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Cwillie, NOT MY SQUIRRELS! They are making a huge mess Daily! I've never experienced this before here! Plus, the squirrels are more aggressive this year, making those angry noises, and will come right up to me, without provocation or any food nearby. Maybe it's the heat? They are most definitely hungry, and munching away furiously! I don't mind, but Charlie-girl does, my screen door is taking a beating! Lol!
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There will be a seed under each "leaf" of the pine cone, too small for you and I to bother with but obviously worthwhile if you are a squirrel.
I always thought the squirrels nibbled pine cones like corn on the cob, complete with the leftover "cob" in the middle.
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It's so funny, as they eat the pine cones like we do artichokes, and drop the leaves, there must be a tasty nut in each layer!
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GA, these are very unusual pine cones for this particular tree, I me3we normally get some, but never in 20 plus years to this quantity, it's very strange, and there are great clusters of them, like hanging bananas, and litt green immature cones, but very fragrant! Tge squirrels are acting crazy this year, do ill6bet you are right, and we will have a harsh winter!

I have 2 great big bags of those Ponderosa Pine cones, that we collected a few years ago on a Car trip to Reno, through the Sierra's. I Like to put them in my fireplace with lights, as we don't light fires anymore. I Love them too! My pine cones aren6fit for decorating yet, if any survive the squirrels, they grow to about 4 inches, and are thin, not big fat ones like the ponderosa type!
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Farmer's almanac is predicting a terrible winter for almost all, cold and snowy for in NE and Midwest, cold and rainy in the PNW, but mild and dry for those who want snow in the ski resorts.

The squirrels in my town are not ordinary squirrels, they are Super Squirrels! They laugh at soapsuds and hot sauce, they have cheerfully eaten my supposedly poisonous jade plant and come back for more. I really don't mind sharing with wildlife, but these furry little pigs don't share, they take it all!
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Ladybug, welcome to this thread. I'm glad to learn that gardening helped you during a challenging time in your life. Are you still gardening? As you wrote, "nurturing" is relaxing, but it's also a way of participating in the cycle of life which has existed for billions of years; for me it's kind of a way to be a part of that cycle for the brief time I'm here.

I'd like to leave a legacy for the pollinators as well; bees especially need our help these days.

What are your favorite flowers?


CM, if I knew of a way to keep squirrels from raiding trees, I'd share it. I don't think pans or things that jingle in the wind would scare them. Unfortunately, like some other animals, they've adapted well to suburban environments.


On a totally unrelated subject, does anyone have rain chains? I first saw them outside of a medical building on the hospital we go to. They're copper, beautiful, and lend a personal and somewhat quaint touch to a building.

After learning more about them, though, I was cautioned by folks on a DIY forum to be concerned b/c of their copper content. It seems that thieves like to steal other people's copper and sell it.

Guess I'll have to find another material to make some rain chains.
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Large numbers of pinecones make sense, like deciduous trees that produce a lot more seeds in the spring time, because in some unique and admirable way they have a way to sense weather changes.

Given the intensity of this summer, it wouldn't surprise me if we had an equally intense winter. The 2015 - 2016 was certainly drastic in some areas.

At least I'm not flooded out though. I feel for the people in southern Louisiana and bordering areas.

I'd like to remodel a portion of my living room to add a wood burning fireplace.

Curious - how many of you have back-up generators?

And on another issue, is anyone considering xeriscaping after suffering through an intensely hot summer?

Interesting that the garden area fared much better than the lawn, which hasn't been amended by years of compost.

Stacey, if you and I lived closer, I'd be over to your house with bags and bags and collect all your pinecones for you. I like to use them in decorations as well as on wreaths. Several years ago I began painting them, just tip painting the edges and tying them with matching ribbon to hang on artificial indoor trees or placed in baskets as table decorations.


CWillie, I haven't tried this, but I'm wondering if a spray of dish detergent and water, or some other soap mixed with water, might discourage the crop raiders? I would think they would enjoy the taste of soap.
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According to folklore, a sudden influx of large pine cones is a predictor of a harsh winter. We have lots this year. I am in Western NY
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Stacey, I wouldn't put it past the little squirrels to be intentionally harassing Charlie-girl. They are quite playful. If you must shoo them away, use a water gun.
Otherwise, look up how to make friends before they conk you on the noggin with a pine cone.
They are very smart and demanding. Have fun.
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In a neighborhood of big tall trees, and our home butting up against a greenbelt, we only have but one very tall pine tree that is near our house, on the property line and right near our backyard patio.

This year, the very first time in 20 plus years, this pine tree has a huge abundance of unripe pinecones, hanging heavy like bunches of bananas, it's Crazy, but what is worse, is that the squirrels Love them, and are eating them at a rapid rate, all starting in this past week, and dropping down onto our patio, all the waste, which is albeit fragrant, but so messy, and driving my little doggie quite Crazy! I don't know how long this will last, but probably until the pinecones are all gone. I may need that airgun, or tranquilizers for my dog! This has Never happened before, so Weird!
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Fiends! Little beasts!

At my last house I had a whole row of hazel trees, CW, and did I ever get a solitary nut off them? Not a chance!

Have you got an air rifle..?
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I opened the blinds in mom's room this morning and checked out the window and spied two grey squirrels. Shoo! A half hour later I looked out and they were back, each one munching on a yellow bean. There will be no keeping them away now that they know the beans are there. Grrrr. Furry tailed tree rats :(
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I don't think I would have made it through my cancer if I wouldn't have had my flowers and yard to take care of. I had help with the mowing a few times and offers of help with my flowers. The flowers are what got me through. Digging and planting (I was going through chemo in the spring, I would sit on the ground and scoot, getting up and down was too hard. Could only work about 30 minutes at a time, but I always had flowers and I couldn't not have them! As I get older it is slower and slower😉 but since I moved into my parents to be their caregiver I use the gardens as a way to relax. Planting and nurturing make me relax😊 weeding and pruning help me vent😒. It's a win win, my mother loves the flowers and my dad likes to give the vegetables to his coffee buddies.
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Tacy, take a close-up photo of the berries, then do a google image search to determine which berries they are specifically.

My raspberries typically fruit in July; there are hybrids that fruit again in the fall. This year was so dry they didn't produce berries at all.

Mulberries are longer and darker than raspberries and often are on trees that grow much larger than raspberry bushes, which really produce canes rather than branches. The trees are nuisance trees; they spread like wildfire and are hard to kill, and they're extremely invasive.

Mulberries are tasty and make nice pies and jams, but the stems don't pull out easily as do cherry stems, so it's a bit of a nuisance to bake with them. They are juicy and tasty though. If they grow close to and overhang a driveway, they make a nasty mess as they fall off easily. Birds and raccoons help disperse them, so if you ever plant them at home, you'll end up with a lot of volunteers.

I wouldn't eat any wild berry though w/o comparing it to a wild plant list or something that clearly identifies the berry.
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When I find a german chocolate cake, fresh made, like the picture, then I am buying a whole one.
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This is my bougie plant y'all helped me save in January, doing nicely now.

Cwillie, don't worry one second more if you didn't get chocolate cake. After sharing 1/2 piece it was so rich could not finish it, not that good, it was dry. Save dessert for a smoothie, make it yourself. Top with whipped cream.
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You be funny Cwillie, What would caregivers do wirhout you?
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Mmmm, added protein!
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tacy022, If they are raspberry looking, they are safe. There are no poison look alike berries that have the tiny cluster like raspberry. BUT they often have little tiny white worms inside (which are also safe to eat).
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Lol, everyone, even gardeners have to eat!
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I prefer salmon filets seasoned with lemon pepper. I broil in the oven for about 6 minutes one side, turn, broil about 3 minutes and it is done. If salmon or other fish is fresh, it will not smell fishy.
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Or a mix of brown sugar and chili powder Just pile it onto the salmon and bake it.
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Oh and I use Morton's Lite Salt instead of table salt
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Tacy022, get Chinook salmon, rinse thoroughly and soak it in brine overnight. The brine should taste as salty as the ocean. Pat it dry and rub on some molasses and brown sugar. Yummy. I smoke mine at 200F (95C) for three hours.
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Here you go, Tacy: These mixtures typically contain savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and other herbs. In the North American market, lavender leaves are also typically included, though lavender does not appear in the recipes in Jean-Baptiste Reboul's 1910 compendium of Provençal cooking.[2]

Schwarzkopf do a blend, apparently. Personally I don't set too much store by prescriptive combos - the balance depends so much on how well any particular plant is doing in any given year, and how mature the leaves are, and how much sun there's been to concentrate the oils... keep chopping until you're happy with the fragrance, I should.

What recipes are you looking at?
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GA, I don't know about wisdom. I just knew that I needed to approach the garden realistically, based on how much time and energy I figured I'd have. If I get some oomph next month, I'll start some spinach and a few fall things and plant them in the empty bed. My soaker hoses got clogged with hard water residue so I need to get drip tape/ hoses next year. We've actually had rain yesterday and real storm today. Hopefully the summer rains are here. I need to watch the zinnias for mildew with the late afternoon rains. I'm trying gather and dry herbs to make herbs de Provence for gifts at Christmas. But my thyme plants have been struggling.
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GA, Have never seen. Stargate. My sister is the zen master-maybe I am so stressed that I am accidentally channeling her, if that is possible, hmmmmmn. I don' know what I am saying.
Namaste dudette!
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Speaking of potash, my hydrangea macrophylla has some blue and some pink and some blended flowers. From which I deduce that somebody has been sticking something in its pot; because all I gave it was ericaceous compost and an encouraging pat; and our water is as close to pH neutral as it gets.


Actually, Garden, I have a photo of myself aged ten grinning broadly as my sunflower towers over me. It was beginner's luck, of course; but ever since I have taken a deliberately amateur interest and had modest success - usually by being a fool rushing in where angels fear to tread. My daphne cuttings rooted in a small narrow-necked pottery vase, for example - it wasn't until I looked up daphne care that I learned that they will only root with hormonal rooting powder, bottom heat and the right gritty compost. Well, my daphne obviously hadn't read the book. I start every year with good resolutions and think 'oh well next time' by around about late May when I realise I've missed most of the sowing windows.

The RHS is very useful for technical details, that's why I was looking it up this morning. "Avoid planting dahlias by wooden fencing" it says - to which I thought, yup, done that; an exchange repeated with almost the entire list of dos and don'ts, as I'd mainly done the don'ts and skipped the dos.
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Send, is today Zen day?

You wrote: "The answer to the riddle will be provided, once the puzzle is discovered." Is this from one of the Stargate episodes, in which Daniel is advised by either one of the women who's "ascended" or the zen master, in the episode in which he's able to view his son?

I also was thinking about ash from the wildfires, although potash is available in other forms.

You must be pretty close to the fires, or directly in the line of wind drift. Better keep your windows closed.

I believe CM is referring to the Royal Horticultural Society. If you need some relief from the CA wildfires, google RHS and check out the photos of some of the shows. They're spectacular!
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Oops, on my way out the door...the only two people (and very few others) that I knew would understand are GardenArtist and you, Cwillie!

So you solved it, Cwillie!

478 M jackpot tonight!
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