Purple Martins

Purple Martins are back. Here are some perched on one of their apartments last summer and some babies on the inside.

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Click on http://purplemartin.org/ for more info about purple Martins

Baldwin High School wins BIT

Tosh Mihesuah wins steeplechase

Congratulations to the Baldwin High School boys and girls track teams. They won the 45th Baldwin Invitational Track meet at the Baker University Hey/Metsker Track April 1. Allison Howard set a new meet record for the discus throw.

Crocus

Some beautiful crocus on the campus of Baker University in Baldwin City

Baker University Greenhouse

Here is the Baker University greenhouse, on the beautiful campus of BU in Baldwin City. The large tropical plants look happy year-round. I want this greenhouse!

March Snow and Indoor Sprouts

It's been pretty cold the last few days. Trees have budded and grass is green. Right now at 6:00 pm, snow is falling. I had flats of seeds in my greenhouse but the nighttime temperatures are too cold. I hauled all of them in and now they're crowded in the basement, in the reading room and in an upstairs bedroom.

Grow Potatoes

Potatoes are easy to grow. Here are some that have sprouted. I cut the potatoes into chunks, with one-two sprouts per piece, like in the shot below. Let set for a couple of days before planting. Look at my page about growing potatoes for tips on growing a lot of spuds. http://www.aihd.ku.edu/gardens/potato_garden.html

What's in your compost?

I have two compost bins. Both can be twirled. One has an opening that slides (top two pictures) and the larger bin has a door that opens with a hinge.

Both bins are full of kitchen leftovers, including egg shells and coffee grounds. The bottom bin also has the remnants of Valentine's Day roses and trimmings from last year's garden.

Left is a picture of Tosh in 2003 with his Flagstaff winter project compost bin. You can start your own compost bin so you will have organic material each year for your garden. Use a garbage bin, preferably a plastic one. Drill holes along the sides so air can circulate. Add food scraps (no meat or walnut shells), straw, grass clippings, coffee grounds, chicken and pigeon droppings (no dog, cattle or cat waste) to the can and periodically add water and sawdust shavings and do your best to mix it up. Cover with a lid and let it set until it looks and feels like soft loam. In colder climates, this may take almost a year. Don’t add “hot” material to your garden until it is decomposed. Adding chicken waste too soon, for example, will rob your plants of nitrogen as it breaks down.