Herbs

Dill the Herb

Everyone knows what dill the herb is, however, A blue foliage plant called ‘Dukat’ has more leaves than the regular plant and is used more for ornamental uses slower to seed. The leaves have a strong flavor and high oil content. It is related to the parsley family.

Blue-green variety of dill

It originated in eastern Europe and Russia, came over to America with the settlers for culinary uses. Today we use dill seeds for pickles. The leaves of this herb can be used, dried, or preferably be frozen in water to keep the oils in the leaf. Many dishes from India to the mid-East to Russia use its leaves.

In our country, dill leaf can be used to flavor fish and potato salad.

The only pest is the ‘dill worm’ which will hatch into a black swallowtail butterfly, so many persons leave the caterpillars to eat and become butterflies.

Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar
Swallowtail butterfly
Home Improvement

Wooden Indoor Shutters

Wooden indoors shutters may be better than traditional curtains.

Barn door shutters vs traditional curtains.
Barn door shutters

Shutters give more privacy than the traditional curtains and hold the cold or heat out. They last a long time and add that homey feel to any room. To clean them, just wipe down with a damp cloth versus throwing curtains and sheers in a washing machine. Also, they do not sag and wrinkle.

 The disadvantage is they cost more than curtains but are offset by not having to continually buy new ones.

Indoor shutters can be painted or stained.

Garden Pests

Tomato leaf spots Diseases

Tomatoes leaf spots will be starting on the lower leaves and working their way up the plant. The main cause of this is fungi causing Septoria, early blight, and late blight. These are worse in wet, humid weather.

Septoria leaf spot on tomato leaves
Septoria leaf spot

The best cure is prevention. The spores exist in the soil and are splashed on the lower leaves first. So, rotating your plants from one side of the garden to the other helps. Pruning off the lower leaves and growing the plants off the ground in cages or stakes.

The best help I have found is growing the tomatoes with a mulch like plastic, fabric, or organic (old rotten hay or straw). Use grass clippings sparsely for they tend to mat down and get hot if used too thickly. If you have treated the grass with an herbicide, do not use it.

Do not spray the plant with overhead sprinklers. Try to use a form of drip irrigation so the leaves do not get wet.

You can regularly use an all-purpose garden fungicide to prevent non-affected leaves from infection.