Happy Halloween!

So my dedication to making sure I blogged ALL SUMMER just really didn't happen did it? Sorry about that folks. No excuses but this has been a crazy summer! Heat, drought, floods, and other weather just kept this girl going and going. So in an effort to reform my ways I'm kicking back into gear with a little about Halloween safety. This information is from UK Extension's friends at the University of Florida's Extension Service.

Halloween Safety

Have Fun, Be Careful

Halloween is almost here! Children dress up in costumes and ask their neighbors for candy, while parents take pictures of their little ones and prepare to greet trick-or-treaters. Keep this festive holiday safe and fun with our Halloween safety tips.

Costumes

Choosing Safer Materials

Fabric can easily catch fire if you brush too close to a candle-lit jack-o-lantern or luminary, so choose flame-resistant costume materials. Add pieces of reflective tape to make your costume more visible at night, especially if you are wearing dark colors.

Wear Clothing That Fits

Make sure that long, flowing costumes--such as robes, capes, or gowns--do not hang below your ankles. Your costume could trip you if it is too long, and it is more likely to fall into dirt or flames.

Wear shoes that fit properly. Uncomfortable shoes could trip you or give you blisters. Never go barefoot; you can easily cut yourself on sharp rocks or broken glass.

Masks & Makeup

If your costume requires a mask or other face covering, you should be able to see clearly and breathe easily at all times. Unless the mask is clipped to your hair or costume, take it off when walking between houses.

For increased visibility and safety, consider using face paint or makeup instead of a mask. Read the packaging before using any makeup, and follow the application instructions carefully. Be especially careful when applying makeup near your eyes.

Do not leave any makeup on overnight. Follow the removal instructions carefully and use the recommended products. Again, be careful when cleaning the area around your eyes.

Accessories

Instead of sharp and pointy real accessories, use soft, flexible, short imitations. Make sure that scarves, sashes, and hats are worn securely and do not block your vision.

Be more visible by carrying your candy in a white or brightly-colored bag. Alternatively, put reflective tape on your bag.

Decorating

Instead of candles, use small, battery-powered lights inside jack-o-lanterns and luminaries. This precaution reduces the chances of your decorations catching fire.

To create a spooky atmostphere, use colored lightbulbs or theatrical gels to change the color of your porch light. Do not use plastic wrap because it could melt or cause a fire. If you use cloth, do not drape it over the bulb, and make sure that it is not touching the bulb at all.

If you do put candles in pumpkins or paper bags, set them back from the walkway so that long costumes will not fall into the flames. Do not light candles in cluttered areas, on unsteady furniture, or near curtains and drapes. Keep them out of reach of children and pets.

Trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating alone is not fun or safe. Always go with a group of friends or an adult you trust. Plan your route ahead of time so that your parents know where you are and when you'll be back. Bring a cell phone, a set of walkie-talkies, or change for a payphone in case you get lost or separated from your group.

Never go into a house or apartment unless your parents are with you. Avoid darkened houses; only visit those with a front porch light turned on. Do not walk near luminaries or candle-lit jack-o-lanterns. Stay on sidewalks and driveways to avoid damaging plants or tripping over obstacles in the lawn.

Carry a flashlight so you can see where you're walking and so others can see you. Walk on the sidewalk wherever possible. If there is no sidewalk, keep away from the edge of the road and walk facing the traffic. Cross busy streets at the crosswalk.

Walk from house to house. If you run, you could trip on your costume and hurt yourself. Do not ride a bicycle to do your trick-or-treating; your costume could get caught in the wheels, gears, or pedals.

Candy & Other Treats

Tips for Kids

As tempting as your Halloween loot might be, do not eat any of it until your parents have had a chance to check it for you. Avoid the urge to snack while trick-or-treating by eating dinner before you go.

Don't eat all your candy at once--too many sweets will give you a stomachache. After Halloween, eat a few pieces of candy at a time instead of dessert, or freeze the candy to eat later.

Tips for Parents

Before your children eat any of their candy, check that all packaging is completely sealed. Check wrappers carefully for signs of tampering such as discolorations, pinholes, and small tears. Any opened packages and homemade food or candy should be thrown away.

If you're answering the door and giving out treats, offer non-candy substitutes such as prepackaged fruit snacks or sealed boxes of raisins. Treats don't have to be edible--items such as pencils, stickers, or small toys add variety to a trick-or-treater's haul.

Where did they all come from?!?

Fleahoppers. That's right, today's topic is garden fleahopper. Tiny, pesky, damaging fleahoppers. Not only do they seem to be in everyone else's vegetable garden, but they are on my garden too *sigh*. So here we go into summer with our first official insect:

The garden fleahopper is a tiny, black insect that hops (see cool picture from University of Arkansas) and feeds on a wide range of vegetables. The fleahopper is known to feed on beans, beets, cabbage, celery, corn, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, parsley, peas, peppers, potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and many herbs & annuals. These insects will hop from host weedy plants such as quickweed, clover & morning glory onto your garden so attention to weeds is necessary. They are a piercing sucking insect which means your standard sprays often will not work.

A couple of websites of interest on flea hoppers & home garden insect control:

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef307.asp

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef445.asp

As the days are getting longer and you are spending more time outdoors let me remind you to drink plenty of water. Be safe out there & happy gardening!

In response to the rain...

I've seen rain before but not like this in a long time. To try and get ahead of your questions the following is from Kansas State University Cooperative Extension Service.

Flooding & Plants

Waterlogged soils have had the oxygen pushed out that roots need to survive. Every living cell in a plant must have oxygen or it dies. ome plants have mechanisms to provide oxygen to the roots even under saturated conditions, but most of our vegetables and flowers do not. The longer these plants are subjected to saturated soils, the more likely damae will occur. Usually, as long as water drains winthin 24 hours, the impact on plant health is minimal. However, shallow, stagnant water under hot, sunny conditions can literally cook plants, reducing survival time to as little as a few hours.

Recommendations:

Vegetables: Is it safe to eat produce from a garden that has been flooded? Standing water should not cause a safety problem as long as the aboveground portions of the plant remain healthy. Do not use produce from plants that have yellowed. Also, using produce flooded with water cntaminated with sewage (lagoon) or animal manure also can be dangerous. The safest approach is to discard garden crops that have been in contact with such water. Certainly, leafy vegetables should always be discarded. However, you can eat tomatos, peppers, eggplants, sweet corn, squash, cucumbers, and similar vegetables that develop after the waters have subsided as long as the fruit is not cracked or soft. Always wash vegetables thoroughly before eating.

Lawns: Under the cool conditions of early spring, turfgrasses often can survive several days of flooding. However, during hot, sunny conditions with shallow, stagnant water, lawns ay be damamged quickly, sometimes in a few hours. This situation often occurs when shallow depressions in a lawn allow water to pool. Note such arease and fill in with additional soil once the waters have subsided. Grass plants may not be able to take up the nutrients need to maintain a good green color when there is too much soil water and may have a yellowish hue. Fortunately, this chlorosis will correct itself when soils dry. Plants should regain their color with a return to drier weather.

Trees: Trees differe markedly in their ability to withstand flooding. Some trees have mechanisms in place to provide oxygen to the roots of plants with water-saturated soils, and others do not. However, most trees will maintain health if floodwaters recede in 7 days or less. It also helps if water is flowing rather than stagnant because flowing water contains more oxygen. If the roos ofsensitive trees are flooded or long periods of time, damage will occur including leaf drop, iron chlorosis, leaf cur, branch dieback and, in some cases, tree death. Another danger of flooding is the deposition of sediment. An additional layer of silt 3 inches or more can also restrict oxygen to the roots. If possible, remove deep layers of sedimnt as soon as conditions permit. This is especially important for small or recently transplanted trees.

Try to avoic additional stress to the trees this growing season. Ironically, one of the most important practices is to water trees if the weather turns dry. Flooding damages roots, making the root system ess efficient in making use of available soil water. Timely watering is vital to a tree's recovery. Also diligently remove dead or dying branches that may serve as an entry point for disease organisms or insect pests.

The following information on tree survival came from the U.S. Forest Service.

Flood-tolerant trees can survive one growing season under flooded conditions: Red maple, silver maple, pecan, hackberry, persimmon, white ash, green ash, sweetgum, sycamore, eastern cottonwood, pin oak, and baldcypress.

Trees moderately tolerant of flooding can survive 30 consecutive days under flooded conditions: river birch, down hawthorn, honeylocust, swamp white ak, southern red oak, bur oak, willow oak, and American elm.

Trees sensitive to flooding are unable to survive more than a few days of flooding during the growing season: redbud, flowering dogwood, black walnut, red mulberry, most pines, white oak, blackjack oak, red oak, and black oak.

Soils often become compacted and crusted after a heavy rainfall. This also can restrict oxygen to the roots. Lightly scraping the soil to break this crust will help maintain a healthy root system and, therefore, a healthy plant. Be careful not to cultivate too deeply as shallow roots may be damaged. If you think the excessively wet weater will continue, bedding up the rows before planting even just a couple of inches, will improve drainage and allow for better aeration.

It smells like spring....

This spring I am trying new things--personally and professionally. But today I was reminded of the smell of spring. Driving home this evening I smelled a lot of grass with a hint (okay, more than a hint) of onion. So today's topic is the smell of spring, specifically the smell (and management) of wild onion and wild garlic.

Now some people really hate wild onion and wild garlic. As for me, I don't mind it. To me it makes the world smell like a really big salad. But for those of you who just can't stand it here are some fun facts to make your management of this weed a little bit easier.

For starters, most of what you call wild onion is actually wild garlic (Allium vineale) and is a cool season bulb. There is no preemergent control and post-emergent control is done chemically. For those who would rather not spray, mowing will help weaken the plant but may not actually ever kill it. Take heart though, since it is a cool season plant it's day in the yard is short and usually does not last through April. The University of Tennessee Extension has a great publication on wild garlic if you are interested in reading about this edible weed by following this link: http://www.tennesseeturfgrassweeds.org/admin/Lists/Fact%20Sheets/Attachments/7/W212_wildgarlic.pdf

So many great things are getting ready to happen in April. The Garden Party is April 10th at the Extension Office, a Garden Photography class, and a New Gardener series. And for those who want more detail, we are already signing up people for the Master Gardener Class this fall.

So for now, let me wish you all a Happy Easter weekend and here's to nice spring weather!

Hooray!

I found out last week I have a reader! Now, normal people wouldn't be so excited about 1 reader, but that's what Extension does--we sometime educate one person at a time. Last week I had thought I might quit doing the blog, but thanks to my one reader I think I'll keep trying.

So for today folks I just want to invite everyone to become a fan on Facebook. My FB page is UK Cooperative Extension--Warren County Horticulture. I keep that site pretty up to date on what's going on plus post pictures from programs that I do. Stop by and say hi!

I'm off to take a group of agents to a local, sustainable and organic farm that already has produce to sell. This is probably my favorite thing to do, showing off what others are doing really well.

Cheers & get gardening!

Welcome Spring!

Spring is generally my busiest time of year--so I can definitely say spring is in the air. Phone calls have increased and yesterday I diagnosed a very cool case of crown gall on a euonymus. I say cool because I have a plant pathology background and we find weird things on plants cool. In reality it is a bacteria that makes this brainy gall on the plant, is highly infectious to other plants, and can only be destroyed effectively by burning what you prune off. Never fear, it won't kill your plants immediately and only effects certain types of plants. However, there is not a lot you can do other than prune out infected material, sanitize your clippers with alcohol, and burn the cuttings. The picture is from Ohio State University Extension--I still say it looks cool.

Here's my second question--is anyone out there reading this??? I'll keep writing until I hear....