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Wild Flora
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I have ducks, but from what I've read they need even more water than chickens do, so I'll pass on my winter-watering system in case it's of any help to anyone. I use a large (about 2 feet in diameter and 6 inches deep) water bowl made out of a heav…
January 4
A lot of the old-fashioned annuals can be grown in pots and will attract beneficial insects: marigolds, petunias, salvias, alyssum, etc. Just try to get the old varieties rather than the newer, fancier ones. Herbs are also popular with beneficial in…
January 2
Thanks everyone! I'll bear your thoughts in mind. I just have a small back yard that is completely filled with gravel, but I have left my pots out and I hope to add some more this year :] I had a tub filled with cornflowers, the bees seemed to enjoy…
January 2
I had never heard of poached eggplant (Limnanthes douglasii), aka Douglas' meadowfoam, until Glenn mentioned it. But evidently it's an excellent plant for attracting bees and other beneficial insects. According to the US Department of Agricultlure,…
December 31, 2009
I think poached egg plants are good for attracting insects, especially hoverflies. They have a nice open flower. Their seed is really large and easy to save for the following year.
December 31, 2009
Bees and other creatures pollinate our crops. Birds and toads eat insect pests. Many animals play a helpful role in the vegetable garden. How can we make our garden friends feel at home?
December 31, 2009
Susan makes excellent points. Other ways to provide shelter for insects, birds, and other wildlife include: make rock piles (good place to plant plants that like good drainage); leave rotting tree stumps, fallen logs, and dead or dying trees, especi…
December 31, 2009
Additinally, if you don't tidy up your yard in the fall, you will provide shelter for insects. So, leave your pots out through the winter to shelter any critters that crawled under or inside. You'll want to make sure you have a shallow water source,…
December 31, 2009

Profile Information

Where do you live and garden?
Nova Scotia, Canada
How long have you been growing food?
4-10 years
Dream garden travel destination:
I'm happy to be in my own garden or woodland. My dream is to see both as they look in my imagination!
Favorite foods:
As long as it's fresh and local, I'll probably love it.

Wild Flora's Photos

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Wild Flora's Blog

Wild Flora

Comfrey is a good example


The very knowledgeable Ann G. reminded me that comfrey is still used in medicinal salves. That in turn reminded me that comfrey is a good example of a couple of points gardeners, especially herbalists, should alw… Continue

Posted on February 8, 2009 at 7:00am —

Wild Flora

Should we avoid toxic plants?

American germander, Teucrium canadense, is one of my favorite plants. So are the monkshoods (Aconitum spp.). And I'm also quite fond of foxglove (Digitalis spp.) I also like to grow comfrey (Symphytum officinale) because it is so beneficial for soils.

What all of these plants have in common, as you may already have guessed, is that they are potentially toxic. Comfrey is potentially carcinogenic. The digitalis in foxglove is a heart stimulant that can be used for good… Continue

Posted on February 7, 2009 at 9:26am —

Comment Wall (5 comments)

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Join this Ning Network

At 5:29pm on August 14, 2009, Michelle W. Flannery said…
Hi there WF. I've seen you buzzin' around the site here and there (chuckle). Nice to finally meet you. So how's your garden growing this year? Lush and bountiful I hope. Best gardening wishes.
At 5:26pm on August 14, 2009, Carol said…
Wow! Your blog is a treasure trove. I think I've died and gone to gardener's heaven. Thank you so much!
At 11:01pm on February 7, 2009, Ann G. said…
Isn't comfrey used as an ingredient in salves for healing abrasions and burns?
At 8:44am on December 1, 2008, Maya said…
Welcome from Northeast Coastal Forest (NE0411)! I love your site and will need to explore more as I find time.
At 4:28am on December 1, 2008, Maggie said…
I always make sure there are flowers or plants going to seed so we always have plenty of bees, birds and some other insects in our garden. I am looking forward to looking at your website.
 
 

KGI's Book of the Month

Latest Activity

Hi Maya Maybe you could contact Jude and Michel Fanton they started a Seedsavers group and seed bank many years ago. They have a great book on Seed saving they have written and they tour many countries helping people set up seeds banks and gardens.…
2 minutes ago
18 minutes ago
The turmeric flower is beautiful, I hope ours flowers.
20 minutes ago
1 hour ago
Hi Everett I found this article on Mycorrhizal Fungii which i think is quite interesting. I am sure the production of this stuff is one of the benefits of the "hugelkultur pile" that you describe. I know on the TV gardening programmes they advocate…
3 hours ago
No its still giving me an error message !!!
4 hours ago
Martha Hill added a discussion
I tried to add a reply to two posts and got an "error on page" note !! But then it asked me to sign in again !! Would that be the reason my posts did not work ?? Sign in was negated ?? Or is it common to have to do this occassionally ??
4 hours ago
kimmy miller, Ludovic, Julie and 2 more joined Kitchen Gardeners
8 hours ago
trowel, fork, seeds with planting directions tailored to the area. harvesting and preserving information. drip irrigation system?
8 hours ago
8 hours ago
Wow Sandra! You've asked for an awful lot of information! Start by checking for your "predicted" last frost date. There are frost charts online, but the quickest way for you, I think, is to call your county extension agent. He'll be listed in the ph…
8 hours ago
10 hours ago
thanks, Katherine, I will try to seek it out... It would be interesting to see where their info came from... stay warm wherever you are...
11 hours ago
Hmmm... we are having lots of sacred snow these days in Baltimore... can't wait for some of it to melt down... can't wait for spring to get my fingers back in the soil...
11 hours ago
13 hours ago
18 hours ago
Mary Riekert joined Gillian's group
Those interested in growing gemsquash - a very typical South African vegetable that we miss!
18 hours ago
Had no luck with gem squash last year - it was just too hot! So I didn't try this year. Maybe next summer.
18 hours ago
18 hours ago
Oh gosh, that is rare to get humidity that far south! That is where all our moisture went - we havnt had any rain for over a week :) I started that gemsquash group as I discovered a new member (Margaret Flett) who had gemsquash as her favourite vege…
18 hours ago

Notes

HOW TO - ADD A LINK

Several people have experienced difficulty putting working links into comments and blogs etc and I know it is clumsy.... so here is how you do it.....

First type the text you want to appear....  ie  IAN'S PAGE

Then go back and highlight the link text.

Then hit the hyperlink button...a pictogram of a chain link.

Your browser may intervene and request permission to allow temporary scripting or some similar message.   Allow it and go back and highlight the text again

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Created by Ian Jun 7, 2009 at 7:28pm. Last updated by Ian Jun. 8, 2009.

Forum Policy

Hi, I'm starting to put together a few guidlines on using the discussion forum on here.

I would be happy to hear any comments you may have.  This is very much a work in progress so plese feel free to ask me to add anything you think is needed.

I don't want to make our community hide bound by rules and regulations but I think that, as the community has grown, some explanation of what is expected is needed.

Administration

You can refer any que

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Created by Ian May 23, 2009 at 1:55am. Last updated by Ian May. 25, 2009.

Climate maps

Hi following recent discussion I have put climate maps of the USA, Australia and Europe on here for reference..

 Climate map of the USA

Climate map of Australia

Climate map of Europe

 

Continue

Created by Ian Sep 12, 2008 at 6:20pm. Last updated by Ian Apr. 14, 2009.

Recipes, Recipes, Recipes

Hi Everyone,  I've started to collect together recipes from various posts on the site and put them all together here.

If you have a recipe you want to add on here, just post it on the site and leave a comment on my page telling me where it is and I'll go and fetch it back here.

They are organised in Contributor Order but I'm open to better suggestions!

BEVA'S RECIPES

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Created by Ian Jun 2, 2008 at 9:54am. Last updated by Ian Apr. 13, 2009.

US STATES ABBREVIATIONS

 

US STATE ABBREVIATIONS

AK - Alaska               AL - Alabama              AR - Arkansas
AZ - Arizona              CA - California           CO - Colorado
CT - Connecticut          DC - Dist of Columbia *   DE - Delaware
FL - Florida              GA - Georgia              GU

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Created by Ian Jan 27, 2009 at 4:27pm. Last updated by Ian Jan. 27, 2009.

HOW TO - MAKE COMPOST

Recently there was an excellent discussion about composting. I’ve pulled together all the various comments here. You can also watch KGI's video on composting here.

 

 

KATE’S ADVICE

I used to have a tumbler that we made from a wine-barrel but

1 you have to fill it up all at once

2. it seemed mostly

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Created by Ian May 30, 2008 at 5:29am. Last updated by Roger Jan. 15, 2009.

Notes Home

Welcome to Notes.

To view notes that are in the system hit the "all notes" button above.

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Created by Ian May 28, 2008 at 12:10pm. Last updated by Ian May. 30, 2008.

A Note about Notes

I have just written this note so that I can see what we can achieve by using this new feature.

If you read this and have any suggestions then please leave a comment on my page or email me.

Ian

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Created by Ian May 28, 2008 at 6:19pm. Last updated by Ian May. 28, 2008.

 

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