by Stan Logan | Jul 2, 2018 | Garden tools
Alas, I have run out of the garden tools I wish to write about—except for this one. It is one of my favorites and I would have told you about it sooner had it been available. The company in Grants Pass, Oregon, for various reasons has not had the long-handled version of this tool in production for several years. A recent call to them revealed a possible resumption of production.
The circle hoe is, as the name implies, a hoe with a circular blade at the end. When the hoe is held in the standard position, the circle attains a vertical position. When you pull the hoe towards you, the sharpened edge of the lower surface slices through the soil to cut off the roots of weeds below the coil level.
So why is this tool special? The circular cutting blade is 1/8-inch-thick so if you have the strength, this tool will transfer that strength to cut through well-developed tap roots. The cutting surface is small, so there is little soil resistance as you pull through even clay soils. The sides and back of the blade are dull so you can maneuver closely around plants without damaging them. The circle hoe is better than a hula hoe in that it is not only stronger, but less soil is disturbed. If you are weeding in bark cover or a mat of pine needles, less material is messed.
Happy weeding,
Stan, The Tool Man
by Stan Logan | Jul 2, 2018 | Apps
Let’s say you having a garden party that involves putting on a lunch. Your daughter is coming and, as usual, she is late. You are going to put the garlic toast in the oven 7 minutes before lunch is served. The hors d’oeuvres are just about consumed and everyone is waiting for the meal. Now you could call her and risk a car accident when she fumbles for her phone . . . or you could simply use the Life360 app on your smart phone. Since she is in your “clan” you can see exactly where she is on the road and know how long it will take her to arrive. 7 minutes before her appearance, the toast goes in the oven and voila, lunch is served just as she enters. Life360 is a free app that lets you see the location of the smart phone of your clan members anywhere in the world. Currently we are watching the travels of our adopted family in Japan. Now granted, this does cost you a degree of privacy because your family also has the ability to see where you are, but to me this is another way of maintaining family ties and I encourage you to try it if it sounds appealing.
Stan, The Blog Man
by Stan Logan | Jul 2, 2018 | Garden tools
One person’s flower is another person’s weed. I thought the moss plants growing in the iris garden were attractive. Today I find that LaVille feels differently. I wish she had told me sooner, as there are now large patches of moss growing among the irises and in the paths. So I started torching the moss plants today. I finally quit when my eyes were burning from the smoke that arose from the conflagrations straight up into my face. My advice to you is that if you purchase a torch, doing your burning when there is a slight breeze. Then you won’t stink of burned debris as I currently do.
Last evening and this morning I spent a lot of time pruning back recent grow on bushes and vines. It is amazing how much growth has taken place in the last few weeks. As I used my favorite thinning pruner that I have shown you several times, I cannot stop hoping that you have purchased this tool. The long slender blades easily reach into a plant to reach the desired stem. New growth is thin, so little mechanical advantage is needed, therefore the blades move more rapidly than those of other pruners. Need I remind you how easily they fit in your back pocket? If you lost my list of tools for the gardener, this pruner can be found on Amazon—Corona FS-4350 thinning shear.
Stan, The Blog Man
by Stan Logan | Jun 11, 2018 | Garden tools
I have been sleeping well at night. Now that SPPC has given me the opportunity to express thoughts, my mind isn’t going crazy with ideas and keeping me awake. Now it’s my wife’s turn. She lost a lot of sleep last night thinking about clay projects. So she left me today to work at Alpha Fine Arts in Sacramento. (She is coming back though.) So much creative talent, and so little time.
While playing in the garden today, several thoughts came to mind. At least some of you have continued to resist removing your lawn to conserve water. I am one of these. I love my lawn. At one time it covered the entire back yard. Now it’s far less than 1000 square feet. It contains no weeds, but there are a few brown spots where my son’s dog has done his thing. I love it best when the grandkids are here. See, they have no lawn. Their house is on a steep slope in the hills above Los Gatos. The creek that runs 100 yards below them represents the line of the San Andreas Fault. So you see, it is a treat for them to have a lawn to play on. The girls do cartwheels and wrestle about. At lunch time they spread out a blanket and they lie on their backs in the shade of the hackberry tree while they eat their Nana special sandwiches (strawberry jam, creamed cheese, and peanut butter}. This is really why I love my lawn.
So if you still have a lawn, I hope you have a mower that has a good vacuuming blade. Practically all mowers come with a mulching blade that does not do a great job at sucking up plant debris. You generally can order a blade that does a good job at vacuuming. There unfortunately is no such blade for my Craftsman mower. What do you do with your clippings? I hope you use them for mulch around your plants in the vegetable garden. If your clippings go into the organic recycle bin, I would suggest that you put a layer of dry plant material in first so that the grass clippings don’t form a gooey mess that sticks to the bottom of the bin. Another suggestion is to leave the bin lid open. This lets the contents dry out and this eliminates a lot of odor and prevents the condensation on the bin inner surfaces that gathers debris when the bins are dumped. Now . . . if you just had a power washer, you could keep all your bins clean enough to eat out of . . . Perhaps that’s a stretch.
Stan, The Blog Man
by Stan Logan | Jun 11, 2018 | Recipes
Since Stan wrote about brown bananas, I am compelled to share a recipe for Banana Curd which appeared in The Sacramento Bee many years ago. I find myself wishing my bananas quickly turn brown so I can make this condiment. Enjoy it on toast for breakfast or graham crackers as a snack. It serves as a chutney for spicy dishes, especially curries.
BANANA CURD
Flavor depends on using very ripe, soft and sweet bananas with dark brown skins. If bananas are barely ripe, add a bit of sugar. A hint of allspice or nutmeg is also good.
2 or 3 very ripe bananas
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
Dash ground cloves
Dash ground cinnamon
Mash bananas with fork or potato masher, leaving a few lumps, to make 1-1/2 cups.
Place mashed bananas in a small saucepan. Add lemon juice and zest along with cloves and cinnamon.
Bring to a boil and simmer gently about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. While simmering, bananas will slowly heave up into mounds and then spout little puffs of steam, like simmering oatmeal.
Cool. Pour into a jar, cover, and refrigerate. Curd will keep about 2 weeks.
Per 1/4 cup: 47 cal; 1 g pro; 12 g carb; 0 g fat, 0 mg chol; 1 mg sod; 1 g fiber; 9 g sugar
Linda Hax
