Trees have been prime targets for lethal insects in this Valley in recent years. Black locust borers have killed most black locust trees in the Valley; then we had ash borers, Bronze Birch borers, and now it's the walnuts' turn.
Black and English walnut trees are dying all over the Valley and have been for about the past three years. The killer is the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis). Forestry specialist Dave Collins, with the Boise Community Forestry-Street Trees Department, said about 80 percent of the black walnut trees in the Falley have been infested by this beetle.
Symptoms are yellowing, browning or wilting foliage, usually starting at the top of the tree and spreading downward. Leaves often remain attached to dead branches.
These beetles are native to the Southwest and moved northward either naturally or in firewood. They can kill a mature black walnut tree in a year by girdling through a tree's circulatory system just under the bark.
The only control would be use of a systemic pesticide, but then the walnuts would be too toxic for human consumption. Urban forests in Colorado also have been devastated by this beetle. Homeowners in some communities have been ordered to have the trees taken out because the beetles can breed and multiply in dead bark. Wood is not permitted to be saved for firewood, but can be kept for hobby woodworking only if the bark is completely removed.
Manure fertilizer might contain other stuff
We used to be able to define organic gardeners as those who used animal manure for fertilizing their crops. That is no longer true.
For one thing, raw manure may not be applied to any crop of human food within months of its harvest to comply with the Organic Foods Production Act. Most organic gardeners I know, whether or not certified, use only well-composted manures in their gardens or alternative fertilizers such as alfalfa meal, blood meal, coffee grounds, fish emulsion or meal, kelp meal, soybean meal and similar products.
With some animal manure, there's danger of transmission of harmful animal bacteria to humans. Organic gardeners also are wary of animal manure that might be contaminated with the herbicides Clopyralid or Picloram. Both of those herbicides are reportedly safe for humans, but their herbicidal effects persist through years of composting and will destroy a garden.
Scientists at the University of Minnesota now have learned that some vegetables also uptake livestock antibiotics. They found that lettuce, corn and potatoes all accumulated antibiotics from cattle manure. That could cause allergic reactions in people sensitive to those substances and could foster antimicrobial resistance.
If one needed an antibiotic treatment, it might prove useless.
Carrots as houseplants
Here's a pretty and cheap houseplant for you and your children or grandchildren: Buy carrots with their tops (quickly tell the checker not to remove the tops). When you get home, cut the carrot across the root about one-half inch below the top, and plant it in soil. Don't water too much, and the carrot will grow and even flower, looking like Queen Anne's Lace. Queen Anne's Lace is a wild carrot, after all.
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