Jb Hudson

Ollas! A new one for me. Thanks.

You can also make a “ribbon” of aluminum foil and loosely crimp it around the edges of the pie after the crust starts to set or on the raw crust if it is firm. You may want to remove the foil for the last few minutes of baking. This is an old fashion remedy.

A lot has already been said on this subject, but here’s my 2 cents worth. My problem wasn’t mice it was fruit flys.
I use a lidded blue enamel pot and add a couple of handfuls (about 2 inches) of paper from my shredder. Great way to recycle all that junk mail. The paper has reduced, mainly stopped any problem with fruit flys. All is dumped into one of 2 (hope to get 3 to better stage aging compost) conveniently located outdoor consumer compost bins every few days. The paper eliminates/reduces smells & extends the time between emptying the container. The outside bins are the heavy plastic stacked, vented & lidded upright containers. It’s occasionally turned with a long handled tool that works like a toggle bolt. We have had to strap the lids to stop raccoons from having a meal or two.
I use a stick to scrap out most of the paper scraps, quickly spray rinse the container in the sink with hot water (we live in the city and a garbage disposal takes care of a stray wet scrap of paper). A fast wipe out with a drop of dish detergent or an occasional soak, then throw in a couple of handfuls of paper from the shredder....

If the outside compost smells bad or if we’ve shredded a lot of paper, the shredder is always emptied into the compost. I have a different system for yard waste, so paper replaces leaves with the kitchen scraps. As much as 4 to 6 inches of paper will not overwhelm the balance of the finished compost, although occasionally I will wet the paper after pouring it in.

Yep,  dog stinkhorn fungus. Nasty smell. Also brought in with a load of free mulch from a tree cutting service. After 3 years, they did not come back this year. I’m hoping that that good luck was not produced by this year’s weather patterns.

Are you aware that roasted, ground okra seeds brew a coffee substitute?

And the Monarch Butterflies literally can’t live without it. Each patch is a vital “fast food “ stop along the migration path. For great information the Journey North website is a wonderful source.

A G-scale garden model train & track! After discussing this garden hobby with my beloved deceased father-in-law at least 20 years ago, my train set-up is days away from rolling on the tracks! I just need more than 3 days without rain to finish the supporting landscape. Don’t know about your area but the rain has been relentless our in neck of the woods.

Thought I would share our citrus “manger”. South Carolina has a well established hearty citrus nursery in the lower part of the state, but we are in the upstate near the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our winter can surprise us with an occasional single digit night.
In 2015 we covered the 3 beautiful kumquat plants that had thrived over the summer with a plastic greenhouse AND cooked them as the sun baked them when I didn’t time the ventilation correctly. The next 2 years I faithfully drug one potted kumquat in & out of the house, but it flourished & provided fruit for the holidays. In the Spring of 2017 we added 2 lemon, a lime & a hearty orange to the rolling orchard with plans to build a greenhouse with old windows & doors.
As life would have it, no greenhouse for 2 winters now. But my husband built this stick structure covering it with inexpensive moving blankets. He used a cheap grommet tool to make the connections.

Obviously the pictures didn’t load in the order I thought since the titles don’t match!

My master gardener daughter taught me to add a little mild soap, like dish detergent, to the soak water when bringing a seriously dried out root bound bargain back to health.

One quick note. My akebia grows in the shade of an enormous oak tree & a large dogwood near a ring of 40+ year old untrimmed camellias. With that shade level maybe that’s why it’s not invasive. Have fun finding the right plant for you, it’s fun seeing what other people suggest.