The Battle Against Alien Plants from Outer Space

Reader Contribution by Nebraska Dave
Published on May 27, 2011
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 Greetings from the Urban Ranch.  I truly hope and pray that all our fellow GRIT bloggers and readers have not been harmed by the volatile weather that has been causing havoc across the country.  Here in Nebraska we have escaped the brunt of the storms that have ravaged certain parts of GRIT-land.  We have only had normal storms with enjoyable thunder and lightning.  I do like a good thunder storm but not one with tornadoes, hail, or damaging wind.  We did get some hail but it was only a short burst and teeny tiny little balls which were even smaller than a pea.  None of my garden plants were damaged.

The poor man’s patio is shaping up for this years display.  Across the top in the hanging baskets are Impatiens and up the sides are Begonias.  I kind of over bought with the Begonias.  I bought a flat of Begonias thinking that there were 24 in a flat when actually as it turns out there are 48 in a flat.  Yeah, so, I’ve been trying to give them a good home.  So far only 4 have be adopted out.  The four larger containers you see back by the wall on the patio now have zucchini in them.  I’ve always liked zucchini but have been plagued by vine bores that would kill the plant just as they started producing.  A trip to the local nursery gave the containers one plant and seeds for the other three containers.  So we will see how effective this method of growing zucchini will be.  Anyone out there in GRIT land have good recipes for zucchini bread, or maybe casseroles.  I think I just might need some with four plants.

As with all working ranches, things break.  Oops, I think I pulled a little hard on that last pull.  I’ve learned to boldly tear into mechanical things where most fear to go.  Most times it turns out OK.  I’ve worked on recoil starters before and the trick is to wind up the coil and hold it while threading the rope through the hole while tying a knot in the rope end.  That can be quite a trick and some folks just buy the whole assembly new and eliminate the tedious task of holding a wound up spring while practicing knot tying.  As for me, well, you know me, I’m always up for a challenge.

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