WhatFinger


As the buds burst on birch trees, one might wonder if Betula papyrifera may be tapped for sweet syrup, as is the more familiar maple product

Spring has sprung -- Gardening begins



Wednesday, 22nd April is both Earth Day and Administrative Professionals Day. Gardeners hardly needed reminding of the significance of Earth Day or their ongoing contributions to the planet. When it comes to Administrative Professionals Day – the reworked Secretary’s Day – bosses by and large seem to suffer collective amnesia. An empty vase on the desk might suffice to jog the memory. Even better is to add it to daily planner . . .

Diversion No. 1

Black Thumb? His Hispanic neighbour said ‘muchias gracias’ and he thought it meant his grass needed mowing.
Could spring finally have arrived? The squirrels think so. Their annual fight against the emerging blooms of crocus, daffodils and tulips is commencing. Discourage them with applications of dried blood fertilizer, which will also feed the bulbs for next season’s display. A clean garden free of debris, rubbish and weeds is a healthy garden. Rake flowerbeds and lawns clear of winter deposits. Clean spent seed husks and droppings from under bird feeders. Wash them and birdbaths clean with a mild bleach solution. Sharpen the hoe blade and prepare to eliminate early-emerging weeds. Trim the edges of the lawn with a turf-edging tool. If the grass was not fertilized last fall, apply this month or top-dress with weed-free pasteurized soil, both available from the friendly local garden centre. Near the end of the month, sow hardy vegetable and herb seeds. Consider the same for equally hardy annual seeds – many are easily thus raised. Check shrubs and small trees for any dead, dying or diseased wood and prune it out. When the forsythia commences to bloom is the signal to uncover roses from their winter protection.

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Diversion No. 2

A duet for slime mould and a piano will be premiered at an arts festival this weekend, giving a new meaning to the term “culture,” explains Roland Pease, BBC News. Festival director and musician Eduardo Miranda has put the decomposing into composition: his new work uses cultures of the fungus Physarum polycephalum. This mould is the core component of an interactive biocomputer, which receives sound signals and sends back responses. The result is a musical duet between the fungus and Prof. Miranda, on piano.
It is tempting to try to beat Mother Nature an early planting. Almost certainly she will wreak revenge with a late frost, torrential rains or similar catastrophes. Old-time gardeners may still remember moveable glass covers or ‘cloches’ used to circumvent such calamities. They were heavy, expensive and prone to breakage, leaving glass shards in the soil to inflict wounds on the unwary. A modern version, safer and inexpensive, is the plastic tunnel. Installed and anchored down early to warm the soil beneath a few weeks prior to planting or seeding, such protection can produce considerably earlier crops than relying on fickle climatic conditions. A practical tip though: rabbits and ground hogs will also appreciate your cultural abilities while the neighbour’s cat will bask in the warmth. Cover in the ends with stout wooden barriers or wire netting to prevent such unwelcome intrusions.

Diversion No. 3

Chef Ramsay, known for his use of expletives, has used asparagus, fructose and shiitake mushrooms to teach daughters Megan, Matilda and Holly and son Jack ‘some really nice alternatives to curse words.’
The mysterious, brooding great island of Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot. One of the rarest and strangest of its botanical species is the gigantic Suicide Palm, Tahina spectabilis, so immense the 90 or so in existence can be spotted on Google Earth. It seems astonishing that such an enormous growth could go undiscovered until the 21st century. The trunks reach 18-metres in height, topped by fan-shaped leaves five-metres in width. Discovered in 2008 by a cashew plantation manager in a remote northwestern corner of Madagascar, it was botanically described in 2011, a remarkably short time taxonomically speaking. But why the vernacular designation of ‘Suicide Palm’? Apparently it grows for a half-century before bursting into bloom and then commits hara-kiri. It is believed that there are less than a hundred survive in its native habitat.

Diversion No. 4

What else would you pick to predict the results of the Cricket World Cup but a six-legged arthropod cricket. Alas, when it comes to which team will win, oracle Orthoptera are playing on a sticky wicket: He correctly picked three out of eight games before sponsors looked elsewhere.
As the buds burst on birch trees, one might wonder if Betula papyrifera may be tapped for sweet syrup, as is the more familiar maple product. The answer is yes, but with difficulty. Birch ‘sugar’ is much less concentrated so requires more sap, more work boiling down – and then the result may be less than satisfying. A better idea might be that from Iceland: Bjork Liqueur. Bjork means ‘birch’ in Icelandic: essentially it is schnapps grain spirits infused with birch syrup and fresh spring sprigs. Difficult to find outside the country but better than that whale blubber buried for several months in beach sand. Skål.


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Wes Porter -- Bio and Archives

Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.


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