Pleasantly Piquant

Gardeners have long experimented with household items outdoors, and vinegar has recently gained attention as a multipurpose tool in the yard. A light spritz of vinegar can act as a natural weed suppressant on patios or pathways, and its acidity helps deter certain pests without resorting to harsher chemicals. Some enthusiasts even use it for cleaning garden tools or discouraging ants from favored trails. Like most home remedies, vinegar works best in specific situations—it won’t replace balanced soil care or proper mulching—but it can be a handy addition to a gardener’s toolkit.   It is important to remember that excessive or indiscriminate use can make the soil too acidic for most things to grow.

For a closer look at when vinegar makes sense to use (and when it doesn’t), check out The Spruce’s full article.

- Shannon

Spotting and Removing Spotted Lanternfly Eggs

The Spotted Lanternfly, an invasive insect originally from Asia, continues to spread across many parts of the United States and has been sited in NC. It is a voracious feeder on fruit trees and vines, stunting the growth of our favorite fruit trees and grapes. While the adult insects are striking and easy to recognize with their spotted wings and bright red underwings, the real challenge often lies in their egg masses, which are laid in late fall (September through November in our area) and hatch in spring. Gardeners who know how to identify and remove these eggs can make a real difference in slowing the insect’s spread.

Egg masses are usually laid on smooth surfaces: tree trunks, branches, firewood, outdoor furniture, stone, and even vehicles. At first, they resemble a smear of wet mud or clay. Over time, the covering dries and cracks, revealing rows of seed-like eggs beneath. Each mass can contain 30 to 50 eggs, which means that even a few unnoticed clusters can result in a significant infestation come spring.

If you spot an egg mass, the best approach is mechanical removal. Using a plastic card, putty knife, or even a firm stick, gently scrape the entire mass into a sealable bag or container filled with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer. This ensures the eggs are destroyed. Simply scraping them onto the ground is not effective, as the eggs may still hatch. Checking frequently—especially in fall through early spring—is key, as the eggs overwinter and remain viable until warmer weather.

Gardeners play an essential role in reducing the spread of this pest. Regular inspections of trees, outdoor equipment, and vehicles can help you spot egg masses before they hatch. By carefully scraping and destroying the eggs, you not only protect your own garden but also contribute to protecting neighboring landscapes and ecosystems. A little vigilance now can prevent a far larger problem later in the season.

Please visit: https://lanternflies.org/removal/?utm_source=chatgpt.com for more information.

IMPORTANT:  The Spotted Lanternfly is greatly attracted to the Tree of Heaven.  This tree is their go-to target.  If you have a Tree of Heaven you should contact the NC Extension Service for what to do.  Do not just cut it down as the tree will immediately start sending up shoots from all of its roots and you will soon have a grove where you once had only one.

 https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/tree-of-heaven-ailanthus

2025 Cary Environmental Symposium

The third annual Cary Environmental Symposium starts with a panel discussion about transforming waste into a valuable resource for healthy soils on Sept. 3.  On Sept. 10 Dr. Meg Lowman, otherwise known as Canopy Meg, will share her 40 years of research about tree canopies (the 8th continent) including stories about  the treetop trails that she has created in places like Florida and Malaysia.  On Sept. 19 Doug Tallamy will speak about Homegrown National Park, a project intended to link together natural habitats created by homeowners as we create more and more habitat for local flora and fauna right in our own backyards. On Sept. 25 Samantha “Foxx” Winship of Mother’s Finest Family Urban Farms  will speak about bees, farming, nature preservation and so much more. You can pick and choose which evening(s) to attend and each lecture/discussion will include excellent live music by local musicians.  All ticket proceeds will be donated to Trees for the Triangle to support their mission to plant 50,000 trees in the Triangle area by 2050.  Free longleaf pine seedlings will also be available to anyone who attends. I attended the lecture by Basil Camu of Leaf and Limb last year and it was well worth the trip! Go to Cary Environmental Symposium for more information and to get tickets. You will be glad that you went.  

– MaryBeth

PLANT FOCUS: Helianthus angustifolia

Helianthus is an enormous plant genus within the daisy family that you probably know better as sunflowers.  What you may not know is that the domesticated sunflower with its huge disc and delicious black seeds is just one of many species in the sunflower genus.  Almost all species of sunflower are native to North and Central America.  Most may be tall like the sunflower we eat, but the flowers are smaller and grow in masses rather than as a giant disc at the end of a thick stalk.  They are very hardy and can spread rapidly, some by seed and others by both seed and rhizome.  If you are planning to put some in your garden, make sure you check into their adult height and how rapidly they spread so that you can choose an appropriate spot to accommodate their growth habit or choose a variety that will be more well behaved. The NC Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox is an excellent tool for learning which sunflowers are native to our area and understanding their growth habits.  

In addition to providing a spot of bright yellow in your yard from late summer until frost, sunflowers are an excellent food and nectar source for birds, butterflies and other pollinators.  They also provide winter nesting sites for many of our native bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects.  If you would like to grow sunflowers for their beauty and to support local pollinators, cut back your sunflowers and other native species to 12 to 24” in height after the first killing frost.  The stems will disintegrate and disappear in spring and the pollinators will have safely wintered over.  If having bees in your yard seems scary, don’t worry.  Most native bees don’t sting and will happily share garden space with you.  They are also far more efficient pollinators than honey bees and really help a healthy ecosystem and garden to flourish.

– MaryBeth

Book:  The Serviceberry - Robin Wall Kimmerer

Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry is a luminous meditation—just over a hundred pages—that continues the path opened by Braiding Sweetgrass, offering readers an intimate exploration of ecology, language, and ethics through the lens of a humble shrub, the serviceberry (Amelanchier). In clear, graceful prose, Kimmerer weaves together Indigenous Potawatomi wisdom, scientific insight, and personal reflection, revealing how the serviceberry serves as both sustenance and teacher—its fruit timed by seasons, shared within ecosystems, and named in ways that reflect its role as a “gift” in her ancestral language .

At the heart of the book lies the concept of the gift economy: a system grounded in reciprocity and gratitude rather than accumulation. Drawing from traditional guidelines like the “Honorable Harvest,” Kimmerer challenges capitalist scarcity mindsets by showing how abundance can be sensibly lived and shared, building community and ecological resilience. Reviewers highlight her insistence that flourishing happens through relationships—not extraction—and that true wealth arises from how we care for each other and the earth, not from possessions alone.

Critics applaud the lyrical power of her writing—each sentence feels intentional, each chapter a seed of possibility. Though its tone remains gentle, the book is not without edge: it quietly confronts entrenched systems of competition and reminds readers that small, mindful practices—sharing berries, planting native species, supporting mutual aid—are powerful acts of resistance and renewal. 

Ultimately, The Serviceberry is less a treatise and more a companion for mindful living—a small volume that lingers long after it’s closed. Ideal for gardeners, ecologists, and anyone curious about reimagining abundance, it offers both quietly urgent hope and invitation: to look again at the world’s generosity and ask, “How can I participate?”

– Shannon

To-do list for September

Continue working on and planning your fall garden in September. Your summer crops may be starting to die back. Keep the garden clean and organized during this transition period! 

• Leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, and radishes can still be planted for harvest this fall.

• Keep up your inspecting for pests, particularly for bean beetles which can make a second strong showing this time of year.

• Houseplants that have been "vacationing" in the backyard this summer should be brought in by mid-month. Give them a good blast of water all over before bringing them in to help remove freeloading insects. Insects in the soil are probably not damaging but more of a nuisance when brought indoors. For the first few weeks after the move, inspect your plants daily for any emergent insects and treat as needed.

• Make preparations for mulching your beds for the winter. Bagged mulch is always available, but getting a truckload delivered is very economical. If you don’t think you can use a whole truckload, ask your neighbors if you can split a load.

• Get any cover crops you want to use in the ground by mid-month.

• Many non woody perennials should be transplanted every three to five years as a general rule. Fall is the time to divide and transplant plants that flower in the spring, while those that flower in fall, like chrysanthemums, should be done in the spring. Cut back tops to four to six inches to reduce transplant stress. Thoroughly prepare the new planting site before digging your plants up to move them.

• Keep harvesting second plantings of the cool season vegetables including radishes, lettuce, cabbage, Swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, and the other cole crops. 

• Be sure to keep strawberry beds weed free. Every weed you pull now will help make weeding much easier next spring.

Mushrooms

• By Sylvia Plath

  Overnight, very

  Whitely, discreetly,

  Very quietly

  Our toes, our noses

  Take hold on the loam,

  Acquire the air.

  Nobody sees us,

  Stops us, betrays us;

  The small grains make room.

  Soft fists insist on

  Heaving the needles,

  The leafy bedding,

  Even the paving.

  Our hammers, our rams,

  Earless and eyeless,

  Perfectly voiceless,

  Widen the crannies,

  Shoulder through holes. We

  Diet on water,

  On crumbs of shadow,

  Bland-mannered, asking

  Little or nothing.

  So many of us!

  So many of us!

  We are shelves, we are

  Tables, we are meek,

  We are edible,

  Nudgers and shovers

  In spite of ourselves.

  Our kind multiplies:

  We shall by morning

  Inherit the earth.

  Our foot's in the door.

Happy Gardening!