By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County
“Foraging” refers to the gathering of wild edibles for food to grace our table. Historically, the human race began as hunter-gatherers, gleaning food from what was found, not raised. With the growing interest in fresh and local, there has been a resurgence of interest in foraging for wild food.
By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator
Rhubarb, Rheum rhabarbarum, is an easy-to-grow perennial that lends a delightfully tart taste to pies, crisps and jams. The fact it is a perennial means there’s no extra labor to grow plants annually from seed like you do for the vegetable garden. The edible part of rhubarb, the petiole (also called a stalk), is technically not a fruit, but its size relative to fruit trees makes rhubarb a nice fit for a smaller space. The robust leaves, though poisonous, are eye-pleasing and make an unexpected addition into landscape plantings.
Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator
Galls are structures made up of plant tissue, forming in response to the saliva of mites or small insects as they feed. The number and variety of galls found on trees in our landscapes are closely associated with the weather and how conducive it is to gall-producing arthropod populations. Galls happen every year, it’s just some years the number may be higher because that insect population is higher. For the most part, gall formation on leaves is of little concern, while those affecting the twigs, branches and stems merit closer monitoring.
Maple Bladder Gall
Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator
As mentioned in the previous garden update (Tree Galls-Part 1), galls that form on tree leaves rarely cause much in the way of tree stress. But there are also galls that form on other parts of trees. In most cases, gall formation on leaves and flowers are of little concern, while those affecting the twigs, branches and stems merit closer monitoring.
Ash Flower Gall
By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County
Unlike foxglove that are biennial, straw foxglove (Digitalis lutea) is a true perennial. The light yellow bell-shaped downward-facing flowers are smaller than their biennial relatives, but what is lost in flower size, straw foxglove makes up for in reliability and ease of growth.
Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator
It’s been a good year for moles. A nice amount of rain keeps soils moist and workable—the perfect environment to enable mole movement as they “swim” through the soil. Many people approach the problem of moles by focusing on grubs—that if the grubs are gone, then moles won’t be in the lawn. Though not accurate, it leads to grub control measures that do little to minimize mole activity.
