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November 2000 WINDING DOWN FOR THE SEASON Some chores still necessary to ensure success in the garden next year Another gardening season draws to a close. If the pace becomes less frantic, there are a few chores left. Experienced gardeners know that attention to these now pays off next season. Yeas we’re talking about 2001 already. The ritual of lawn mowing will finally cease this month. This one is different from all the others. Instead of leaving the grass one and a half to two inches long, give the lawn a crew cut. Leaving it short will ensure it does not bend over under the weight of snows and rains, to mat down and form a barrier to new growth next spring. Roses are next on the list for attention. Canadian-developed strains such as the fames “Explorer” and “Prairie” series need no attention unless planted this past spring. If such is the case they join their more effeminate cousins from south o’ the border as well as Europe in requiring protection from the rigors of a Canadian winter. The expression of “earthing-up” is a misnomer. By all means use a plastic “rose collar” around each bush after cutting back to a foot or so high. But instead of soil, fill with composted cattle or sheep manure. About 10-litres per bush does nicely. Come spring, this makes a mulch of superior quality, just the thing their majesties, the queens of flowers, like to bed down in. Never, ever, discard rose prunings, including spent foliage and blooms, into the composter. There is simply not enough heat generated by garden and home waste to kill the spores of that obnoxious rose disease black spot, bane of rosarians. Store hose away somewhere handy so that conifers can continue to be soaked up until the ground starts freezing next month. Building up reserves will allow them breeze through the cold season without suffering from winter burn, what unsightly browning that all too often occurs. Mulches are another way of protecting tender plants. Of course, “earthing-up” roses is one such. But now we’re talking about using straw, compost or other organic matter piled three or more inches thick on beds. Lay in a supply of such materials but so not mulch perennials, bulbs or herbs yet. Allow the ground to freeze first. This will not take place until well into December. The idea is not to shelter the over wintering plants from cold. It is to ensure that once frozen, the ground stays that way. It is not the cold that kills. It is the inevitable cycle of Freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw that takes place in the absence of insulating snow cover. Incredible as it may seem, more northern gardeners, such as those in Barrie, for example, rarely suffer perennial losses experienced by their southern brethren thanks to ample supplies of snow. Further south must mulch and mulch much. The uninformed or just plain lazy, regard fallen leaves as literally heaven-sent potential mulch. No need to compost, they believe. Just rake it onto the flowerbeds and voila, instant mulch. Mould that is was that easy. Alas, such settles down to form a soggy, air excluding mass that chokes growth below but fosters all manner of interesting pests and diseases. Compost the leaves for one to two years instead, then use as mulch. Professionals know that once temperatures form below about 5C any fertilizer will become inactive and so unavailable until temperatures rise again. The late fertilizing of deciduous trees has much to recommend it, taking advantage of this fact. It also allows the gardener to take another advantage of retailers anxious to rid their stockrooms of over wintering boxes of fertilizer, often at appropriate bargain basement prices. If you don’t use it all it can be stored in sub-zero temperatures so long as it does not become wet. Long Lives of Gardeners Talking recently with Alison Findley, marketing coordinator for the fames Canada Blooms show, it was casually mentioned that gardeners are a notoriously long-lived bunch. She was surprised and even more so when it was admitted there was a list available. It seems much too intriguing not to share ore widely. Space has caused some abbreviation unfort6unately. However we can but add that George Bernard Shaw, who died form complications of a broken thigh falling out of an apple tree at age 94 might have lived longer…
Bug Off: Indoor Pest Control It’s only November and already your houseplants are showing every indication of mass hara-kiri. What to do? At most other times of the year, the blame may be assigned to over- or, much more rarely, under watering, poor potting, lack of proper lighting or any one or more numerous other domestic environmental tragedies. In the wake of Halloween though, it is as if every witch and warlock had cursed out houseplants. It is one of the few calamities that cannot be blamed upon politicians. The causes are usually very literally bugs in the system. They can almost be listed on the fingers of one hand. Spider mite is about the size of a pinhole. Forget about seeing this blighter. Look for the damage it causes: yellowing, dusty foliage and, as attacks progress, fine webs especially in leaf axils. There are almost a thousand aphids worldwide and perhaps fifty or more occurring in Canada. Expect similar yellow, dusty foliage and white flecks of shed skin (ugh!). A black, sooty fungus grows on the excrement they excrete (again ugh!). They spread many virus diseases and their sexual habits are so odd that even CBC hasn’t featured them. Similar damage with black fungus on lower parts of the plants and the floor below may be expected of white flies, mealy bugs and scale insects. The first look exactly like their name, forming a white cloud when the plants are shaken. Mealy bugs resemble dabs of white, gray or even light pink cotton wool. Scale is also aptly named, usually brown, one-eighth-inch ovals looking like a small fish scale or saltwater limpet. The last of our thuggish culprits is the fungus gnat, often incorrectly labeled a fruit fly, which they do resemble. Their larvae, tiny brownish spindles, shop away on plant root hairs well concealed by soil. Simply spraying with room temperature water each and every day will discourage all these brutes. A monthly spray of Safer Insecticidal Soap also works wonders the natural way. The greatest idea though comes form the same company’s “Sticky Sticks” yellow pest strips that clip on small plastic sticks inserted into the oil at the base of the plant. Yellow is man bugs favorite color. Flying to it, they become entangled with the tacky surface and die. No muss, no fuss and no more having to remember the last time you sprayed. City Gardening’s Annual Recommended Book List “Is there a book?” is the cri de Coeur of the novice gardener, to say nothing of (not a few) experienced ones also. Yes, there are, but not all gardening books are created equally. Far too many are dumped on the Canadian Market from elsewhere have little or no relevance to gardening here. The following, drastically pruned, list judges offerings by local relevance, content and price. General Doc and Kathy Abraham: Green Thumb of Wisdom Roger Hyam, Richard Pankhurst: Plants & Their Names Liz Primeau: Gardening for Canadians for Dummies Wendy Thomas: Super Hints for Ontario Gardeners Toy Vickery: A Dictionary of Plant Lore Lawns & Ground Covers Jennifer Bennett (ed): Ground Covers Wes Porter: Green Side Up Dick Raymond: Natural Lawn Care Trees & Shrubs A.R. Buckley: Trees & Shrubs of the Dominion Arboretum Editors of Fine Gardening: Shrubs & Trees Lewis Hill: Pruning Simplified Robert Osborne: Hardy Trees & Shrubs Guy Steinberg: Landscaping with Native Trees Vines Karen Davis Cutler: Vines Hedges Ogden Tanner: Living Fences Roses Robert Osborne: Hardy Roses Flowers David Archibald: Water Gardens Henry W. Art: The Wildflower Garden Jennifer Bennett: The Annual Garden A.R. Buckley: Canadian Garden Perennials Katherine Ferguson (ed): Spring Flower Katherine Ferguson (ed): Rock Gardens Editors, Canadian Gardening: Natural Gardening Editors, Fine Gardening: Perennials Lewis Hill: Successful Perennial Gardening Patrick Lima: Harrowsmith Perennial Garden John Valleau: Perennial Gardening Guide Vegetables & Fruit Jennifer Bennett (ed): Berries Jennifer Bennett: Book of Fruit Jennifer Bennett: Northern Gardener Editors, Canadian Gardening: Vegetable Gardening Turid Forsyth: Salad Garden Gerri Harrington: Grow Your Own Chinese Vegetables Patrick Lima: The Kitchen Garden Rick Raymond: Gardening Know How for the 90’s Herbs Wee Yeo Chin, Hsuan Keng: Chinese Medicinal Herbs Patrick Lima: Book of Herbs Penelope Ody: The Complete Medicinal Herbal Phyllis Shaudys: The Pleasure of Herbs Propagation Lewis Hill: Secrets of Plant Propagation Eileen Powell: From Seed to Bloom Carole B. Turner: Seed Sowing & Saving Pest & Disease Control Rhonda Hart: Bugs, Slugs and Other Thugs William Olkowski: common-Sense Pest Control Composting & Mulching Stu Campbell: Let It Rot! Stu Campbell: The Mulch Book Mark Cuillen: The Real Dirt Indoor Plants John Brookes (ed): Prentice-Hall Pocket Encyclopedia of House Plants Henry Jaworski: Orchids Simplified Design and Landscaping Cathy Barash: Evening Gardens John Brookes (ed): Prentice-Hall Pocket Encyclopedia of Garden Planting Brenda Cole: Shade Gardening Editors, Canadian Gardening: Creating a Garden Editors, Canadian Gardening: Great Ideas for the Garden Editors, Fine Gardening: Garden Design Ideas Editors, Fine Gardening: Great Gardens Gill Hale: The Feng Shui Garden Gordon Hayward: Garden Paths Mike Lawrence: Outdoor Stonework Allen Paterson: Designing a Garden David Siles: Sheds Philip Swindells: Container Water Gardens Steve Whysall: 100 Best Plants for the Ontario Garden R.D. Woodson: Watering Systems Children Anita Ganeri: What’s Inside Plats Wes Porter: The Garden Book Horticultural Happenings 23-28 October Toronto Japanese Garden Club Flower and Bonsai Show 48th show at Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, 6 Garamond Crt.; admission $5.00; for more information call (905) 889-6316. Very highly recommended; includes tea room 4 November 5th Annual Commercial Herb Growing Conference 9a.m. – 5 p.m. Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre $85.00; contact Richter’s, Goodwood, Ontario for more information call (905) 640-6677 5 November Cha No Yu: The Way of Tea 1 p.m. at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, 6 Garamond Crt; learn more about ”Sadoh” or the Japanese Tea Ceremony at no charge: for more information call (416) 493-6776 6 November The Great Pesticide Debate 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Royal Botanic Gardens, Hamilton; Ontario Shade Tree Council; cost $125.00; for more information call Peter Dmytrasz (416) 392-1898 12 November Arts & Crafts Show at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, 6 Garamond Crt. 0 a.m. – 5 p.m.; includes Japanese gift items, washi ningyo, bird feeders and much more 16 November Green Tourist Guide Book Launch at Royal York Hotel; for more information call (416) 392-1288 24-26 November Whole Life Expo 2000; 14th Annual showcase of natural health and alternative medicine at Metro Convention Centre 255 Front St. West for more information visit www.wholelife.com Toronto field Naturalist Outings Free guided walks commence promptly at times indicated; dress according to weather with suitable footwear; bring binoculars, camera, note book; a beverage may also be refreshing; children are welcome but please, no pets. All walks are accessible from public transportation. 8 November Finch Hydro Corridor nature walk: meet 1-0 a.m. n.w. corner Finch/Leslie; bring lunch 12 November Highland Creek nature walk; meet 1 p.m. se corner Lawrence and Beechgrove 15 November High Park nature walk; meet 10 a.m. park entrance s. side Bloor opposite High Park Avenue; bring lunch 22 November Taylor Creek nature walk; meet 10:30 a.m. se corner Woodbine/O’Connor; morning only 29
November Toronto Island Nature Walk; meet 10:30 a.m. ferry docks foot of
Bay St; dress warmly and bring lunch New Products The new, all natural Ro*Pel helps protect lawns, flower gardens, hedges, shrubs trees and other planted areas from damage by dogs and cats. The repellent granules deter neighbors’ pets from defecating and urinating on your property as well as digging in lawns and flowerbeds. Sales Manager Ron Pierantoni of Burlington Scientific Corp. New Jersey, who manufacture Ro*Pel Outdoor Dog, Cat & bird Repellent, extols its virtues. The granules affect the animal’s sense of smell. Although not unpleasant to humans, it is extremely repu7lsive to these animals, but causes them no physical harm, just encourages them to leave your garden. Distributed in Canada and should be available at any retail outlet that aspires to be called a garden center. Gardener’s Bookshelf No Gardener in the Golden Horseshoe area can call themselves such unless they posses an annual copy of The Toronto Gardener’s Journal & Source Book. Self published buy Margaret Bennet-Alder out of her city home, it is exactly what the title says…a record of the garden, handy and very practical weekly tips along with the most complete resources guide ever to come any gardener’s way. The local information covered is simply staggering. Included are suppliers of anything and everything horticultural, books, events, tours shows, education, gardens to visit, societies, publications and much more. Some 200 pages, ring bound, costs a very modest $17,95 including taxes, plus $2.05 for shipping from Briar Hill Desktop Publishing, 490 Briar Hill Ave Toronto, Ont. M5N 1M7; for more information call (415) 488-9523 News From a Gardener’s View Point City Gardening peers at the past month’s news from Canada and Elsewhere Landscaping A Markham landscaping company’s propane tank caught fire in their yard, fortunately without exploding. Trees Why anyone would want to fell 30 maples, elms and other trees near Woodsmere Cres, Pickering, is puzzling, but an unfortunate fact. Ontario Natural Resources Minister John Snobelen increases the maximum area for clear-cutting of forests from 260 to 10,000 hectares saying it resembles forest fires and is beneficial to wildlife such as caribou, if not the trees involved. The Federal Court has ordered that some 10,000 spruce in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax are not to be cut down until a judicial review of the federal government’s plans is completed, ascertaining the true risk from an invasive beetle. Lawns A New Zealand man has released a CD with over an hour’s noises of power lawnmowers ideal, he says, for dawn serenades of neighbors addicted to noisy night parties. A Saskatoon couple has been charged with criminal harassment after they objected to their neighbors retaining a professional lawn care company to take care of a thistle problem last summer. Their victims say they were forced to sell their house and move, while their accused attackers are suing them for $100,000 over alleged “contamination”. The case has been adjourned until December. Lucky are the gardeners in the U.S. who, in three years may be able to sow different colored lawn grasses other than green, say enthusiastic researchers. Also in the works in the works are grasses that grow slower and so require less mowing, which tolerate drought better and, finally, pest and disease resistant. All thanks to advances in genetic engineering technology from those friendly folk at Monsanto, Rutgers University of New Jersey and Scotts of Marysville, Ohio. Lawn care is reportedly a $3.5 billion per year business in Canada, reports the Financial Post and so merits a detailed examination in an article headlined “Turf Wars”, claiming such “ has become a battle ground between business and environmentalists”. Janet May, pesticides campaign director for the Toronto Environmental Alliance, admits: “If you wake up one morning and your lawn is covered in dandelions, it’s pretty hard to resist the urge to run out and dump chemicals on it.” Flowers It’s all in a gene called FRIGIDA, says a British scientist. This tells plants when they can safely flower. Since different forms of FRIGIDA may exist in varying species of the same plant, by crossbreeding crops and garden flowers they will be able to tolerate wider extremes of climate with increased production, researchers optimistically report. Mrs. Shizuko Kadogushi, President of the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Toronto, has been honored with the name “Hosui” (Sweetest Essence) by Ikenobo Sen-ei, 45th Headmaster of the Ikenobo Ikebana School in Kyoto, Japan. The award was make “in recognition of her lifelong devotion to Ikenobo and for her contribution to bring art of Ikebana into the lives of so many Canadians”, according to the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre’s newsletter. Bolivian flower growers flew their blooms out to market as roads were blocked by protesters objecting to official destruction of notorious coca plants, the source of cocaine. First signs of cold or flu? Take Echinacea advise alternative medicine experts. Unfortunately they cannot agree on whether powder, tablet, tincture or other forms are the most effective or, indeed, if it should be Echinacea purpurea or E. angustifolia. One thing is agreed on: take only for short periods, never continuously. Or perhaps just enjoy this attractive native North American perennial in the garden. Bad news for carnation growers: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth hates them. Mauve flowers are also banished but yellow ones are highly enjoyed. But in France the FTD advise not to send yellow flowers as the colour means infidelity, while in Latin America such are associated with death and so to be used only at funerals. Came Edna Everage’s hair, however, is an “electric mauve” or what she prefers to call “natural wisteria”. Down in the Vegetables Of all places, England has embraced a genetically modified crop. Well, sort of. Nematodes can be serious pests of potatoes, hanging on in fields thanks to “volunteers,” or accidentally un-harvested spuds. But rotate them with GM sugar beet, spray the latter glyophosphate herbicide to which the beets are resistant and no more nematode-bearing “volunteers.” At least that’s what researchers are suggesting. Eudora e-mail software developers Qualcomm of San Diego, California, have developed a program that detects if an e-mail is another example of “flaming” or plain offensive. The program lets you know this by indicating one to three red peppers with a pithy comment. First Apples in computers and now peppers… Perhaps it wasn’t blight that did in your tomatoes this past summer but ignorance of feng shui, much used by the Chinese. At least the British Tomato Growers Association suggested its members resort to this practice earlier in the season, with what results we are waiting to learn. The Lobay family of Smokey Lake, Albert, have their “pumpkin” disqualified and termed instead a “squash” at the 12th annual Great White North Pumpkin Fair in that community (pop. 1,068) which claims to be the pumpkin capital of Alberta. Perhaps so but, \unlike Nova Scotia, not included is a Pumpkin Regatta: in which contestants paddle in their pumpkins to win maritime glory. Harry Williams of Forest, Ontario takes top prize at Port Elgin’s 14th annual Pumpkin fest with a 960-pounder, a hundred pounds over his nearest rival. Mr. Williams received $3000. City Gardening calculated that the pumpkin would have made almost 500 pies. Despite all this good pumpkin news, Ontario farmers claim earlier wet weather reduced their crop by half and so their prices rose by 20 per cent. Body Shop founder Anita Roddick advises to preserve youthful looks: eat tomatoes. “Tomatoes make you happy. Have you ever met a miserable Italian? I mean, they are irritating, but they are never miserable. I believe in the power of tomatoes.” Ms. Roddick is of Italian background Scenting yourself with cucumber and licorice is an effective aphrodisiac to turn on women, advises The Toronto Sun, citing Chicago’s Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation. The same institution reports that the aroma of pumpkin pie arouses both sexes. The manager of Strictly Bulk Food Emporium, 2436 Danforth Ave, Toronto, questions this. His entire family had pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving but he reports somewhat wistfully, “Nothing happened.” The
Royal Winter Fair will feature some of the enormous vegetables of Stouffville
resident Norm Craven this month. In
past years he has grown 30-lb beets, cabbage of 40-lb and three feet across, 16
foot long carrots and sunflowers almost 30-feet tall. Fruit Brazilian scientists make a break through in altering the DNA of the Xuletta bacterium which should begin a new era of disease control for oranges, grapes, coffee and tobacco, they report. Natural Gardening World Teachers Day is celebrated by a few very vocal activists in Toronto who deliver bags of cattle manure to Education Minister Janet Ecker at the Queen’s Park Legislature, who is reportedly not am-moo-sed. A British research organization claims organic food is worth US $15-billion worldwide and the business is growing by 30 per cent every year. Multinational companies are indicating interest, particularly in the top three nations for sales: the US, Germany and Japan. Herbs Garlic has been replaced by modern technology, at least as far as repelling ghosts. Infrared and light-intensifying cameras are banned from séances and so, gleefully reports New Scientist, are obviously better repellents than the traditional herb. Rethink Beer is launched in British Columbia, an ad agency’s dream, each battle claimed to contain 1/8 of a man’s daily requirements of ginseng, gingko and tribulus. The latter is said to be favoured by Olympic weight lifters to boost testosterone levels. No word on what happens should females also imbibe the brew. Water Gardening Perhaps it will work for koi. A Lac La Biche, Alberta trout pond is effectively guarded against hungry cormorants by a ten-foot plastic alligator with flashing. Light-reflecting eyes. Weeds Dr. Eugene Hugue, Summerland Research Station, B.C. demonstrates that early weed control is essential for the growth of apple trees. He also proves quack grass and possibly other weeds. Emit growth-retarding substances. Bugs and Gardeners Remember the date your trees flowered 15 years ago? According to new research, cicadas can. If fact that is how they keep track of time, something that until now has baffled gardeners, naturalists and scientists alike. The insects’ nymphs monitor the sap in the tree roots they feast upon, detecting changes that occur when flowering takes place, scientists discovered. Bacterial attacks in plants are difficult to control. Now, Lee Jackson, president of AgriPhi in Logan, Utah, has updated the 60-year-old discarded idea using bacteriaphages, bacteria-chomping viruses, to attack these serious plant diseases. He is working at present on diseases of tomatoes and bell peppers. At the University of Florida, another scientist is using the same method to attack geranium blight, bring hope to flower lovers as well. An outbreak of mountain pine beetles in Banff National Park is not worrying federal officials in charge who claim this is a part of the natural cycle. Alberta Environment Department officials are less enthused. They want to cut and destroy infected trees before the beetle spreads to commercial forest areas. Some 500 lodge-pole pines are infested at present. In reporting attacks by imported beetles on the spruce in Point Pleasant Park Halifax, the National Post manages to confuse the Asian Long-horned beetle with the actual culprit, the European brown spruce Long-horned beetle. Gardening in the City We missed reporting this one when it occurred in 1991; the National Post tells us there is at least one thing squirrels are good for. In Sacramento, California that year, a man was charged with “spousal assault” after he walloped his wife with several frozen squirrels he grabbed from the freezer. (Yes, we were wondering about that too.) “On behalf of the detested squirrels and raccoons of Toronto, let’s take these purple, dotted and sequined freaks of nature out to a huge field where they can graze and mate in peace” – Adrienne Weiss on moose mascots. (Metro, 4 October 2000) Toronto takes a first-place in the international “Cities in Bloom” contest. Humorists suggest Mayor Mel Lastman adopt bonsai culture as a hobby. The only comment City Gardening offers on the upcoming municipal elections 13 November is that amongst the candidates for Toronto’s mayor is a “worm composter”. Lester B Pearson Garden for Peace and Understanding is officially dedicated on the grounds of his old alma mater, Victoria University, 73 Queen’s Park Crescent East, Toronto. Science and the Gardener Kraft Foods withdraws all its taco shells in US stores when it is revealed they contain genetically modified corn. The Europe-based seed company Adventis SA sold this variety, StarLink, to US farmers. The US announces a buy-back program for farmers with Adventis footing the $65-million cost. Meanwhile that bastion of anti-Genetic Modification and believer of purity in food, France, decides that a field accidentally sown with soybean seed containing traces of Genetically Modified material is acceptable. ConAgra Foods Inc. of Kansas stopped its corn milling operations to ensure none of the now-notorious StarLink genetically modified corn was present. Enjoyed the reds and purples of fall? The same compounds existed in the earliest photosynthesizing bacteria, hence the world was purple before it was green, says scientist Carl Bauer of Indiana University. New crop plants should have other pars than their edible produce, says a scientist from Southern Illinois University. These may have parts more appealing to insects. Favouring them and so upsetting local ecological balances, he claims. Agro-business is dubious, but a U.K.-based environmental activist is very enthusiastic. Uzbekistan scientists, slightly miffed at neighbors in Afghanistan seeming reluctance to control their heroin production, have developed a fungus that will attack the opium poppies. The disease is said, so far, to be safe by Dr. Breaves, of Bristol, England, head of research for the United Nations Drug Control Program that was funded by the US and Britain. Not everybody is so optimistic. “The fungus sounds like a silver bullet, but it could easily become a poisoned chalice.” Paul Rogers, a British plant pathologist said. He added that such might easily fall into terrorists’ hands. Three environmentally active groups claim that genetically engineered food will not solve world hunger. None of them choose to reveal that they are not exactly renowned for their track record of success in resolution of the same. Tired of having to vent the home conservatory of glasshouse? The 3M Company has invented a new polymer film that blocks infrared light. Tests have shown exceptional increase of yields of fruit such as tomatoes, as well as greatly increased growth rates for these and other plants. Health and Gardeners An attempt by environmentalists to stop New York City form spraying pesticides against mosquitoes carrying west Nile virus was thrown out of court by a US judge. Nicaraguan banana workers urged their government to enact legislation allowing them to use manufacturers and users of pesticides alleged to have killed almost a hundred banana plantation workers and affecter 22,000. No word of any concern about the end users of the same bananas in countries to which they were exported including, presumably, Canada. The leaves of dock plants, Rumex spp. Neutralize the pain caused by encounters with nettles with alkaline juices. This will also work similarly with bee stings and ant bites, although not with wasp stings, which are alkaline themselves. So reports the journal New Scientist, which points out, however that soap or bicarbonate of water work still better. Scientists at the University of Manitoba report that E. coli, Salmonella and Shigella may survive happily in farmers’ spray tanks, contaminating vegetables and fruits treated with pesticides. Philip Morris Europe and British American Tobacco agree to the World Health Organization that cigarettes are addictive and cause disease in smokers. A few Canadian mail order seed companies still offer the wherewithal to grow the stuff. Honey from New Zealand’s manuka tree and Australia’s jelly bush flowers contain incredibly powerful bactericides, researchers report. Investigations are far from complete however, they warn, and advise not to start slapping the stuff on wounds or noshing it dawn. A prospective medical marijuana grower for Health Canada attempts to rent the lower half of Carp, Ontario’s defunct nuclear bomb shelter for a hydroponics operation. The underground facility, better known as the Diefenbunker, was constructed east of Ottawa to protect politics and bungle-crats from annihilation in the event the Cold War became radioactively hot. Environment and Gardeners Silicone Valley, California is “reconfiguring” its garbage trucks so they can be fuelled with a mixture of waste oils from sewage plant greases along with discarded food deep fry and other vegetable oils. In an effort to permit consumers to make their own choices, Green Peace lists online several thousand brand-name cereals, snack, frozen dinners and other foods that contain genetically modified materials. Green Peace withdraws promoytinal computer mouse pads contaminated with and exotic fungus. Redwood lumberjacks in northern California cease their activities to watch poetess Dona Nieto and her “Goddess Squadess” perform “goddess-based, nude guerrilla poetry.” The Law and the Gardener Justice finally caught up with the Thornville lawn owner who objected to a small poodle peeing on his grass. Catching Joey in the act in May 1999, he slammed the pooch to the pavement, causing permanent injuries. A judge has fined him $750.00 Europeans are all against genetically modified crops, but this didn’t prevent a European-based seed company from selling corn for crops unapproved for human consumption to US farmers who subsequently sowed 315,000 acres with it. Now the US government is buying the entire crop. The seed firm will reimburse the cost of US $68-million. Since the well-known Chinese herbal liniment Tiger Balm contains 25 per cent camphor. Quebec law deems it can only be sold by a pharmacist. A Quebec Judge later threw out the law, which had rubbed Montreal’s Chinatown Vendors the wrong way. A Northern Ontario man received six days jail for starting a 1999 fire that destroyed over 65,000 acres of forest, caused the evacuation of Beardsmore and took eight weeks to extinguish. Protesters against Toronto’s desecration of the northern environment were strangely absent form the local man’s trial. Gardening Business Garden.com, the US retailer, announced it was downsizing its employees 30 per cent owing to unexpectedly poor sales earlier this year. Weather Reassuring news about global warming: it has happened before. Fifty million years ago gases released from volcanoes, not by burning fossil fuels, caused it. Phytoplankton flourished in the oceans though, absorbing the excess carbon dioxide and brought the temperatures back to normal. Of course this took 60,000 years. Thanks to the European Space agency’s (ESA) sun-watching satellite, scientists are now saying that new data shows that it is the sun, not carbon dioxide, that caused the Earth’s temperature to rise by 0.6C over the past century, increasing by another 2C by 2100. Environment Canada claims winter will be “very near normal” with less precipitation than usual. The Farmer’s Almanac says much the same thing but to expect more than usual precipitation. Indigo bookstore in Toronto’s Manulife Centre stocks such almanacs under the same section as “Science & Technology” journals. |
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