Halloween with the Lily Family

Ancient Garlic - Vampires and Health

October is the month to plant garlic in many northern and cooler regions. It is one of the most important crops, and one of the most ancient crops ever cultivated, for the home backyard gardener. It certainly adds a zing to many meals and snacks and it's plain healthy. Homegrown garlic is like homegrown tomatoes, the taste is far superior.

The ancient world from China to Egypt was familar with garlic. The herb was cultivated and revered. In North America, the First Peoples were also familar with garlic. The Algonquin Nation had a name for garlic, “chicagaoua” which grew along the shorelines of Lake Michigan. Eventually, it became the name for a settlement in the early days, Chicago.

History aside, all the current evidence from hundreds of research studies points towards the age old wisdom that the herb is just plain and simply, healthy. It is widely believed garlic improves overall heart health, contains anti-bacterial and and anti-inflammatory properties. Garlic is flavorful, healthy and it is also easy to grow.

Garlic bulbs are readily available from numerous online gardening Websites. In almost all regions, garlic can be purchased from local farms and roadside stands. Local garlic is already adapted to the general weather and soil conditions of your neighborhood or region.

Supermarket garlic is usually shipped from California which supplies 90 percent of the US market. It is generally the “soft neck” variety which is more conducive to commercial growing conditions. Hard neck garlic is most often grown on homesteads and farms; it form a scape in June.

China also does a brisk garlic trade; 75 percent of the world's garlic originates in China. Garlic is used in cooking and medicine world wide; it really belongs to everyone.

Garlic planted in October, or even into November depending on the weather, will be some of the first green to appear in the spring after the snows melt. Then on April 19, with the garlic growing for taste and health, you can celebrate National Garlic Day. Besides, the vampires and all sorts of other nasty things will stay away if the garlic is planted before Halloween.

H1N1 - Keep Informed and Eat Healthy


Asparagus

Asparagus is another healthy vegetable which is flavorful, easy to grow, and can save some money in the kitchen. October is a great time to get an asparagus bed ready for the spring planting.

Asparagus is a perennial which can produce for decades. Since asparagus can be around for a long time, it is important to get the soil area for the asparagus in top notch condition before it is planted in the spring.

Asparagus does best in full sun, well drained, loamy soil, with sufficient compost. Asparagus roots can be planted about as early as the soil can be worked in the spring. Seeds can be started indoors and placed in the new asparagus area when the danger of a heavy killing frost has past in the spring.

Asparagus is a spring vegetable but the harvest season can be extended to last well into summer, more information on extended season can be found here. Plan on about twenty plants per person for fresh eating and later storage for table use later.

Because asparagus can be harvested throughout the summer and for decades, it is a smart choice for the home vegetable gardener. It is easy to grow and is not bothered much by any pests or vampires and bats.


The Lily Family


Both garlic and asparagus are members of a huge family of plant, the Lily Family. Other members include: onions, shallots, yams, lilies, yucca, aloe,tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths.

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Crawford County Grange News

Applications for the college scholarship fund are due November 1st. More information use the comment section below.

For the Heck of It:



Bats always turn left when exiting a cave – something to know just in case.
November 1 is a huge celebration for many, Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.
Cabaaza En Tacha, or candied pumpkin is a popular dish during the celebrations. It is similar to candied yams. Portions of the dish are placed on family altars for dead relatives and friends.

Blogs to Read:

Vincent di Fondi

On Your Way to the Top

New York's Southern Tier

Urban Veggie Garden

Simply Snickers

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Snow Stories and the Indian Summer

First Snow – the Coming of Indian Summer

A mid-October snowfall is common in this region. It fell October 15th and 16th and when it was over, the ground had about four inches here. It was a pretty and ugly wake-up call. There are still projects to get done before the serious stuff gets here; although some serious snow fell, measured in feet, October in 1997 in Buffalo, New York and basically shut down the city.

Snow does have an upside. For the yard and garden, snow does has positive benefits. It is weather's way of providing necessary mulch to help protect and insulated the soil from severe cold and cycles of thawing and freezing. Snow also helps to retain soil moisture in the ground, important for both yard and the water well.

Snow also helps to put an end to some pesky insects such as flies and mosquito's, a point to recall with a snow shovel in hand.

This week will be an Indian Summer week if the forecasts are true. (Read about Ebenezer's contribution in 1794 below.) It will be a good week to mulch with other material before the next arrival. Leaves, grass clippings compost and other organic material can be placed in garden and around trees and shrubs to help the snow work it's benefits. There is always something to do in yard or garden


Snow Brings Wood Ash

The cold weather brings wood ashes for many, even during an Indian Summer, the nights can be frosty. The common belief is that the ashes are good for the vegetable or flower garden. But there are several qualifiers.

Wood ash does contain potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. However, the levels of each depend on what wood is burned; hard woods will have higher levels than soft woods. Wood ashes can help neutralize the soil similar to lime; however in general, it takes about twice as many wood ashes to reach the same levels as lime. Wood ash can be used successful for the vegetable garden except areas where potatoes will be planted.


The generally accepted amount for vegetables is one gallon of ashes per square yard. Lesser amounts can also be used successfully around trees, particularly fruit trees and shrubs and flower beds. If wood ashes will be saved throughout the winter, they need to be kept dry, once one is certain all the hot embers have been extinguished. A better idea, and safer, is to just sprinkle the ashes on the snow or frozen ground. One chord of wood, according to estimates will produce about sixty pounds of wood ash.

Coal ash should never be used, nor should treated lumber. Fireplace logs and other commercial fire starters should not be used in the garden; nor should the ashes from a fire which contains plastic or rubber products.

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PA Snow for Squirrel Season


In many area it wasn't a good day for hunting squirrels as the season opened in many regions. The heavy wet snow fell in the woods most of the day off of the many leaves which remain on the trees; branches snapped and fell. Even the golden rod fields were flattened by the wet heavy snow. This week, and hopefully, next, the Indian Summer weather will remain and bring better days.

But this black squirrel was harvested. Black squirrels are not as common as many others. At one time in the early days, there were more plentiful and abundant. A black squirrel is actually a gray squirrel but wears a different coat.

The mast crop in some areas is heavy, while in others, scarce. The squirrels will simply move, like many animals, to the areas which have plenty of food.

While the cold rainy and snowy weather made for hard conditions in the woods, the Lake Erie Steelhead Trout have been moving up the creeks and fishing for them has been good.

They can be fighters. This steehead was taken from Sixteen Mile Creek in Erie County.
Check out my recently published content on AC:

Steelhead Journey in Lake Erie

Stay up to Date on H1N1 and the Flu Season.


Snow Brings the “First” Indian Summer


Major Ebenezer Denny wrote one of the first known occurrences of the term “Indian Summer” on October 13, 1794 in a journal he was keeping. Ebenezer was at a small military garrison at Fort LeBoeuf, known today as Waterford, Pennsylvania, located in northwestern Pennsylvania.

No one however is quite sure of the origin of the term and exactly what the term's relationship with the Native Americans. What is known is that it is period of dry unseasonably warm weather following the first outbreak of frosts and snow. Some years can have several periods of Indian Summer, some will not.

Remember this? - Starting on Friday, October 13, 1997 Buffalo, New York was buried under feet of snow following a Lake effect snowstorm which lasted days. The snow closed the city and hundred of thousands were left without power.



Good Blogs to Read:

Vincent di Fondi

On Your Way to the Top

New York's Southern Tier

Urban Veggie Garden

Simply Snickers

more »
HubPages

Autumn Harvest: More than Garden Vegetables

Autumn Harvest: More than the Vegetables

October is a busy harvest month if you burn firewood especially if it's been a hectic summer. It is an awesome time to be able to enjoy the outdoors. In northern climates, it is also the month to get busy for winter's certain arrival besides last minute yard and garden work. It was so here the last couple weeks but the wood is getting cut and split and hopefully out of the woods before the first snow. Another good reason for being in the woods for hunters are buck rubs and other whitetail deer signs. Paying attention to the early signs of the buck is important for a successful harvest.

October is a good month to get the garlic cloves in the ground and next on the agenda; it was harvested in early August and the beds re-seeded with buckwheat. The buckwheat harvest came last last week just before the first frost. Buckwheat is a natural and excellent soil conditioner. It is good for the soil organisms needed for healthy plants, provides food for the bees and the birds will enjoy a couple fillings at the bird seeder.

The Snake and Global Warming


One bright and warm October day this red belly racer was a little mad for being disturbed. But the snake just slithered away for all the activity. It was probably one of the last days he was able to harvest some sunshine before next spring.

Red Belly Racer snakes are native to many areas of North America but according to a recent US Geological report, non-native snakes are on the move. Thousands of snakes are now living in the southern states which were imported generally as pets, and then eventually released back into the wild.

The concern with the non-native snake population is their impact on our native snakes and wildlife. Pythons and the like harvest just about anything that moves although there is little chance it could be a person. But it does happen. The non-native snakes are expected to migrate into more northern states with milder temperatures expected with global warming.

A recent report issued by Penn State predicts warmer winters. Less snow and more mild winters for Pennsylvania within the next several decades. It could make for some dramatic changes in the woodlands as many trees need a period of cold and freezing temperatures.

The sugar maple is one quick example of a tree which could suffer from increased warming weather. Many family farms still harvest the sap from the trees during the opening days of spring and it remains an important source of income in many small communities. Besides, big eight foot snakes on a warm summer yard work day could be a memorable and unpleasant experience.

Big Fish - the Steelhead Harvest


The steelhead are moving into the tributaries in the Lake Erie region. The run attracts anglers from across the country and there is hardly standing room along many of the creeks. It is not at all uncommon to harvest a steelhead which weighs between ten and 15 pounds.

The steelhead harvest usually begins in late September and really gets going in October and November. Anglers can try to harvest the fish, even while ice fishing. Normally, the fish are near the lake shore and tributaries until the warmer spring weather. For more information, click here.

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The Stump Harvest


September and October are also good months to harvest wild stumpy mushrooms (a break from cutting firewood). Be certain you know what you are picking, ask someone with the knowledge. There are some bad fungi that grow in the forests that can make a person very sick or worse.

Stumpy's usually grow on old tree stumps, like beechwood or on the woodland floor. They are tasty and make a great wild mushroom soup. Good advice, besides getting acquainted with a mushroom picker, is get a couple books and learn about them and double check before harvesting anything.

Many of the same areas where stumpy's can be found will be areas to harvest leeks in the spring. Leeks are a lot safer to harvest and are flavorful as well.

Buy a Book

Support your local Independent bookstore for some extra reading this winter or for Christmas presents. Learn more about mushrooms, steelhead or snakes. Or for some good reading Vincent di Fondi's book, Blessed Abduction. Just click the ad, it is pretty simple.


Grange News

The Crawford County Grange $500 scholarship deadline is November 1st. Any student who has completed at least semester, is under 25 and who has a family member in a Crawford County Grange can apply. For more information, use the comment section found below.

Recommended Blogs:

Vincent di Fondi

On Your Way to the Top

New Yorks Southern Tier

Urban Veggie Garden

Simply Snickers

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Buckwheat Beats the Snow

Buckwheat Beats the Snowfall

Buckwheat moves fast. On September 20th, pictured above, is the buckwheat planted August 19th. Buckwheat was simply broadcast on the soil in a raised bed a day after the garlic was harvested. Just amazing.

Buckwheat is often a forgotten crop which can be used by backyard gardeners. It will enrich the soil and helps to control the weeds. This is the first of two raised garlic beds, the other is about a week behind and just starting to bloom.

Late September and into October are great times to plant garlic. This year the bonus might be some extra buckwheat, if not for pancakes, then for the winter bird feeder. Buckwheat will be a garden favorite here, it saves money because less organic fertilizer is needed, saves on the compost, saves time from constant battles with weeds.

Buckwheat could be a good crop to plant after spring lettuce or broccoli crops are gone or just to have a bed or a row or two. It enriches the soil and helps the bees. And the bees will come. The buckwheat is swarming with honeybees and bumblebees; there are so many you can hear the buzz. Buckwheat has to be one of the original bee plants.



Now is the time to face some cold reality. Pictured above is the first snowfall last year and, grab your seat, it was October 29th and about six inches. So even if buckwheat is planted as late as August 19, it is possible to harvest a kitchen crop in about seven weeks, maybe eight. To check the first and last frost dates, click weather service, for your area. It gives a general idea at the very least. Buckwheat planted in August gives the bees their last good meals before winter.

If you want to save some for kitchen use, the hulls come off easily. The remaining kernel, called groat, can be ground into flour, or eaten or used as sprouts. The leaves and the flowers are also edible and can be used in salads or as an herb.

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Rosy Red's: The Best Place in Town

The small pond in the snow picture above is the Frog Bog which was dug out last year in September. It sits on the edge of the backyard garden. We put in about a hundred Rosy red minnows, which are actually flathead minnows, but they are a brilliant orange color, very communal and peaceful. They multiply like guppies and love mosquito larvae. Kids and a lot of adults walk through the garden to feed the fish bread, so nobody sees the weeds.


For more information on them, Rosy Red. These small minnows would work well in any size garden pool and they are even great fish for an indoor tank. Even a small water pool in the garden is a great help for birds, butterflies, bees and people.

H1N1 Health Care is a universal human right and the current debate should include all person within the borders. It is the moral course of action and plain common sense. Read more here and leave your comment on what you think.

Keep updated on the H1N1 virus, click the ad below.


For the Heck of It:

What happened to September? The full harvest moon is in a couple days, October 4th.
October is also breast cancer awareness month, be safe.
October is also adopt a shelter dog month. Why not? On that note, here is a great article from Penn State and the research into why and how it might soon be possible to help dogs that are scared of of thunder and lightning storms.


My dog isn't scared of thunder, but let him hear a firecracker or a rifle shot, he's hiding!

Good Blogs to Read

Vincent di Fondi

On Your Way to the Top

New York's Southern Tie

Urban Veggie Garden

Simply Snickers

more »
HubPages

John Brown, Farmer, Surveyor, Tanner: Hero or Villan

150 Years Ago and an Elusive Verdict

Freedom fighter or home grown terrorist – the verdict is still elusive as the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry approaches October 16, 1859. There have been many commemorative events held at or near Harper's Ferry marking what many believe to be the opening shots of the tragic American Civil War. There are many more events planned in the upcoming weeks.

John Brown lived in New Richmond, Crawford County for nearly ten years. He was executed by hanging weeks afterwards on December 2, 1859 for the ill fated raid on the arsenal which Brown hoped would spark a general uprising against the slave owners He became an instant folk hero for the north, a despised murderer in the south.

His plan was to conduct a guerrilla war based in the Appalachian Mountains to fight against the institution of slavery. It was a plan which sent shock waves of fear among the rich plantation owners who stood to loose much of their wealth created by human slavery.

Brown's farm, has a a small museum, and parts of the old tannery are still standing; it is located off of Route 77, on John Brown Road, not far from Meadville, or Cambridge Springs or from Canadohta Lake. Brown's first wife and two small children are buried at the place; and Brown married his second wife, who was from Meadville and worked in his tannery at the farm.

Brown was the first Post Master in that region, turned his farmhouse into a church on Sunday mornings; other days of the week the farmhouse served as the community's first school. He was also the area's surveyor and many of the roads today in that region were the result of his work. He was also a major player in the area's Underground Railroad activity, something highly illegal back in the day. The government would arrest the activists and the supporters who faced stiff fines and a jail sentence. The Underground Railroad was a civil disobedience movement against the immoral institution of slavery.

The small museum is owned and operated by Gary and his wife, Donna Coburn. Both live on the property. Gary Coburn's grandfather built the museum in 1951. There is no entrance fee.

“My grandfather, Charles Olsen, didn't believe it was right to charge people a fee to learn about slavery and the Civil War, Gary said. “We've kept the same attitude. We not going to have any special events here to remember Harper's Ferry. That is their thing. The events happened there. But we will be open if people want to visit.”

Donna Coburn is the person usually running the day to day museum operations in between working as a waitress at the Riverside Inn. Donna spends countless hours every year organizing a traditional “John Brown Freedom Day Picnic” every week, held in early June. It is always, like this past June, a well attended event. “It is an event that has happened at the farm for about as long as anyone can remember,” she told me, “no one is sure exactly when the Freedom Day picnic started.”.


It is important to remember. Hundreds of thousands of American were killed during the bloody Civil War. Freedom came at a terrible price; the graves are in cemeteries large and small such as this grave in a lonely isolated spot. Luke Quinn, a US marine was the first and only US soldier to be killed at Harpers Ferry in defense of the arsenal, October 16, a 150 years ago.

Buy a Book

Learn more about John Brown and the Civil War. Buy a book from your independent book store. Recommended is Blessed Abduction by Vincent di Fondi and also the novels by Sam Hossler on some of the history of northwestern Pennsylvania. Check the authors out by clicking on search found in the link below.
Shop Indie Bookstores

Container Herbs to Consider


Parsley, sage, basil and thyme are all good herbs for containers. They are great cooking herbs and used fresh have many health qualities. Parsley, thyme and sage all all winter hardy; basil can either be dried or frozen; it can also be grown indoors during the winter as a houseplant. If purchased this spring and planted in the soil, they can be dug and planted in containers with drainage holes. It is a good way to save money, eat well, and good for health.For more Fall agrden suggestions, click here.

H1N1
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For the Heck of It

October is the last full month of Daylight Savings Time. Clocks back on November 1.

September 25 is Native American Day. Learn more about Sitting Bull.


Good Blogs to Read

Vincent di Fondi

On Your Way to the Top

New York's Southern Tier

Urban Veggie Garden

Simply Snickers

more »
HubPages

Save Money: the Autumn Clean -Up

Garden Clean-Up

Spring clean-ups get a lot of attention. Autumn clean-ups sometimes fall by the wayside. Healthy and money saving vegetable gardens are often pushed to the bottom of the “to do things” as winter begins to knock on the back door. But September and October are the perfect season for garden cleanliness to begin to take care of some of the problems of growing 2009.

Garden cleanliness is a key to an improved 2010 vegetable harvest. Three of the most common tomato blights, the nightmares of 2009, can overwinter. Vegetable blights, along with slugs and snails had a great year, with the abundant moisture and cool temperatures. Fall is pay back time for these fellas.

The three most common blights are Early Blight, Septoria Blight and the Late Blight. All three are caused by different fungi and all three can winter over and create problems next year. For information on how to identify a particular blight, click, here.

The fungus spores can live on in the winter in weeds and old tomato vines. Fatal late blight, a disease which infects both tomatoes and potatoes, normally need live plant material to live. It can winter over in potatoes missed when digging the harvest.

Burn all dead or dying tomato vines and rotten fruit or bag it in plastic, let it cook in the sun for several days and throw in the trash. Re-check the potato patch. To be on the safe side, burn or properly get rid of all vegetable plants that appear to be infected. Remember not to compost any of this material.

The blight fungus spores can also live in the weeds. Clear them out as well. Slugs and snails like to hide under boards, pots and other garden junk. Clean it -up, take away the hiding spots. Overturning the soil exposes their eggs to birds and to harsh weather conditions.


Winter cover crops can be planted. They help the soil, protect good soil microbes and suppress weeds. Mustard greens are one often unnoticed choice for fall planting. Other options, depending on the first frost dates, are: oats, buckwheat, winter rye or wheat.

Plan to rotate crops next year. Nightshade plants such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants should be located in another garden area.

Compost makes for healthy soil and healthy soil makes for healthier plants. The autumn months are a good time to renew composting efforts. Yard cleanliness, like raking leaves and the grass clippings from the last mowing are gold for the compost pile along with kitchen scraps. By next spring the compost should be mature enough to use as a soil additive or as mulch.

Mulch is important to help prevent water splashing up on the plants which could splash blight disease spores on the plants. Besides, a good mulch cover helps to control the weeds and will help retain soil moisture

An autumn afternoon clean-up in the garden can solve future blight problems, gets ride of some snails and slugs and can improve the soil. “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” applies to the vegetable garden as well as us and hospitals, restaurants and restrooms and the like, and don't forget, the environment. Save money with a fall clean-up.

Buy a Book

Books make good gifts and winter reading. Buy from your local independent book store. Click on the ad below. How about a book on good organic gardening practices? Or books published by Sam Hossler or contributor Vincent di Fondi?



Other Fall Stuff

Fall is a great time for projects. Acorns are plentiful. Start your own oak tree; your oak tree can last hundreds of years. Pine cones are dropping and luckily the squirrels are doing a lot of work stacking the cones on the ground in piles called a cache. It's easy pickings.



The pine cones can be used for fire starters for the wood stove or fireplace, bird feeders, and winter decorations.

While the leaves get all the attention, the many wildflowers are putting on the best free garden show in town.

H1N1

Flu season is just about here, Get informed by clicking the ad below for the latest updates and information.


Crawford County Grange

September 18-19 Grange food booth at the Crawford Fairgrounds during the annual Horse Sale.
Scholarship application for college students available, deadline November 1st.
Hayfield chicken-b-que October 4th at noon, take outs available. Great food.

For the Heck of It:

Goldenrods, now blooming with purple asters are good food and some of the last meals for the insects. Goldenrods, at one time, were considered a source of domestic rubber production. Read more, here.

A strain of the fungus, Phytophthora infestans, responsible for the Great Irish Tomato Famine in the mid- 1800's is the late blight fungus causing headaches this season.

The late blight virus is not harmful to human health, nor are the others harmful.


Other Blogs:

Vincent di Fondi

On Your Way to the Top

New York's Southern Tier

Urban Veggie

Simply Snickers

more »
HubPages

Goldenrods: More than Yellow Weeds

GoldenRods More than Yellow Weeds

Goldenrods have sort of an undeserved bad reputation; an invasive weed and the cause of sneezes and watery eyes. Up front, though, it's ragweed which causes more headaches for allergy sufferers, golden rod is usually not the problem. Ragweed, which blooms at the same time, releases pollen in the air; goldenrod pollen is heavier and is more commonly moved around by insects.

Goldenrod does like to wander and can be seen as invasive. And goldenrod is sometimes just unaffectionately dubbed a weed (whatever that word means).

But the goldenrod has turned many meadows, fields, pastures and even road ditches a brilliant yellow, a traditional September event. It often blooms along with the purple asters, making for one of the best flower shows around.

Goldenrod is an amazing plant, so amazing that states such as Kansas, Nebraska and South Carolina elevated the “weed” to the honorary place of state flower.

Goldenrod is a large family. There are over 130 different species. The different species can be found in dry ground, bogs and swamps, just about anywhere.

Goldenrod is also the last chance or the last stop for many pollinators before the killing frosts. It provides high quality pollen and nectar, particularly important for honeybees and our native wild bees. Any goldenrod field is swarming with dozens of different insects. For some, it's an important plant for reproduction; several insects, including the Gall Fly need the goldenrod.

The Goldenrod Gall Fly is an amazing little bug which spends it's entire existence on the goldenrod. After the male picks out a suitable spot, the females comes along and the eggs are injected into the stem; eventually this form a gall or the round ball often seen on the goldenrod.

The eggs eventually hatch and the larvae live in their gall existence for about a year. Sometimes, a hungry woodpecker will find a good meal by cracking open the gall, poor larvae.

At one time, Thomas Edison thought the goldenrod was a good plant for homegrown rubber production. Tires were actually made from goldenrods and are still on display. But even before Edison began his rubber experiments, folk medicine had a lot of uses for the plant. It was generally brewed into a tea and used to treat many ailments particularly urinary tract infections.

Goldenrods are more than a field of yellow weeds. Learn about the goldenrod spider below in the Heck of It.

Buy a Book

Support your local, independent book store and local authors. Sam Hossler's fictional novels about the local northwest Pennsylvania region are based on historical fact can be found here. Sam lives in the Canadohta Lake area. Vincent di Fondi just published his first novel, Blessed Abduction. Vincent, who now lives in Costa Rica, is a frequent contributor here and a great writer. Click on the ad below.


Oat Harvest and Trouble in Agriculture


The ten acre field next to my yard was planted in oats last spring. The harvest just began yesterday, September13 just hours before sunset and will continue today. It was a poor harvest because of all the wet weather and cool conditions and even some of the field corn is not as good as it should be, according to Doug Meabon who planted the field and is a local dairy farmer.

Doug also said even his sweet corn crop suffered from the weather. It has not been a good year for agriculture. Milk prices remain low; the price being paid the farmer is the same as it was in the 1960's. They are loosing money and it is getting worse. Prices will likely rise but we could very likely loose some farms before better economic times arrive.

Support your local farms, buy local produce whenever possible.

H1N1


Everyone is talking about the flu this year. Click the ad for the most up to date information. Eat healthy, wash your hands frequently and if you feel sick stay home. To date, this virus is just miserable but it could worsen. It's best to keep informed.

____________________
For the Heck of it:

I Told You there's one right over there! Another fascinating insect which can be found near the goldenrods is the goldenrod spider. Don't worry, it is not harmful to humans, but it does prey on other insects by crippling them with a powerful venom. This amazing insect can change colors from yellow to white to match it's environment.

There is a variety of white goldenrod. Click here for more information.

Good Blogs to read:

Vincnet di Fondi

On Your Way to the Top

New York's Southern Tier

Urban Veggie

Simply Snickers

more »
HubPages