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EasyTool Personal Tiller

I have been wanting a tiller for a while now but I just can’t justify the cost for tilling my small beds. I am not a vegetable gardener so I really don’t need a heavy gas powered unit either. If this sounds like you, then here is a neat little tiller for you! The EasyTOOL Personal Tiller is a lightweight compact garden tiller that will fit and work in the smallest of beds. It has a tilling width of 6.5″ and weighs just 11 lbs. Another cool thing about it is that it is electric, so just plug it in and go. Enjoy all the benefits of a standard tiller without all the noise and hassles. Don’t be fooled by the electric motor because this little thing has the equivalent of a 1/3 hp motor so it has plenty of power for your small tilling spaces.

This great little tool is also wonderful for senior gardeners who still like to get out and enjoy doing some work around the yard but don’t want to mess with heavy, loud and difficult to start equipment. It’s also great if you have compact spaces, want to till quietly, need something lightweight and maneuverable, want a small tiller without spending a ton of money or simply want to be more environmentally conscious. This awesome little tiller is available GreenGardenTools.com at a very affordable price, so I highly suggest you check it out.

Edible Passion Fruit

Passion fruit will take 2-3 months to become ripe. Since the Passion Vine produces flowers/fruit all summer long starting in June/July, the early ones should be ready by late August, early September in Zone 7 (if grown in full sun). The easiest way to spot a ripe one is when they fall to the ground. Any fruit you find laying on the ground is sure to be ripe. Another way is too look for yellowing fruit still on the vine. If it feels soft and easily comes off the vine then its ready to eat. Firm fruit that does not come off the vine easily still has some ripening to do.

Once you have them off the vine, simply cut them in half with a knife. You will discover that the fruit is mostly hollow. You should also see small black seeds surrounded by light green almost white fleshy substance. The fleshy stuff is what you want to eat, sort of like a pomegranate but the seeds aren’t as densely packed in the fruit. There aren’t a whole lot of them in each fruit but you should be able to get a couple of mouthfuls. The seeds are not solid so they can be chewed easily, of course you can also swallow them or simply spit them out. For greater satisfaction, I recommend chilling the fruit for a bit before eating.

The taste can best be described as citrusy and custardy but it definitely has a very unique, delicious and distinct taste. There is one amazing thing about the fruit that many will not be aware of and that is that it tastes exactly like a tropical fruit called guanabana also known as soursop. I don’t know if the two are related but if you have eaten guanabana before, you will immediately recognize the passion fruit taste. The interesting thing about this is that guanabana only grows in true tropical climates and is grown from a tree unlike the passion fruit which grows in temperate regions (as well as tropical) and grows on a vine.

Just like with any fruit, there are several things you can do with Passion Fruit such as jams, juices, smoothies, etc. My favorite is to make Passion Fruit juice but you will need quite a few to do so. Another delicious thing to do is to add them into a smoothie mix for a hint of the tropics.

If you do not have passion fruit, then I highly recommend growing some because the flowers are quite beautiful and the fruit is delightful. You can read how to grow your very own here.

Black soot left / Aphids Right

Are your plants looking like you have a coal mine right next to you? If so, read on. This summer I came across something I hadn’t seen before. I first spotted it on some 1st year small trees, then on a crape myrtle and then on some photinias. In addition to this black soot, there were some white/light green little egg looking things that covered some of the new growth. Puzzled, I did some quick research and discovered the source of this mystery. The culprit, aphids. I had read about aphids and new they existed but had no clue they caused this black sooty stuff on plants. As it turns out, aphids suck on the new growth to extract the plant juices. In turn, they secrete this stuff called “honeydew” which then molds (black stuff that you see). In addition to the black stuff, you may also notice that a lot of the new growth is deformed.

The incredible thing is that though the aphids are pretty small, the black stuff covers the entire plant! Also, if you look at the ground, you will find that it completely covers that as well. So it would seem that aphids are quite the voracious eaters!

The good news is that aphids are pretty easy to get rid of with either commercial pesticides or home remedies. Below are some suggestions depending on severity and/or style of gardening:

Severe Infestation

A severe infestation will probably require spraying. Just about any commercial systemic pesticide will do the trick. I used one called Sevin which works great on aphids and other pests. I like this option because it provides all around protection and one application is enough to do the trick for a while.   Another alternative is insecticidal soap. It’s safer than spraying but this will only work on aphids and other soft bodied pests. You can find either at your local Home Depot or the like.

Medium Infestations or Organic Gardening

If you are an organic gardener or your infestation is medium, then you can simply mix some dish soap and water then spray the effected regions of the plant. The soap strips the wax covering the aphid’s body so a few sprayings may be needed to do the trick. Another home remedy is to mix some cooking oil along with your dish soap.  I would try that as a last resort on more severe infestations and it should not be used on hot sunny days or on plants that get direct sun as the oil will cause sun damage on the foliage (may kill your plant).

Mild Infestations

For really mild infestations or at the first signs of aphids,  simply knock them off with a stream of water from a garden hose nozzle.  You can also use a manual approach and simply crush the little suckers with your finders (they pop very easily but watch out for PETA! =-). The downside to these methods is that you may miss some and they will quickly come back. So constant vigilance is required  if this is your preferred method.

The bad news is that regardless of what you use, the black stuff/mold will remain on the foliage. You will have to clean that off manually leaf by leaf which is impossible unless you have a small plant. Of course you can leave it since it will not really hurt the plant. Just be vigilant the following year and eliminate the aphids as soon as you see them or  use a preventive spray of systemic pesticide early in the year (if you don’t mind spraying).  I am not sure on what causes aphids. My only theory is an unusually wet growing season which we had this year since I have not seen them during dryer seasons.

Blue Sea Holly

Dry hot spots are the hardest to garden for obvious reasons. Maybe it’s too far to get a garden hose, maybe you are a green gardener that doesn’t like to waste a lot of water or simply nothing grows there. Whatever the reason is, it can be challenging to find an attractive plant that will not only give you nice foliage but nice color as well. If this describes your situation, then you may want to give the Blue Sea Holly a shot!

This attractive plant not only gives you nice lavender blooms but some quite attractive foliage. As an added bonus, it will add some interesting texture as well. The Blue Sea Holly is a rugged and hardy perennial that can survive in most North American zones (zones 4-10). It does well in dry full sun hot spots that only seem to support weed life. The Blue Sea Holly can grow 24″-30″ tall. Blooms are a blue-lavender color and foliage starts green with white veining that gradually turns a blue gray. Flowers are excellent for making dry flower arrangements.

Growing these is quite easy because they don’t require a lot of water or rich soil. In fact, they will do just fine in even sandy soils. So just pick your dry spot, plant, water the first week or two and leave it alone. There is no need to fertilize, as they will do just fine without it and will keep them compact with strong flower stems. If you want a larger plant, with more foliage, you can add some fertilizer but it may produce weak flower stems. In either case, care is minimal.

So if you are having a hard time finding something for that full sun dry spot, the Blue Sea Holly may be for you!

Hardiness Zones: 4-10 Salt tolerant
Sun exposure: Full Sun to Mostly Sunny great for hot dry spots
Height: 24″-30″
Width: Varies up to 2′
Bloom time: Summer
Bloom Color: Lavender
Watering: Drought Tolerant
Soil: Well draining, dry
Availability: DirectGardening.com

Japanese Toad Lily orchid like

Propagating Japanese Toad Lilies is pretty easy, in fact they seem to do this themselves just like Oriental Lilies.  The bulbs produce scales that you can remove, place in soil and watch them grow.  They also produce little bulblets that you can plant in peat pots.  All you have to do to find these is look.

There are a couple of ways to look for these. The first, is look around the base of an existing Toad Lily, this is my preferred method because I don’t have to dig them up. You will these little bulblets around the base of the plant. Simply pick these off and replant in a peat pot or similar. The second, is by removing scale offsets from the existing bulb. This is best done in early spring when you can dig up your existing Toad Lily bulb.  Some times if you are lucky, you can even find these scales right at the base of the plant close to the surface without even digging it up. Just root around the base a little with your fingers and you can find them. They look like a grape that has been cut in half.  In fact, I was inspecting some newly planted Toad Lilies the other day that I got this spring from Direct Gardening. Much to my surpise, I found a little plantlet already growning from bulbs that have been in the ground for less than a month.

Of course if you don’t have time to go inspecting for bulblets, you can let them do their own thing and before you know it, you will have additional plants coming up from the base of the original plants as early as their first season in the ground. After a few seasons, you will have lots of new plants which you can dig up and separate.