|
The Tucson Gardener |
|||||
|
In the Garden Calendar
Local Garden Links
You're visiting Tucsongardener.com |
Handy Scoop One day while looking at a garden products catalog an all aluminum scoop was advertised in three different sizes. The largest scoop - one quart - looked like it might be a good replacement for the coffee cans and would last a whole lot longer.
After a few weeks of filling small pots and seed flats with the garden tool I wondered how I managed to survive without it. The handle is comfortable and there's less soil spillage with the narrow shape of the scoop. Although the one I purchased was found in a garden catalog, the smaller ones could be useful in the kitchen for scooping flour or rice. Watch for the cast aluminum scoops in some of the catalogs that fill your mail box.
Making Squash There's a simple answer: help nature along. The gardener has to become the pollinator to make the squash grow. The pollen from the male squash flower needs to be transferred to the female. Insects are the usual source of pollination but if you want a lot of squash you need to help out.
Think of it as having a little sex in the morning. Using a small paint brush like the one in the photo you take the pollen off a male flower and place it on the female flower, the one with the fruit. One male flower can pollinate several female flowers. The best time to transfer the pollen is early in the morning while the flowers are fresh. You can see the pollen coming off the anther which will stick readily to the fine hairs of the paint brush. The pollen is then transferred to the stigma of the female flower and once fertilized, the squash will grow. Get in the habit of a little squash sex in the morning and you'll never again complain of not having enough summer squash. Instead, you'll suffer from too much of a good thing. (1998) |
||||
