Feed your plants

Flower growers have used blackstrap molasses (yes, we do sell this old-time remedy for iron poor blood!) to get stronger, longer lasting blossoms for ages. Molasses supplies trace minerals along with bio-available sugars that feed plants. Milk, too, is a soil and plant food. The organization Slow Food says that, in addition, milk is an effective fungicide and soft-bodied insecticide; critters like grasshoppers don’t have a pancreas to process the sugars, so they are driven off when milk is applied to leaves. Slow Food says to mix two cups of milk (whole) into eight cups of water and stir in ¼ cup of blackstrap molasses for the first feeding (spray on leaves or pour a cup of the mixture around the stem of each plant).  Do this once every week or two to nurture healthy communities of microbes, fungi and beneficials in compost or garden soil.

Have an unusual-looking vegetable or fruit from your garden? Bring it in and show us!

And here’s to a wonderful start to everyone’s summer. For ice cream, remember we have two wonderful companies who use no gums or stabilizers in their recipes. These old-fashioned ice creams are the real deal – from Stow, MA, Ken and Gina’s; and Tea-rrific, whose flavors each feature a different tea.