Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 263
They grow all by themselves. All along the roads, in pastures, in fields, in barrow pits, and in gardens. The can even show up in your flower beds and vegetable gardens. Sunflowers are everywhere this year. If you're a fan of sunflowers this is an especially great year. We usually have a lot of sunflowers but this year there seems to be more than ever. Linda and I took a drive down County Road 214 Sunday and it was almost like a canyon of sunflowers. Beautiful. Maybe we see so many because they like our climate. Sunflowers do well in acidic to...
If this week didn't get your attention I don't know what will. We usually keep the windows open at night during the summer and Wednesday night I wasn't sure it was still summer. Wednesday was hot but the air was dead calm, not a breeze at all that night. I remember commenting to Linda that about 3 am that would change and the wind would start blowing hard. I was being sarcastic but, lo and behold, at 3:30 am the wind kicked up and the temperature plummeted. It got cold! Frankly, the lawn was...
Chalk up another year for the Laramie County Fair. Once again the fair was a week of controlled chaos as exhibitors rushed to get in their entries, set up for the competitions, then held their breath as the judges made their decisions. The livestock competitions were a flurry of activity from the time the doors opened for the entries to the time animals were loaded for the trip home. The chaos slowed down for the static exhibits once the judging was over on Friday. Yet there was always...
So far Laramie County is doing pretty well according to the National Drought Monitor. There are parts of the county, though, that are in the abnormally dry range or drought. If you watch the map it is changing and not for the better. A couple of weeks ago Pine Bluffs was showing normal moisture but today is abnormally dry. Now we have a small part of the county that is experiencing a moderate drought. That area is growing. Yesterday my son commented that it was nice not to have the monsoonal...
As I was considering topics for this week it occurred to me that it's been three years since I discussed lavender. If you haven't experienced the wonders, and joy, of lavender you'll be in for a treat when you do. Lavender essential oil has been called the "desert island oil" and for good reason. Lavender has many health benefits as well as being a refreshing aroma to simply breathe. Although the essential oil is the most commonly known product, there are others. Hydrosol, buds and flowers are...
"No, that's not what I said. Not garlic, garlic scapes. Two different things." That's the gist of a brief conversation I had with a friend when I offered her some garlic scapes. It didn't dawn on me that she didn't know what garlic scapes are. She only heard the word "garlic". Although both are from the same plant, they are two different things. Scapes are the flower stalk and flowering part of members of the allium family of plants. Alliums include onions, garlic, chives and several ornamental...
I've talked with several people in the last few weeks concerning lawns. FYI. Part of the Master Gardener program is helping people with plant issues, including lawns. To a person they are concerned with how much water their lawns are taking this year. I actually empathize with folks from Cheyenne because they're under some pretty stringent water restrictions. The rest of us have it a bit easier, but we all have the same issue, drought. I've been warning of a severe drought this year for the...
This year it’s easy to see how blessed we are to live in Laramie County. I have been talking about a severe drought that expected to occur in the west (including Wyoming) this year for the past two years. Well, folks, it’s here. I spoke to an older rancher a few weeks ago about the anticipated drought and the fact that even Laramie County was slightly under normal precipitation. He scoffed and didn’t believe a word of it. I freely admit that when looking at the county it doesn’t look like we have a problem. After the past week of moistur...
I was fortunate to be invited to attend the Fire District 10 Annual Awards Picnic recently. Actually, Linda was invited and I attended as the Plus 1. If you don't know where District 10 is at they cover a huge area from I80 to Colorado and from Otto Road to Albany County, mostly mountainous terrain. Firefighters have a special place in my heart since I've worked so closely with them in emergency management over the years. District 10 is a bit unusual in their awards picnic/banquet in that they...
For the last couple of weeks my wife has been trying to get me to mow the yard. I'm not saying she was wrong because, frankly, I've been a bit on the lazy/busy side and haven't wanted to take the time to mow it. I will readily admit that it did need it. And still does. My honest excuse is that I don't want to mow the grass until it has a chance to go to seed. To better understand my reasoning you need to know that our yard is all native prairie grass and pretty much resembles the prairie as it...
There are a few places that cause me to cringe inside every time I drive past them. Every one is a home on a small acreage with a lot of horses. I think of one in particular that I see nearly every day with several horses on maybe two acres of pasture. The grass is routinely eaten right down to the dirt with nothing left. I titled this article "Overgrazing Your Yard' because my primary intent is to reach homeowners in developed areas but the information also applies to commercial livestock...
I know. The first question you ask is, "Why use a cover crop? I only have a small garden." When we talk about cover crops we are talking specifically about vegetable gardens. Whether you have a small garden, for example a 10 x 10 (or 100 square foot) plot, or a large garden a cover crop will benefit the soil. I've talked before about crop rotation and a small plot is certainly doable but a larger plot or multiple plots make rotation easier. At some point you have an area that is completely out...
Every time I think I'm going to get ahead of the chores something comes up and I fall further and further behind. Always so much to do and so little time. I thought I was about to get ahead with the yard work and we got a lot of rain. I mean a lot. Since it was spotty around the county I don't know how much you got but it seemed almost like we got the entire year's worth in a few days. Not that I mind but it was so soggy that I couldn't get into the garden or the yard to work. Of course things...
Our granddaughter will be 20 months old this month and she loves to be outside with us. I know that she doesn't really have a clue what we are doing or any concept of why we are doing it but she does like to mimic our actions. When I'm watching her I've taken her to the shop while I've worked with the plants with some menial tasks. She's too young to just let go on her own so there isn't much I can do. But I do enjoy watching as she picks up trash and puts it in the trash can or plant prunings...
Yesterday our Labrador was going nuts barking at something in the back yard. Linda went out to see what was going on and found a huge snake that slithered up the embankment behind the house. It was coiled up when she first came out and appeared not to care about the dog at all. She didn't identify what it was but the diameter she showed me seemed about two inches. We don't know if it was a rattlesnake or a bull snake. In any event it was one big snake. Just a few years ago a neighbor trapped a...
I hope. I pray. Cross my fingers. Cross my toes. And whatever else I can cross. Warm weather, are you here to stay this time? I certainly hope so. Here it is almost May and we're still having some pretty severe cold snaps. With the temperatures running 20 to 30 degrees below normal it seems like winter will never end. Then I look at the calendar. May is next week and it's only two weeks until our Plant Sale at the Archer Event Center. That event is supposed to signal the upcoming arrival of the...
I love Spring. I love the smell in the air. I love the chill of the wind off the mountains. And, most of all, I love to watch new life coming up from the ground and the new buds on the trees and shrubs. I'm writing this the day before the big warm-up so the breeze is still pretty chilly. That's okay because I know what's right around the corner. Earlier I took my granddaughter out for a walk for the first time. We went from the house to the shop, to a walk in the windbreak, to the greenhouse...
When I decided on the subject for this week I never thought it would still be winter at the end of April. It sure feels like it though. It's cold and snowy. So why am I talking about grass? I mean native grasses, not the other kind. Because grasses affect all of us. It could be in a lawn, on the prairie, or even with allergies, but we all come into contact with grass at some point. Last year I wrote about lawn care and maybe I will again this year but right now my focus is more on the native...
Another question that came up often at the Cheyenne Home and Garden Show concerned raised beds and container gardening. The funny thing is that I was going to write on that topic anyway. Both of these gardening methods are invaluable in a garden. Raised beds take on many forms and can be decorative or strictly functional. They can be virtually any height and size. Those tending toward the functional side of the garden are most often customized to the gardener. For example, as we get older it...
I've spent the last three days at the Ask-a-Master Gardener booth at the Cheyenne Home and Garden Show answering questions and providing assistance to many new gardeners and a host of experienced gardeners from as far south as Denver, west to Vancouver, Washington and as far north as Montana. It was wonderful to see so many people interested in starting a new garden or expanding an existing garden. Beyond that I want to thank all of you that came out to visit and chat. I enjoyed meeting so many...
Peppers come in a wide variety of flavors and range of heat. Although all peppers are in the nightshade family and contain capsaicin, they range from sweet (very low capsaicin) to extremely hot (high capsaicin). In fact, a solution made from habanero peppers is used to remove barnacles from ships. But let's put an old wives' tale to bed right up front. For years, the rumor has abounded that nightshades are poison and should be avoided. While that may be true for a few members of the nightshade...
The last few days of "pre-Spring time" weather, in other words warm with little wind, set me to thinking about what I needed to do to be ready for planting. Yes, and yardwork, too. I'm trying not to think of the yard work but I'll be taking that on this year as well as the gardening. The first thing I had to do was to fix quite a bit of snow fence that our wild Wyoming winds pretty much tore down over the winter. While I was working on that I put together a list of things that I needed to do so...
Ever since the "historic" snowstorm ended I've been watching the complaints pile up on FaceBook. Now I'm not a FaceBook user so Linda was reading them to me. I gave up on FaceBook when Zuckerberg decided it was his place to decide what kind of speech was permitted to be heard. So, I decided to no longer support his agenda. As Linda was reading the messages I just couldn't believe all the complaints about the weather and the amount of snow we got. I contrast those comments with my own thoughts....
Oh, for the love of corn! Let me count the ways. Corn on the cob, roasted corn, whole corn, creamed corn, corn relish, corn soup, cornbread, popcorn, tortillas, corn pudding, johnny cakes, corn muffins, hominy, grits, and plenty more. Corn has been a staple in the Western hemisphere for, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, 10,000 years originating in the region where Mexico is today. Even corn smut (a product of a fungal disease) is considered a delicacy in some cultures. History tells us...
Few vegetables are tastier than fresh picked peas. Maybe corn but you usually have to cook it rather than snack. I've picked peas right off the vine for a snack while I'm working in the garden. Delicious. This year I tried growing peas hydroponically and learned one major point about peas. Don't try to grow them right in front of an industrial gas furnace. They can't take the 100 plus degree heat that comes out of it. They grew but only produced enough peas for a few snacks. That's okay. It was...
