Time to talk of other things ...

 NPK Fertilizer Use in Layman Terms N (Nitrogen), P (Phosphorus), and K (Potassium) are the three elements (by weight) that make up the vital tripod of plant development. Each of them acts specifically in the plant: • Nitrogen N : promotes healthy foliage by helping in the development of shoots and leaves. Without it, the old leaves usually become yellowish, and the plant loses the green tone characteristic of chlorophyll. Sources of nitrogen include fish or crab meal, cottonseed meal, feather meal, soybean meal, blood meal, ammonium/urea and manures such as bat guano, as well as many cover crops. • Phosphorus P : supports strong root development and is responsible for stimulating the plant’s fruiting and flowering. The phosphorus-deficient vegetable has a weakened growth with an abnormal dark green colour.  Sources of phosphorus include  Fish meal, bat/seabird guano, bone meal, alfalfa meal and phosphates. • Potassium K : helps regulate water and nutrient movements within

 Spring blossoms at Willowgate Community Garden We've had some pretty wet weather this spring and there has been a lot of talk about the weeds in Willowgate Community Garden, but today I want to take you on a visual tour of some of the spring blossoms.  And while we are about it, I'll share some tips to grow Irises, Roses and Blackberries and beneficial flowering plants ... so without further ado, let's get started. Bearded Iris California Gold Poshy Purple Bearded Iris Best grown in full sun, Bearded Irises ( Iris germanica, so sometimes called German Irises) grow from shallow, fleshy roots called rhizomes . Their distinctive flowers have three upright petals called " standards " and three cascading petals called " falls ". Running down the centre of each fall near the base is a “ beard ” that resembles a furry caterpillar.  The leaves of the bearded iris are flattened and sword-like, and the plants grow to varying heights. Dwarf varieties may stand j

 The Intriguing World of Farmer Ants 🐜 and their Captive Aphids There is plenty of intrigue, nay brazen thuggery, in the garden ... if only you care to look closer.  Take the case of garden black farming ants  🐜  ... that are very active in spring. Farmer Ants extracting honeydew from Aphids (Source: Originalbuttterflyhouse) I noticed the French chard which had overwintered in my garden, and was doing quite well until the leaves were getting predated by aphids - tiny black dots on the underside guarded by garden black farming ants!! Holes in French chard leaves due to aphid infestation Aphids feed primarily on the sap from plants, essentially sucking the nutrients from leaves and stems to secrete a sugary liquid called honeydew. This honeydew secretion is very sugar-rich and is devoured by ants as a food source.  As a result, a mutualistic system (the National Geographic link below says the ants have gamed the system to favour them) has evolved wherein the farming black ants sh

Healthy Living in the Hunza Valley  Hunza Valley (Photo: Lyma) Hunza Valley in the northern pristine mountainous region of Pakistan is home to the indigenous Burusho and Wakhi people who are said to live on an average to the ripe old age of 120 years but dental studies have shown that this might be exaggerated since record keeping is mostly oral devoid of birth certificates - so let's focus not on their longevity but on their healthy lifestyle.  This is a rugged remote area, unchanged for centuries. The locals, also called Hunzakutz , have their own separate language, Burushaski which is unique with no connection to the Indo-European or Tibetan languages bordering it. The only similarity anthropologists have connected it with is with an equally isolated and unique culture – that of the Basque region of Spain.  Some researchers have called the Hunza the happiest people on Earth, with a passion and zest for life, perhaps brought on to some extent by their daily vigorous exercise a