June SKI Tips

1. Honey bees instinctively become defensive around dark noses and eyes assuming it may be a bear. They will sting. This is why beekeepers wear white protective suits and never wear dark sunglasses.
2. Besides helping gardens grow by pollinating trees and flowers, insects enrich soil by helping to break down organic matter more quickly and aerate it—creating healthy root systems for plants.
3. The safest, purest hummingbird nectar you can make is: 1 part table sugar to 4 parts water. Replace with fresh nectar every 3-5 days. Clean feeder with hot water after each refill. Do not add red food coloring.
4. Try to keep your lawn free of weeds as they take water away from the grass.
5. Start seeds of cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower for fall transplants.
6. Remove spent blooms of peony, iris, delphiniums and other flowers.
7. Put off weeding chores until a rainy day when the invaders are easier to pull out, roots and all, from damp soil.
8. The foot accounts for 25% of the bones in the human body.
9. Do NOT refrigerate apples, avocado, bananas, kiwi, lemons, mangoes, oranges, papayas and peaches.
10. Sweet corn ears are ripe and ready for harvest when the top of the cob is round, not pointed.