Stephen Michael Berberich's Blog, page 4

This makes no garden sense, does it?

I am about to harvest an eggplant from the plant on the left in the chicken wire. The picture, I took a month ago, shows how the plant in the chicken wire cage was ignored almost entirely by the nastiest of eggplant bushes, flee beetles. [image error]At the size of normal fleas the flea beetle would easily jump through the cage. But they did not. This bush was far ahead of the one on the right and the others in the garden. Was it the chicken wire? This makes no sense?

Early Snap Peas Add Nitrogen in Summer Tomato Cages

[image error]Late last winter I cut an early row into to my winter seed rye to plant snap peas that would eventually fertilize my grape tomatoes.

See the sequence from March to May CLICK HERE.

cover a strip of tilled soil with black plastic
plant pea seeds in the strip after removing plastic
when pea plants are six inches high pull any tiny weeds
place tomato cages in a line over the plants
allow pea plants to climb and produce pea pods
clear a circle of the pea plants in each cage for a young tomato plant
mulch the tomato plants.
watch the tomato plants thrive as the pea plants wither in hot weather
harvest peas and then tomatoes
mulch more around tomato plants, suppress dead pea plants
nitrogen fixing by the previous pea plants fertilize the tomato plants.

Maryland County Takes Lead to Limit Pet Deaths at Shelters

[image error]Four public and private spay and neuter pet services in Prince Georges County will receive a total $163,062 in the first round of funding under a new state grant program aimed at reducing high numbers of animals euthanized in shelters and clinics.

“We hope the grants will make people who own their pets to become more responsible,” said Celia W. Craze, planning director for the City of Greenbelt, one of the four grantees.

State spay/neuter money will go to help low-income pet owners statewide. “People just don’t always want to pay for these services,” said Craze. The City of Greenbelt spay/neutering grant will be shared with animal control services College Park, Berwyn Heights and New Carollton. Greenbelt also operates a separate trap neuter and return program for feral cats, which is not part of the grant.

Statewide, the Md. Department of Agriculture Department on Nov. 3 announced nearly $475,000 in grants to 14 nonprofit and governmental organizations, including four of seven applicants in the County. Prince Georges let all other counties and Baltimore City with seven groups applying for funding out of the total of 51 applications, which requested more than $1.8 million.

“The sheer number of applications underscores how important this lifesaving program is to Maryland,” said Amy Hanigan, chair of the state’s advisory board, which will be reviewing applications annually.

The Spay and Neuter Grants Program, in the Agriculture Department, was created by the General Assembly during the 2013 Legislative Session as a result of bills sponsored by Del. Barbara Frush of Prince Georges and Anne Arundel Counties and Prince Georges Senator Joanne Benson.

The program targets low-income pet owners because many have difficulty paying for spaying or neutering pets, according to findings in a 2012 report of the Task Force on the Establishment of a Statewide Spay/Neuter Fund, published by the Maryland Department of Legislative Services.

About half of the cats and one-third of the dogs taken in by Maryland’s shelter populations are euthanized for reasons other than owner requested euthanasia, the task force reported. In September, the latest data from the Prince George’s animal control, 126 unadopted dogs and 353 unadopted cats had to be put to sleep, according to the county website. The percentages include animals that are turned into the facility for possible adoption or hopes for rescue.

Continue reading HERE

Puttock Presents Native Plant Favorites to Md. Master Gardeners

[image error]“Every time we plant a non-native, you are pushing out a native plant that would have thrived there.” Christopher F. Puttock, Ph.D., executive director of Chesapeake Natives, Inc. told an audience of 80 eager Master Gardeners on Nov. 11.

“Why then do we love native plants?” asked Puttock, who is a botanist at the Smithsonian Institution. The many answers included:

They get fewer holes in them from bugs.
They offer a bigger selection of flora; a vast range really.
They are easier to find in the (horticultural) trade.
And, the trade breeds natives to be hardier than non-natives.

A Maryland native plant is a first inhabitant, not endemic and grows without human interference. On the other hand, invasive plants that out-competes another species, sort of out of balance with the ecosystem, art to be avoided in native plantings, said Puttock.

Puttock promoted 20 of his favorite native plants for the assembly of garden masters. See:

https://picasaweb.google.com/sberberich0/MdNativePlants#

Milkweed, Ascepias syriaca, is a wonderful plant that’s good for the garden, he said, because if you plant it in the wrong place it will move to the right place—a reference to the native milkweed’s horizontal rooting style that can put shoots up away from the mother plant.
Purple sneezeweed, Helenium flexuosum, is deer proof—a valuable botanical feature in Maryland these days. It is identified by its purplish brown ball of disc flowers.
Jack in the Pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, it loves wet silty or sandy soil places.
Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum, has a tasty fruit to turtles who then take the seed underground with them. No need to plant the seed. covers the forest floor with its large, paired and almost round leaves and the single nodding white flower, maturing to a yellowish 2″ long edible fruit.
Plaintain leaf pussytoes, Antennaria plantaginifolia , is the host to the American painted butterfly. Late spring flowers look like tiny cat’s feet.
Blue mist flower, Conoclinium coelestinum, is an aggressive seeder. has clusters of “fuzzy” blooms, and grows to about 3 ft.
Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia tribola, Hundreds of small deep gold flowers with brown centers bloom for almost three months.
Whorled tickseed, Coreopsis verticillata, (Moonbeam) is related to dahlias. The root mat has lots of tiny rhizomes that can be planted; a tedious chore.
Trumpet flower, Lonicera sempervirens, is pollinated by hummingbirds. Is a beautiful, slender, climbing vine; not very aggressive but birds spread seeds.
Spotted bee balm, Monarda punctata, is the tall aromatic plant growing in meadows. “Remember meadows?” asked Puttock. “Oh yes they what u see under powerlines.” It is also a deer proof plant.
Cardinal flower, Lobelia cardinalis, grows wild next to streams in moist soil. Hummingbird favorite.
White turtlehead, Chelone glabra, loves sun. “You need more of these in your garden,” said the researcher. Baltimore checkerspot butterfly larvae like it. “By wiping out the white turtlehead we are driving checkerspots into extinction,” he said. Spikes of elegant white flowers top shiny green foliage.
Clustered mountain mint, Pycnanthemum multicum, A rich tea plant with small white flowers and leaves.
Culver’s root, Veronicastrum verginicum, a 4 to 6 foot high stalk can be grown easily in the wild flower garden’s moist area. White, spiky flowers with whorled leaves gives this native perennial an interesting and somewhat unusual stature.
Blazing star, Liantris spicata, blazing star, bright purple spikes.
Goldenrod, Solidago odora, is fragrant leaves give off an anise scent when crushed, reminiscent of licorice candy.
Whitewood aster, Aster divaricatus, likes full shade glistening of small white daisies in September and October. Lovely naturalized in shade, average, and dry soil. Found in deciduous woods and along roadsides.
New York ironweed, Verononia noveboracensis, is excellent for the rain garden. Tall, coarse, upright perennial which typically occurs in the wild in moist thickets, low areas and along streambanks. Tiny, fluffy, deep purple, composite flowers.
Bottle gentian, Gentiana clausa, easy to grow in moist wildflower gardens in a low level. Paired, lanceolate leaves, usually on unbranched stalks, and blue blooms which remain closed or nearly so.
Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), is a host to the Falcade orangetip butterfly. About 3-6″ tall, consisting of a flowering stem with a pair of opposite leaves. Spreads by reseeding itself; sometimes it forms rather loose colonies of plants.

Dr. Puttock is usually at the Chesapeake Natives center in Upper Marlboro, Md. promoting many more wild natives for home and park gardens. Click: http://www.chesapeakenatives.org/Chesapeake_Natives/HOME.html

Low-cost Spay/Neutering for Low-income Pet Owners

[image error] Kathy Evans and Bob Rude, co-founders of the Spay Spa & Neuter Nook

The Anne Arundel Animal Control facility in Millersville, Md. and the Spay Spa & Neuter Nook clinic in Davidsonville, Md. are planning a partnership to spay and neuter pets in low income areas of the county.

“It is the first time we will be working with a government agency to help reduce shelter over population,” says Kathy Evans, president of Spay Spa & Neuter Nook. The Davidson facility is the only spay/neuter clinic in Maryland to train its staff at the Humane Alliance (HA) in Ashville, N.C. in high-volume, high-quality, low-cost companion animal sterilization, among the more than 140 spay/neuter clinics trained at HA nationwide.

The Anne Arundel Animal Control facility has been forced to euthanize about 30 percent of incoming pets during the past four years due to overpopulation, according to county records.

The proposed partnership, called “Fix Anne Arundel,” will be a pilot project for the non-profit Davidsonville clinic, says Kathy Evans, president of Spay Spa & Neuter Nook.

It will target low-income pet owners due to their financial limitations in paying for the cost of spaying or neutering pets, according to findings in a 2012 report of the Task Force on the Establishment of a Statewide Spay/Neuter Fund, and published by the Maryland state Legislative Services Office.

The HA training provided the Nook medical staff and veterinarians with the nation’s most efficient and safest surgical protocols at low cost to pet owners, says Evans. In this, the Nook’s second full year of operation, the clinic will sterilize more than 5,000 pets and feral animal says Evans’ husband and co-founder Bob Rude. “We sent the staff to train for a week and they (HA) sent a vet and a tech with us to make suggestions and evaluate our operation,” said Rude.

Despite a swaggering average household income—the highest in the nation—and ranking 10th in the most welfare programs for human residents, money-rich Maryland fails in protecting its animal residents very well, according to tracking by several groups. According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Maryland is one of the worst states in animal protection laws, ranking 44th in 2013. Attorney Amy Hanigan, and animal rights advocate, says Maryland is not necessarily getting worse. “Other states are improving and Maryland is failing to catch up, just treading water,” she says.

About half of the cats and one-third of the dogs in Maryland’s shelter populations are euthanized for reasons other than owner requested euthanasia, the task force reported. The Anne Arundel facility so far this year has had to euthanize 29.3 percent, down from 35.5 percent in 2011. The percentages include animals that are turned into the facility for possible adoption or hopes for rescue.

Fixing pets at low cost and high quality surgeries could eventually reduce the numbers, says the Nook’s Rude. Even transporting dogs and cats to the Davidsonville facility 97 miles is well worth a long drive, says Kelly Gates, special programs and projects coordinator for the Washington County Humane Society in Hagerstown, says “We can bring 30 to 40 animals a week. They are an excellent quality facility and the low rate makes the trip an added benefit,” she said as she loaded pet carriers with “fixed” animals back into a truck to transport back to Hagerstown. Earlier that same day, a panel truck of pets arrived for sterilizations from Somerset County 116 miles away on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

The partnership with the Millersville shelter would be funded by a $30,000 grant request currently being evaluated by the state’s Spay and Neuter Advisory Board of veterinarians and other professionals appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to provide advice on how the how competitive grants should be solicited and evaluated.

The pilot project will use vehicles of the Millersville facility to transport pets to be spayed or neutered from low income areas of Pasadena, Glen Burnie, Brooklyn Park and Severn at the Davidsonville clinic.

“For this pilot project, we concentrated on the four areas, and plan to hit one (of the) area(s) per week so we can service each area once per month, which have had the highest surrender rates (to Animal Control) in AA County,” says Evans.

The advisory board is currently considering the “Fix Anne Arundel” proposal along with 50 other spay/neuter other grant proposals, totaling nearly $2 million, from clinics and shelters from every county except Montgomery. A tax levied on registered dog and cat foods has so far generated more than $600,000, which the board is divvying into final recommendations for approval by Agriculture Secretary Earl F. Hance sometime in October, says Jane Mallory, the board coordinator.

By analyzing programs in several other states, The Maryland task force report also concluded that targeting animals in low-income households can reduce intake and euthanasia rates of unwanted animals at animal shelters. A separate, recent agriculture department survey, coordinated by Mallory, found that managed clinics in the state euthanized 39 percent of cats and 24 percent of dogs taken in during the last quarter of 2013, Oct.-Dec. A total of 5,804 cats and 1,956 were euthanized by the clinics during that 3-month period.

The Spay and Neuter Program grew out of the passage of a 2013 legislation to fund low-cost sterilization of cats and dogs in the state, as a result of bills sponsored by Del. Barbara Frush of Prince Georges and Anne Arundel Counties and Prince Georges Senator Joanne Benson.

Frush says the work of the spay/neuter program is “coming along very well. We want to get down to no kill shelters. First and foremost, I am a huge animal rights advocate. I introduced this legislation, with the help of the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Environmental Matters Committee, because I was appalled at the number of animals that roamed freely throughout the State, that breed, or starve and were subject to abuse, rabies and many other problems.”

The 2013 statute declares that the state program, “Shall target low-income communities and populations to the maximum extent possible and detail how that goal is to be accomplished.” And “May target feral cat populations if the department determine that this targeting does not violate local law.”

Janey’s Song, (a Bob Seger tribute)

Janey’s Song [image error]

or “wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then”

by S.M. Berberich

He gently steers his silver BMW Z3 convertible into a familiar left turn to enter Campus Drive.

“What a kick this will be,” he says to himself, overcome with nostalgia. “Man-o-man, the old campus again.”

The first thing he notices is a gigantic Jordon Athletic Center he didn’t know about. Then he sees the new Perlman Fine Art’s Theater that wasn’t around in his day. He doesn’t recognize the campus.

He books the Beemer past expansive parking lots A and B. “Oh no. This was where Agriculture College students tended the cattle herd. What a pity.”

At campus center things become more recognizable—Georgian red brick monoliths all over, where they should be. Huge pillars are still holding up the Georgian porch of the Student Union. “Of course they are.” There’s the ivy, much more of it, creeping over the Lockheed Physics Building and into his old lab windows, it appears to him.

And then, “Oh, my,” he says. There was the same familiar bus stop beside the undergrad library. A very special bus stop. “I thought it would be long gone.”

He hasn’t been back since his college days there, almost 30 years ago.

He slows the car to a crawl, obsessed by memories of that bus stop. Is returning to campus such a good idea? he wonders. It was so very long ago.

He can’t help staring. The bus stop is unchanged. Just the 2010 circa flyers and bulletins taped all over its plastic shelter are different, instead of flyers from 1980. He tries to read one while coasting. “Hey, look out!” someone shouts. A girl on the bus stop bench is pointing at him, signaling to others standing by.

He slams on the brakes, skidding to an inch of a campus shuttle bus idling at a red light for pedestrians.

Those students at the curb look so very young, mere babies, he thinks while waiting.

He finds himself snickering. “Now that I’ve got your attention, … “ He presses a button on the dashboard. The convertible top slides back. The students all turn to notice the old man’s silver rocket, a mid-life extravagance, for sure.

Bet if I tooled such a sexy ride back then instead of my old Malibu jalopy, things would have been different, he thinks. He tries to smirk. Not his nature. The thought instead makes him sad. Such an idea is absurd.

His Janey comes to mind. He takes a deep, painful breath. Now, there’s no denying it. The real reason he is cruising Campus Drive again is right there at that bus stop where Janey once entered his life, long, long ago.

He strains to see the faces on the young students waiting at the bus stop. There she is. Janey is there. Okay, she’s gone … again, and again, and again. Oh this was not a good idea, he contemplates.

He smiles as he flips on the Harmon Kardon sound system with the subwoofer. The kids should love this. But, the trick’s on him. The radio is playing the very song that always brings Janey back to mind. It’s torture.“Oh my God, no,” he says loud enough for the students at the bus stop hear him and stare.

The light turns green. He stays, staring. He’s frozen, listening to the lyrics from rocker Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind” from 1980.

It seems like yesterday

But it was long ago

Janey was lovely, she was the queen of my nights

There in the darkness with the radio playing low

And the secrets that we shared

The mountains that we moved

Caught like a wildfire out of control

Till there was nothing left to burn and nothing left to prove

“Sir? is there something wrong?” a girl came to the car, just as Janey did that night. He sees Janey’s face on the girl. His mind flashes to an incredibly unlikely meeting of Janey late one night so long ago.

[image error]

“Sir? Are you okay? “Sir?”

He focuses. She’s just a strange student, very young, just like Janey was. This girl bears no resemblance, brunette and fully dressed in jeans and T-shirt. Unlike Janey, who was blonde and nearly naked that fateful night.

“Oh,” he says, embarrassed.

He drives down the familiar campus hill on Campus Drive. Intuitively, he pulls into …

Keep reading in “Fiction Flights.”