Category: Uncategorized

Re-using containers? A cautionary tale.

I attempted to clean up our little home greenhouse over the holiday break. There’s no good place to recycle pots around here, and I hate throwing them away…so I suffer from container build-up. Figured I’d sort through the haphazard pile in the corner of the greenhouse, wash and re-stack the useable ones, and finally ditch the busted ones.

As I started separating the first stack, I noted a tiny flash of red. It is well-known and oft-reported among my gardening and grower buddies that the Southern Black Widow (Latrodectus mactans) really enjoys a nice stack of grubby pots.… Continue reading this article “Re-using containers? A cautionary tale.”

(Not so) pretty in Pink

The weekend’s weather forecast portended some lousy conditions and, unfortunately, this time the forecasters got it right. The outlook map for the Lansing area put us squarely in the dreaded Pepto-Bismol pink ‘Icy mix’ swath from Oklahoma to Maine.
icesort radar

Last night and this morning was a non-stop cacophony of “Snap! Crash!” as icy limbs headed earthward. About 4:30 this morning my wife saw a bright flash burst across the street and almost immediately we heard all our of appliances stop.… Continue reading this article “(Not so) pretty in Pink”

The ins and outs of trunk injection

I am serving on a Ph.D. committee for a student working in Entomology and Plant Pathology who is defending his dissertation tomorrow morning. I’m taking a break from trying to plow through the longest dissertation in history: A 465 page tome on the use of trunk injection in tree fruit crops. A lot to wade through but a fascinating topic. Trunk injection, of course, is not a new topic. Some of the earliest references to injecting compounds into trees date back to Leonardo daVinci, who also suggested the ‘pipe model’ theory of tree architecture; the notion that total cross-sectional area of a tree is constant as you move up to higher and higher levels of branching.… Continue reading this article “The ins and outs of trunk injection”

Conventional vs. organic agriculture – the battle continues

An article was published earlier this week comparing the nutritional content of milk from organically raised cows to that from conventional dairies. The principle finding in this report is that “organic milk contained 25% less ω-6 fatty acids and 62% more ω-3 fatty acids than conventional milk, yielding a 2.5-fold higher ω-6/ω-3 ratio in conventional compared to organic milk (5.77 vs. 2.28).” (ω-3 fatty acids are considered to be “healthy” and you’ve probably heard of them in association with fish consumption.)… Continue reading this article “Conventional vs. organic agriculture – the battle continues”

Does anyone really know how to handle weather ? – revisited

There are few things that bind us together like weather. No matter what a person’s socio-economic status, they get wet, hot, or cold just like the rest of us. Ok, if you’re rich enough you can afford to move where the weather suits your clothes, but if you’re like most of us, you have to deal with whatever Mother Nature sends your way. And, if you’re a typical American, few things give you more self-righteous satisfaction than knowing that out of the 300 million people in the country, YOU are the only one that knows how to cope with weather.… Continue reading this article “Does anyone really know how to handle weather ? – revisited”

Silence of the lamb chops

One of my ‘other duties as assigned’ this time of year involves serving as The Christmas tree Guy and responding to various media inquiries about Christmas trees. Last week I posted a link to a media story about Christmas trees on the Garden Professor Facebook page. That post drew a response from Kyle Fletcher Baker who derided cut Christmas trees as “murder of the innocent.” My initial reaction was, “Jeez, Kyle we’re talking about fir trees here not lamb chops or veal.”… Continue reading this article “Silence of the lamb chops”

Working out the bugs

It’s December and I hereby vow to post every week from now on! I’ve actually been on the blog behind the scenes for the last several weeks troubleshooting the archives. We transferred over four years of material from the old site, and there are still some rough patches. And that’s where you can help.

If you have been browsing the archives (listed on the right hand menu) or searching for topics (the search box is in the upper right corner just below the Garden Professors banner where the little magnifying glass lurks), you may have found odd line breaks, broken links, missing pictures, etc.… Continue reading this article “Working out the bugs”

It was a dark and stormy night

It-Was-A-Dark-and-Stormy-Night-from-Snoopy-e1375218659590 chicago nowcom

A wild and wooly night for many of us last night. A powerful line of storms moved through the Midwest yesterday afternoon and evening, spawning numerous tornadoes, primarily in Illinois and Indiana. Here in Michigan we were spared the tornadoes but had to cope with a long night of high winds, gusting up to 70 mph along the Lake Michigan lakeshore.

tornadoes nov 17 2013

The high winds and heavy rains lead to widespread tree damage and power outages. Dealing with a yard full of damaged trees can be an overwhelming and sickening feeling for homeowners.… Continue reading this article “It was a dark and stormy night”

Hello Charlotte!

I’m sure you haven’t been wondering where I’ve been for the past five months or so, but just in case you have, I’ve been reshuffling my life and relocating. Where am I now? The family and I have moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where I now work at Central Piedmont Community College. Why? Because we wanted to be closer to family, we wanted a warmer climate, and I wanted to spend more time teaching. That said, I had a great time at the University of Minnesota and have only good things to say about my time there.… Continue reading this article “Hello Charlotte!”

My favorite on-line conifer resources

Posted by Bert Cregg

I just wrapped up putting together a species profile on grand fir (Abies grandis) for Great Lakes Christmas Tree Journal, which is the professional trade publication of the Michigan Christmas Tree Association. I do a lot of articles and presentations on conifers and while I draw on my personal experience and background as much as possible, invariably I’ll need to consult some references. Here are some resources that may come in handy if you need to develop a presentation or article or just want to know more about conifers.… Continue reading this article “My favorite on-line conifer resources”