Sharon Lovejoy - Trowel and Error: Over 700 Organic Remedies, Shortcuts, and Tips for the Gardener

Sharon Lovejoy

Workman Publishing New York

Copyright 2003 by Sharon Lovejoy

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

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eISBN 978-0-7611-6457-9

Cover design by Janet Parker

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Dedicated to my heroes
John Rhinus Clarke, John Richard Arnold, Frank Gander, John Muir, Noah W m Arnold, Albert Blifeld, and my incredible husband, Jeff Prostovich.

This book would not have happened without the work of my brilliant editor Ruth Sullivan. Ruth has a magical touch and a fine sensibility, and when working with me knew how to blend just the right amount of toughness and honesty with encouragement and humor. She turned my gigantic mound of word-compost into a rich, reader-friendly humus, and in the workings she turned me into a better writer, and herself into an even better gardener.

Heartfelt thanks to Peter Workman for believing in me and for continuing the tradition of publishing with integrity and professionalism. Special thanks to Lisa Hollander of the art department, and designer Janet Parker, who absorbed my manuscript and skillfully and intuitively created a playful and life-filled book. Thanks also to Elizabeth Gaynor for producing the book, and Anne Cherry, the project manager.

Thanks to the helpful staff at the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens and Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, entomologists and zoologists at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, entomologists and invertebrate zoologists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Bill Quarles, Bio-Integral Resource Center, The Humane Society of the United States, Nancy Hillenburg, Pat Reppert, Betsy Williams, Eleanor Jantzen, Marion Owen, Master Gardener and teacher, Sharon Christian Aderman (who contributed mightily to my Maine library), my assistant Danielle Shea, Claude Maher, Sherry Hyman, Patricia Fly, Patricia Cowan, Lucy Harrell, Laurie Otto, Ethyl Pochocki, Ed Sampson of Mourning Cloak Botanic Garden, taught to him by his mother Jessie Sampson. Carlos Quijano, Coast of Maine Organics, Ralph Bronner, Andy Lopez, Invisible Gardeners, Mary Muncy, Agatha Youngblood, Renee Shepherd of Renees Garden, staff at Rodale Gardens in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, Phil Torchio, PhD., the Pueblo of Acoma, Research Staff of the Smithsonian, Gertrude Foster, Mary Porter, Cambria Writers Workshop, Jack and Olga Essex, John and Augustine Clarke, Abigail Lovejoy, Lynn Karlin, Marta Morse, Laurie Lovejoy Prather, Patricia and Ruby Berry, Kate Stearns, Diane DeWeir, Marilyn Brewer, Peggy Phillips and Francesca Bolognini (for tending my gardens and birds when Im away), and the hundreds of readers who sent me suggestions and hints (wish I had kept all your notes and e-mails).

Finally, no words can convey my gratitude to my husband, Jeffrey Prostovich. He was with me every step of the way, from brewing stinking potions in our kitchen, testing recipes, and blotting aphids, to ferreting out resources, organizations, and scientific information. He is my best critic and the partner of a lifetime.

Clever uses for ordinary household items

A gardeners arsenal of homespun remedies for healthy plants and soil

Tricks, traps, and beneficial helpers for your garden

Ingenious ways to rid your yard of unwanted visitors

Enticements and concoctions for an army of helpers

Shortcuts to success with seeds, seedlings, and storage

Compost, mulch, and soilthe grounds for growth

Earth-friendly solutions for a healthy, weed-free lawn and garden

Found objects, focal points, and fanciful materials from the garden

Simple tips for the care, feeding, and loving up of your green household

May I a small house and large garden have;
And a few friends,
And many books, both true.

Abraham Cowley

Some people always do things standing up in a hammock, was how my friend Ed Reppert described people who seem to learn everything the hard way. I often think the hard way is the ONLY way I ever learneverything by trial (or trowel) and error. Although I began gardening when I was just a tyke, and studied botany and horticulture for years, it was always by doing and redoing that I learned best.

For over twenty years, I faithfully recorded in my journals sad and happy tales of garden woes, triumphs, mistakes, and the secrets and shortcuts of the hundreds of gardeners who stay in touch with me. Recording things isnt all I do. Every day I test recipes and cures and observe the behavior of birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and anything else that stumbles onto my plot of ground.

Anyone walking into my potting area is liable to find four or five mixtures of fertilizer brews and oddball pest blends fermenting and marinating in tubs, strange collections of tools, and cooking utensils hanging everywhere. It is not the aftermath of some cataclysmic natural disaster; it is my laboratory, my living library, and the makings for this book.

Three years ago I devoted my Hearts Ease column in Country Living GARDENER to a subject entitled Helpful Hints from an Eccentric Gardener. The column contained an assortment of hints and recipes gleaned from my journals, and the enthusiastic response to the collection gave birth to this, my fourth book-child, Trowel & Error.

One of my greatest joys is an early-morning walk in the garden. Rain or shine, youll find me outdoors (usually still in my nightgown), surveying the condition of my plants. I scan the beds and container gardens in search of yellowed leaves, stunted or deformed foliageanything out of the ordinary that points to disease or an infestation. It would be as difficult for me to overlook a sick plant as it would have been for me not to notice my son Noahs face speckled with bright, red measles.

My friend and garden assistant Peggy tells me that of all the yards she helps tend, mine is the healthiest (although it is not necessarily the tidiest). I credit that health to a myriad of factors. First, every speck of my growing areas (even potted plants) is covered with aged compost, worm castings, finely chipped bark, or shredded leaves and pine needles.