HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: duffett@ug.cs.dal.ca (Thomas E. Duffett)
Subject: Re: COMPOSTING AT -13 DEGREES C-HOW
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 14:05:14 GMT

In article <4NOV92.18551440@sklib.usask.ca> borsa@sklib.usask.ca writes:
>I started composting this summer and everything worked well. I have a
>nice pile to add to my flower beds.  I would like to continue thru the
>winter but how does this work in a Zone 2 where the average winter temp
>hovers around -13 degrees celcius?  Ever since Oct, temps have hovered
>around the -2 at night...+2 to +8 during the day and has nowhere to go
>but lower, nothings composting anymore, or if it is it's working VERY
>slowwly.  How do we keep it looking from looking like a frozen garbage dump
>in the middle of winter, the ground will be too frozen to cover my peels,
>egg shells, etc. let alone turn it once in a while.  How do you people
>do it?  Suggest away.  I don't think I could bear dumping all those goodies
>back into the city garbage system just because of winter!
>
>Thanks,    Donna, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,  Canada


Donna:
	Here in Halifax, I tried composting in the winter. It's a pain in the 
butt. The biggest problem I encountered (other than the obvious ones of having
to keep a path shovelled to my compost pile and trying to bury it under a frozenmass) was RATS. Throwing food into your back yard tends to attract all kinds of
vermin. I have gone to Vermiculture instead. I keep a bucket of worms in my 
basement and put my compostables in there once every couple of days. Works 
great.

-- 
E-MAIL: DUFFETT@UG.CS.DAL.CA	  	          Thomas E. Duffett    
PH: (902) 494-3777  FAX: (902) 494-6889	          Marine Technologist  
Disclaimer:MY OPINION IS MY OWN AND NOT           Earth Sc., Dalhousie Univ.
       	   WORTH THE SCREEN IT'S WRITTEN ON !!    HFX.,N.S.,CA.,B3H 3J5    
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: als@linus.mitre.org (Alice Schafer)
Subject: lady slipper seeds
Organization: Research Computer Facility, The MITRE Corporation, Bedford MA
Distribution: rec
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 23:36:38 GMT

I live 25 miles west of boston with piney woods with pink ladyslippers
scattered here and there.  For the first time, I noticed that one of
them has a seed pod! 
	Can I just scatter this seed or is there a good technique for
helping them to take hold?
	Also, I just missed the discussion of lady slippers on this
net that occurred months ago.  Does anyone have a copy they could
email (to als@mitre.org) or is there an anchive of it that I can ftp
from? 
Thanks,
--
Alice Schafer                           email to: als@mitre.org
MITRE Corp.                             tel: (617) 271-8485
202 Burlington Road, Bedford, MA 01730  fax: (617) 271-7722
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: naomib@sco.COM (Mirabelle Severn & Thames)
Subject: use for green oranges
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Date: Fri, 06 Nov 1992 19:28:13 GMT


Our orange tree lost a branch laden with full-sized, green
oranges.  I'm thinking of slicing and drying the oranges
for potpourri, but I don't have a food dehydrator, and the
only alternative I've seen is a 200-degree oven for 12 hours,
which seems a bit profligate to me.  Any other ways of drying
orange slices?  Our weather looks as though it will stay warm
a while yet (today it's supposed to make 72); could I rig
a dehydrator outside?

What are some other suggested uses for 30-40 green oranges?
I could make marmalade, but the rest of the tree is still
ripening, and we were planning on most of that going to
marmalade.  Any favorite recipes, canning or otherwise, for
green oranges?

Thanks.
Naomi
From: karenp@sybase.com (Karen Paulsell)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Freesias in the Bay Area: info please
Date: 11 Nov 92 16:52:53 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Sybase, Inc.

In article <1992Nov5.182340.4638@midway.uchicago.edu>, safi@ellis.uchicago.edu (pedro natalio safier) writes:
> 
>  Hi,
> 
>  I am interested in growing freesias in my garden; I live in El Cerrito, CA
>  (East Bay area). Any help will be appreciated.
> 

Mostly what you'll find for sale in the garden centers and catalogs
is the taller, colored freesias, purple, yellow, red, pure white.
I saw a lovely batch of red ones with yellow throats, must have been
there quite a while, and multiplied, there must have been 100 stems
of flowers, making a mound > 1' in diameter, looked like a campfire,
glowing in the late afternoon sun!

When I bought my house, there were freesias "naturalized", patches
of them, smaller than the usual commercial varieties, white or
cream with yellow throats, and very smelly! Yum! They'd been in one
place so long, multiplying, that the corms were pushing out of the
ground...I dug up a 2" thick layer of freesia bulbs, and spread them
out, gave some to neighbors.

I've let the freesias go to  seed (just don't cut the stems off when
the flowers are through) and sowed the seeds as soon as they were ripe,
so I have even more.

Freesias love the climate here, you shouldn't have trouble with them!
From: dadams@cray.com (David Adams)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Horse-radish (plant from hell)
Date: 12 Nov 92 20:24:54 GMT
Reply-To: dadams@cray.com
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.

Well I tried to grow horseradish this year.  I just bought a root
at the store and stuck it in the ground in between some of the other
raddishes I was growing.

It grew a little bit, but some worm got to it or some thing because
it just didn't do very well and then it died.  

I used to think I had a green thumb but if that doesn't end the notion
I don't know what does.


---
--David C. Adams  Statistician  Cray Research Inc.  dadams@cray.com
___________________________________________________________________
       Old Sourdoughs never die.  They just ferment away.
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: bae@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Beverly Erlebacher)
Subject: Re: COMPOSTING AT -13 DEGREES C-HOW
Organization: UTCS Public Access
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 21:28:41 GMT

In article <4NOV92.18551440@sklib.usask.ca> borsa@sklib.usask.ca writes:
>How do you people
>do it?  Suggest away.  I don't think I could bear dumping all those goodies
>back into the city garbage system just because of winter!
>Thanks,    Donna, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,  Canada

There is in article in the current (November) issue of Organic Gardening
about winter composting in cold climates, the author builds a sort of big
covered compost bin out of bales of straw.  I suspect that most people in
cold climates are like me and some of the other respondents, we just let it
freeze - when it all thaws out in the spring it is nicely softened by
freezing, and rots quickly once it starts to warm up.  If you don't like 
looking at your garbage out on the snow all winter, make a simple enclosure
out of old boards, or even a circle of snow fence.  Save bags of leaves
and cover the garbage with them as it builds up.

Worm composting is probably worth trying as well.  I may have to go over to
that method as rats have been sighted in the neighbour's compost bin.  There
were articles about it in Organic Gardening and Harrowsmith last December or
January.  You can probably find these back issues in a public library.

Beverly Erlebacher
Toronto, Ontario Canada

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: london@calypso.uucp (Larry London)
Subject: Re: Is there any plant db ?
Organization: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 22:53:36 GMT

In article <64820019@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com> walker@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com (Rick Walker) writes:
>In rec.gardens, Giovanni Resta <resta@iei.pi.cnr.it> writes:
>
>> Is there any plants database available by ftp or telnet ?
>> My dream is something like the RHS Dictionary (+50000 entries,
>> I think) online, but any kind of botanically accurate data are 
>> welcome (plants descriptions, common names, cultivation notes,
>> ethnobotanical information, uses ecc.)
>
>Dear Giovanni,
>
>It would be great to have a comprehensive online "dictionary" of plants.
>I'd like to see something that gave culture, taxonomic info, chromosome
>counts, etc.  I have heard of some modest lists of common plants being
>included in some "shareware" landscaping programs.  You might also be
>able to find some CD data disks of some botanical reference books.
>
>I have written a small expert system that implements a dichotomous key
>for identifying 55 major flower families of the High Sierra range. Nothing
>fancy, just a computerized version of what you'd normally see in any
>field guide.
>
>I also have a listing of about 400 taxa of carnivorous plant names.  An
>ongoing project is to add descriptions and cultivation notes to this
>list.  Jan Schlauer maintains an exhaustive taxonomic bibliography of 
>carnivorous plants, listing for each one the original defining reference.
>Obsolete synonyms are also catalogued and cross-referenced.
>
>There is also a taxonomic database called "SysTax" that is currently
>being used
>     -    by Th. Stuetzel (Bochum) for a revision of the
>          Eriocaulaceae and management of the botanic garden
>          Bochum
>     -    by H. Reese-Krug, F. Weberling and J.R. Hoppe (Ulm)
>          for a revision of the Valerianaceae
>     -    by M. Gschneidner for the management of the botanic
>          garden Ulm
>     -    by H.H. Hilger (FU Berlin) for a revision of the
>          Boraginaceae (intended)
>     -    by H.A. Uhlarz for management of the botanic garden
>          Kiel (intended)
>
>You can get more info on this system by sending a request to
>systax@spezbot.biologie.uni-ulm.de.
>
>About the best I've come up with so far is an old-fashioned book shelf
>full of books...
>--
>Rick
From: fiddler@concertina.Eng.Sun.COM (steve hix)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: CATS and LAWN
Date: 9 Nov 92 19:30:13 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca.
NNTP-Posting-Host: concertina

In article Robert Chambers writes:
>
>A few shots in the backside with a pellet gun dissuades most cats from
>pooping on the lawn.
 
Before anyone gets *too* enthusiastic, note that small-mammal pest control 
in Great Britain is often accomplished with air rifles (as in, nailing 
things up to rabbit size).  It could well be fatal to the cats with a 
properly-placed shot...which might not be the desired result. 
 
What *might* be usable, and non-lethal, would be to try using felt cleaning 
pellets from the airgun.  The usable range is quite a bit less ('cause they 
slow down a *lot* faster than lead pellets), but for a typical backyard, 
it's still reasonable. 
 
Assuming that one would be driven to try this as a solution, of course. 

>(And before anybody screams - No, I don't own a gun nor advocate shooting
> pets).
 
There are times, though...  1/2 :) 

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Some things are too important not to give	 |  Meteor counting is |
| them all away and have none left for yourself. |  is not a crime...  |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: AS.JMW@forsythe.stanford.edu (JILL M WOODS)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Tree eradication?
Date: 5 Nov 1992 11:28:12 -0800
Organization: Stanford University
NNTP-Posting-Host: morrow.stanford.edu



I have been reading this bboard for several months now and have
found many informative topics discussed.  So I thought I would see
if anyone has any suggestions to my garden problem.  My yard is
covered with tree starts ( over 100 of them).  I have identified the
tree as ailanthus altissima, or, the common name is tree of heaven.
The tree propagates by seed or by basal suckers.  Where most of the
starts are I hope to be able someday to grow herbs and vegetables,
so the use of highly toxic herbicides to eradicate them is not an
option to me.  Has anyone ever waged a war against these trees
before?  Have one won?  Or is a stalemate the best I can hope for?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Jill Woods
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: amz@iguana.cis.ohio-state.edu (Arnold M Zwicky)
Subject: Re: Mazus repens
Followup-To: rec.gardens
Summary: not much of a competitor
Organization: osu, lsa, outil, stanford,...
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 01:20:22 GMT

we had mazus repens growing for several years under some
mockorange bushes, where they got morning sun and afternoon
shade.  it grew beautifully, but was eventually undone by
the march of sweet woodruff (from one side) and lamium
(from the other).  it was no competition for these tough guys -
too shallow-rooted and slow-spreading.  

it's hard to imagine mazus crowding out or killing anything, 
at least here in central ohio.  we might try it again if we
can find a safer place for it to play in.

arnold
From: dace@shrike.und.ac.za (Roy Dace)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: David Austin roses--help?
Date: 7 Nov 1992 12:57:01 GMT
Organization: University of Natal (Durban), South Africa
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: shrike.und.ac.za
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

kathleen@casbs.Stanford.EDU (Kathleen Much) writes:
: OK, folks, I've read the catalogs and the Organic Gardening article
: and decided to take the plunge and order some David Austin English
: roses.  Now I really need to know HOW BIG they will get in northern
: California (Menlo Park on the SF Peninsula).  The people at David
: Austin Nursery in England said they might be double the size of the
: ones in England, and that their catalog gave English sizes (it's about
: the same as the descriptions in US catalogs).  I'll be ordering Mary
: Rose, Heritage, and an apricot one whose name I forget just now
: (starts with A).  So far, I haven't found a source for Pretty Jessica,
: Ambridge Rose, Emily, Sharifa Asma, Chaucer, L.D. Braithwaite, or
: Evelyn, which I would like to try (any suggestions? I've tried Wayside
: and J&P, plus local nurseries).  Most of these are reputed to be less
: susceptible to mildew and rust than some of the others.
: 
: Can anyone help with the projected size of these varieties? And has
: anyone had DA roses that weren't deciduous? If so, which ones? 

I live in Durban, South Africa and I guess we have a similar climate.  I
have a Sharifa which is one year old, and about 4ft high.  I expect to
maintain the hight at about 5ft.  You said you couldn't get hold of one - 
I'd be willing to mail you budwood if you can't find any in the US.

Speaking of this, does anyone in this group know of a goodway to pack
semi-hard cuttings (like rose budwood) for mailing?  I'm thinking of
using old plastic floppy-disk boxes, lining them with florist's foam
and other absorbent materials and using that.  Thoughts? 
 
: I'd also love to find an evergreen climber besides Lady Banksia
: (preferably pink). Any suggestions?

How about Grand-Mere Jenny.  I've never seen it defoliate & it looks
great.

	-Hal 
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: sharen@iscnvx.lmsc.lockheed.com (Sharen A. Rund)
Subject: Re: gadgets  -- seed starter pots
Organization: Lockheed Missiles and Space Co.
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 21:52:57 GMT

In article <1992Nov13.131829.16394@hemlock.cray.com> dadams@cray.com writes:
>Just got my Richter's catalog ('92 version) and noticed this wooden 
>gadget that is supposed to let you make your own seed starter pots
>out of newspaper.  (Instead of peat pots.)  Has anybody ever tried 
>one of these?  How well do they work?  How long does a newspaper pot
>last?  (The peat pots seemed to last a mont or two and then they
>would get moldy or fall apart.)
>
>
just wondering, rather than buy seed pots, why not save your egg
shells (they fit nicely into their old egg carton) - when you
make eggs crack the shell to let the egg out and retain the whole
shell, fill with potting soil, a seed, top off with planting soil
put into carton, water (or water, then put into carton - after the
seed sprouts enough, take shell & seed, gently break shell (this
will decompose) and plant shell & seed - water as usual...

-- 
________________       __        ________________   "They that can give up
\_________      \     /_ \      /      _________/  essential liberty to 
 \_________      \_____/  \____/      _________/  obtain temporary safety
  \___________________      __________________/  deserve neither liberty 
                     /______\                   nor safety."  
ALL disclaimers apply ....                           --Benjamin Franklin
	  
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: gretchen@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Gretchen A Hitselberger)
Subject: Speaking of Mums
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 15:06:50 GMT

I noticed a few buds on my mum, but they're the same size today as two
weeks ago.

The plant is indoors, 65F, north window, natural light only.  Since it
already gave me some wonderful flowers, should I just leave it alone 
to do it's thing, or can I do something to 'encourage' these little
buds to become flowers?

Actually, I quite surprised that it's alive at all, because in August
it was a dead looking brown twig out on my fire escape! :)

/gretchen


Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: gcs@edsi.plexus.COM (Greg C. Steiner)
Subject: Hand-powered chipper/shredder?
Organization: Enterprise Data Systems Incorporated, Appleton WI
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 18:33:31 GMT


Is there such a device as a hand-powered chipper/shredder?  I 
don't have $200 to spend on a 3hp electrical one.  I also prefer 
to use elbow-grease to get my yard work done.  
I'm not looking to chop logs...just leaves, grass and a few 
branches that get trimmed each year.
From: jhb@calmasd.prime.com (Jim Bishop)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: sick Fremontia
Date: 6 Nov 92 20:46:47 GMT
Followup-To: rec.gardens
Distribution: usa
Organization: -

In article <27234@dog.ee.lbl.gov>, 
lindsay@sesame.lbl.gov (Lindsay Schachinger) writes:
> 
> [Discussion of  problems with a CA Fremontia that sounds like oak root
>  fungus.  I've never grown one so can't help]

I'd like to know if anyone has had success growing fermontia.  They
were beautiful last spring at the Santa Barbara Botanical garden.  I
brought one 2 weeks ago for $11 in 1 gallon pot at a local native plant
sale.  I've never seen one grown locally (San Diego), but I am told
they will grow here.  The one I bought is supposed to be a small ground
cover with large yellow flowers.  The leaves are deaply cut, kinda like
a grape.

I'm planning on planting it on very steep hill.  The hill is our
native post-developer-scrape-off-the-topsoil clay.  I intend to mix
it with some succulents (maybe a few cactii) and other low-water
plants.  My question is, should I improve the soil or not?  I'd think
adding organic material would make the soil drain better but would it
also might make the plant more suseptable to root rot if it gets
water in the summer.

Jim
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: bobw@csg.uwaterloo.ca (Bob Wildfong)
Subject: Re: Birth control pills as plant growth stimulants?
Organization: Computer Systems Group, University of Waterloo
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 15:39:27 GMT

In article <1dtmnlINNiub@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> br105@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey A. Del Col) writes:
>
>	Last evening at dinner the subject of gardening came up, specifically
>how to get cuttings of roses and shrubs to roots.  I mentioned that I use
>Rootone.  I then learned that one of the finest gardeners I know ( I swear
>he could get petrified wood to sprout if he tried) uses out of date
>BIRTH CONTROL PILLS!! to stimulate root development.  ( I was strongly

I can picture it now...  A scene at the pharmacy counter:

"Well, uh, you see... they're not for me... no... they're, uh, for my plants."


Bob Wildfong                                       bobw@csg.uwaterloo.ca
Waterloo, Ontario                                  bobw@csg.waterloo.edu
AgCan zone 5a, USDA zone 4 (on a windy hilltop)

                Success in gardening is finding the right 
                 balance between tolerance and defiance.
From: cl27111@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Christopher  Lindsey)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: domestication of Poison Ivy
Date: 13 Nov 92 03:37:16 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana


	I agree with you entirely, except for one point.  You say that
landscape architects are one of the prime perpetrators of habitat destruction
through the use of introduced species; I say that it is more likely that
landscape DESIGNERS have this problem.  My experiences have shown me that
landscape architects are highly conscientious regarding possible affects
that their designs may have on the environment.

Just to try and get more input from people, I guess I should complete a thought
that I didn't have time to finish earlier.  I asked if it is ethical; what 
then defines the guidelines for these moral decisions?  Is there an  
aggressiveness scale that should be used to determine whether or not
non-native species can be planted, or should we just limit everything to
natives?

Christopher Lindsey -- Dept. of Landscape Architecture, Univ. of Illinois
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: re:horseradish
From: thacker@RHEA.ARC.AB.CA
Date: 13 Nov 92 14:42:12 MDT
Reply-To: thacker@RHEA.ARC.AB.CA
Organization: Alberta Research Council

I grow horseradish in my garden.  It is an incredibly hardy perrenial,
it'll stay green in the fall to about 20 F, and when it is fully
dormant in the winter -40 F won't even begin to bother it.  It
grows something like rhubarb, only the stalks are much thinner and
the leaves are long and pointy.  Around Edmonton it usually grows
about a foot and a half (50 cm) tall, but mine is growing next to
my composter and was over 3 feet tall (1 m ) this year.  
People have warned me to dig it out while I still can, because the
"plant from hell" can run rampant.  Mine has only been in the garden
two years and I don't see any evidence that it's spreading too far
yet......perhaps it's just biding it's time until I let my defenses
down.  I've had it suggested to me that the only sane way to grow
it is to plant it in a submerged oak half-barrel, as this contains
the plant and tends to make the roots grow much thicker.  The roots
on mine don't seem to be much thicker than a pencil now; I think
a properly grown, mature plant would have roots over an inch thick.
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: bae@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Beverly Erlebacher)
Subject: Re: Need Garlic Advice
Organization: UTCS Public Access
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 20:32:58 GMT

In article <1992Nov12.102412.1@cgsvax.claremont.edu> kyle@cgsvax.claremont.edu writes:
>	This may seem like a dumb question, but I ask dumb questions 
>all the time.  I love garlic and usually buy a lot when it's on sale.  
>Some times some of the cloves in my refridgerator start to sprout.  I 
>took a couple of these and put them in an outside pot.  They've 
>sprouted to about 7 inches and with multiple sprouts.  My problem is 
>that I have never grown garlic and I don't know when they will be 
>ready to harvest or if there is something special I need to know about 
>caring and harvesting them.  Any advice would be apreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>Kyle Stephens
>Kyle@cgsvax.claremont.edu

They are ready when the tops die down.  I don't know what happens to garlic
grown in a warm climate in the winter, but in temperate climates bulb
formation is triggered by changes in day length, and the bulbs mature
in late summer, so you could get really tiny or just enormous bulbs... :-)

It may not be worth your while to grow bulbs, but you've got a delicacy right
there that only garlic-lovers who grow their own can enjoy - green garlic,
or garlic greens.  You can pick a leaf now and then, or cut a few inches off
the top repeatedly.  They have a delicious mild fresh green garlicy taste.
You can put them in all kinds of things - salads, omelettes, stir-fries,
soups, sandwiches, etc.

I don't think your question is dumb.  The dumb questions are the ones that
anyone could find the answer to in 10 minutes in a public library, and are
usually accompanied by a request for email answers, since the poster won't
waste his own time reading the group!  

Beverly Erlebacher
Toronto, Ontario Canada