another
possible cousin about how hard the rocks were.
layer the next
I chose her "rattlesnake" pattern, a tan rock in a mid-price
day. By June
range. "Why are they called that?" I asked. The rock yard
28, the patio
owner didn't
was finished.
know, but she
After
My husband
advised buying
Base is
and I repainted the black edging with a color that blends better
down
three pallets for
with the rocks. The patio is sturdy enough for furniture, includmy roughly 10ing our rocking patio chairs. The rocks do not move. I've
foot by 20-foot
enjoyed many morning newspapers there while the dogs and
patio, and she
squirrels play chase.
was close.
See the resources section of the HCMG website for detailed directions
on building your own patio.
Page 8
By Christine Millar
Plant transplants
Transplants of greens and cole
crops can still be planted out.
Protect the young seedlings and
mature broccoli heads from frosts
by covering with old sheets or row cover at night.
Harvesting
Root crops may need thinning now to give the
remaining roots room to develop. Harvest broccoli
while the heads are still tight after they have
reached their full size. Side shoots will continue to
develop and can be harvested over a 6-8 week
period so keep them growing after the main harvest. Cauliflower only has one head so remove
the plant after harvesting. Cauliflower and broccoli
last for a good while in the fridge or you can blanch
and freeze them if you have too much.
November Landscape
Gardening Tips
by Kathie Marlow
by Pam Bresler
Page 9
Page 10
Website
of the
Month
by
Carol Brinkman
A while back
Barbara Elmore
asked members
for their favorite
plants. She
received so many
answers that her
one
newsletter article
became three. If
you are avid
about your
favorite, you might
be interested to
know if there is a
"society" dedicated
to that plant. Iowa
State University
has compiled a list
of all plant-related
societies with links
to each website.
You'll probably
want to skip right
past the American
Golf Course
Designers Society,
but there are
societies ranging
from begonias to
water lilies and
everything in
between. You will
find the list at
http://
www.extension.ias
tate.edu/
Publications/