Monthly Archives: July 2011

Scrambled eggs anyone?

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At first glance it looked like someone had spilled scrambled eggs under my neighbor’s tree. It was brilliant yellow in color and upon closer inspection had a furry look about it. Dusk was nearly upon me and because I’m not a big fan of taking pictures with flash, I waited until morning to get these photos. By that time the beautiful yellow color had already dulled to a pale beige. And it had grown. Exponentially!

It turns out to be one of the prettier varieties of slime mold, something akin to fungus. That is, if you can call slime mold pretty. Fuligo septica is also commonly called scrambled egg slim and also dog vomit. Eeeeewwwwweeeee. I like calling it scrambled egg slime better.

If you are one of the millions upon millions of home gardeners who spread bark mulch in your beds, you’ve probably run into this common fungus-like sight. Without getting too scientific, a bunch of spores grow and form a fast-growing amoeba-like spongy mass while in search of non-living organic nutrients found in mulch.

It doesn’t take long, even a day or so, before it turns brown and crusty. If you don’t like what you see, turn it over and cover with fresh mulch. It turns out that the presence of slime mold is actually a good thing; showing that organic matter is doing what it should be doing.

Calling all ladies

Siebenthaler’s Nursery’s annual Ladies’ Night will be held Thursday, August 4 from 6-8 pm. This event will be held at their Beavercreek location (2074 Beaver Valley Rd., Beavercreek, OH 45434). Join The Cake Chronicles author Jayne B. Robinson as she finds sweet hope in this crazy world. Cake and sparkling wine will be served. Call 937-434-3126,  937-426-4110 or stop in either location to reserve your spot.

Get ready for the county fair flower show

Mark your calendars now for the Montgomery County Fair’s Flower Show! The flower show is sponsored by the Montgomery County Agricultural Society and produced by the Federation of Garden Clubs of Dayton and Vicinity. There are two days of floral-friendly competition: Wednesday, August 31 and Saturday, September 3. Volunteers are needed in many capacities: helping to process entries, getting entries sorted and placed in preparation for judging, hostessing during the hours the fair is open, set-up and more. Don’t forget to enter your own specimens! There is no fee to exhibit. Download the flower show schedule HERE to learn more about entering and contact details. An informational briefing will be held on Monday, August 15 at 10am at Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark.

Sales alerts

If you are still in the market for slipping in a few more plants, be sure to visit your local garden center or nursery for some great deals. Examples: Knollwood Garden Center’s trees and shrubs are 20% off, birdbaths are 25% off, quart-sized perennials are 50% off and 10″ plastic hanging baskets are $10 off. Grandma’s Garden Center has 4″ annuals buy-one-get-one-free and wooden raised garden bed kits are 40% off . You’ll find similar savings all over the area this month.

The making of black gold

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I think my fascination with worms began years ago when my grandfather taught me how to fish at his cottage at Kiser Lake (OH). As a pre-teen I also cared for redworms and nightcrawlers at his produce stand. Now as a warped adult I raise worms in my laundry room. Hmmmmm…… Just when you thought I couldn’t get any weirder!

I am proud to confess that I make compost indoors with red wigglers worms (Eisenia foetida), a process officially named Vermiculture. These are not your backyard kind of worms and will not tolerate cold temperatures which is why they are kept inside. Unlike their vagabond cousins the nightcrawler (whose main goal in captivity is to escape a worm bin) my red wigglers are quite content to consume my kitchen scraps and give me wonderful compost in return. Photos of my recent compost harvest are featured below. To visit a good place to learn more about Vermicomposting, go HERE.

Worm bin is dumped out on a table outdoors (out of direct sunlight) and sorted into smaller piles.

Because they don't like light, worms will move to the bottom center of each pile. As they do, I peel back the compost a little at a time. I check the piles every 15 minutes or so.

This is an egg cocoon. It may hold 1-4 worm eggs.

As I'm working on peeling back the worm-free compost from the piles (takes a couple of hours) I also prepare the worm bin by hand-tearing newspaper and moistening the worm's new bedding. I throw in a handful of garden soil to add grit.

Eventually I consolidate the smaller piles into one large pile. At some point, there are more worms than compost.

The worms get moved back into the worm bin with the new bedding. Add kitchen scraps for food, cover with more bedding and my work is done.

Native plants available Saturday

There will be many vendors at the Native Plant Society’s annual conference this weekend at the Bergamo Center in Beavercreek. The vendors will be open to the public this Saturday, July 9 from 9 am to 4 pm. Find out more about the conference HERE.

Rain barrel workshop this Saturday

The Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Greene County Master Gardeners are offering a do-it-yourself water barrel workshop Saturday, July 9 from 9:30 am to 12 noon at the Greene County Extension Office (100 Fairground Rd., Xenia OH). The workshop is free and open to the public however, if you want to make a barrel and join the workshop, they will provide barrels, materials and guidance for putting them together for a fee of $35 per barrel. There are a maximum of 25 barrels available.  Call the extension office at 937-372-4478 for information.