Hello, and thanks for joining us for another edition of mid American gardener.

I'm your host Tinisha Spain and joining today are two panelists who are ready to answer your questions that you've sent in.

And they've also brought some show and Tales from their backyard to show you a little bit about what they're growing.

So before we get started, let's have them introduce themselves and tell you a little bit more about their specialty and where you can find them in the garden.

So ello we'll start with you.

All right.

I'm Ella Maxwell.

And I'm a Taxwell county master gardener.

I live up in the Peoria area and I'm also a part time horticulturist at hair nursery.

I have a large yard and I particularly like trees and shrubs and perennials.

And those are the kinds of questions that I'm going to answer today.

Awesome.

And Also joining us is Kay Carnes.

Kay, tell us a little bit about you.

Well, I'm a champaign county master gardener.

And as most of the viewers probably are aware, now, I love herbs and vegetables, especially heirlooms.

And volunteer out at Allerton Park, helping them with their herb garden.

And that's what I do.

Awesome.

Okay, ladies, welcome aboard for today's show.

So Ella, well, we'll start with you for showing towels.

What's the first item you brought us today?

Well, the first item that I wanted to talk about is really long renovation.

So now's the time to really do some evaluation.

And I know there's been questions about moles, you want to make sure that you've taken care of that there might have been some disease problems, I've had a little bit of rust and some smart problems, which are fungus problems on the leaves, not really anything to kill the grass.

I've also been trying some I've been using a herbicide on some creeping Charlie, now's a good time to take care of that.

But it's also the best time to do grass seed.

Because you're going to have available moisture, you still have very warm soil temperatures for quicker germination than in the spring.

And you rarely have a heavy weed competition weed presents.

So I brought some seed here.

And I don't know if we can really read the label that well.

But the interesting thing about all grass seed are is that it by law is mandated to have what kind of seed is in there.

Its germination percentage when it was last tested, the origin where the seed was grown and harvested and then it can also add information about inert materials like chaff.

Also, they test for weed seeds and noxious weed seeds.

So you'll want to read that label because you get what you pay for.

And so grass seed for most of us in the Midwest are cool season grasses.

That would be like Kentucky blue grass and those varieties, the red and chewing fescues those are more for shade.

And then of course the rye grass, the perennial ryegrass.

Sometimes in inexpensive seed mixes, you'll see a annual ryegrass and sometimes that has a good application, but it will not live through the winter.

It's there just kind of as a nurse grass.

Also, the grass can come in kind of a mix, which is a blend of different or it's a mix of different kinds of grasses.

And then also as a blend like only blue grass.

And the blue grass seed by far is the smallest of all the seats.

And so usually it's sold by weight.

And the wonderful thing is the packaging will give you the coverage and it gives a lot of information that you can follow for seating.

But there are special blends, or mixes, I guess really more mixes for shade type situations where bluegrass might not be the seed of choice.

So I just want people to know that they can learn an awful lot just from the label.

Now when is it time to start seeding and thinking about next year's long when's the perfect window to start?

Well, now is the perfect window.

I'd say anytime in spring.

timber, because the blue grass seed tip takes almost three weeks to germinate, where the rye grass and the fescue should germinate in seven to 10 days, maybe 14.

But the we've already started to have a change in our weather pattern we're getting cooler days, the temperature is dropping in the evening.

But there's still a lot of warm soil temperatures, we can take advantage to have the seed germinate.

And then we want to be able to mow it.

And of course, we want to keep the leaves as they're falling, mulch mowed, to keep them off from matting down on that new seed.

So now's the time to get started.

This is when you can go out and pick up some seed.

Excellent.

crazy to think we're thinking about next year's long but that's, that's how it works.

Always thinking ahead.

Okay, thank you so much, Ella.

Alright, okay, what do you have for us?

Okay, so I have here, I hope you can see it an eggplant.

And this is called snake of mugla.

And it's an Asian type of eggplant.

It grows very long, it can grow up to 18 inches long.

I measured this one and it was already hitting the ground.

So I harvested it knits 14 inches.

So it's a great egg plant, you know, for stir fries and things and things like that.

Now, how does this one compare to the more traditional sort of bulbous eggplant that we're used to saying it's basically the same flavor, it's just a different shape and it's smaller, you know, it's not as big round.

So it's not really a nice one for say, eggplant parmesean, where you want good size slices, but it's it's very good for, like I said, stir fry, or you know, cooking like that.

Eggplant, it grows much like tomato, it is a member of the tomato family.

And so it it likes a mix, love and this year, I might have never had eggplants as plants as large as I've got them this year.

And they're producing really well.

I have a couple other varieties too.

But I just thought this was kind of a fun one because I don't know.

I can get out bearing up.

Yeah, yeah.

What about the seats?

Does it mean the texture the seat everything is pretty much the same, except just the shape is that should be I really haven't cut into this one yet.

But if I'm thinking it might be a little bit smaller, because it's it's not as big around as your traditional eggplants.

So So how tall is the plant if the fruit gets that long?

The plant right now it's probably four feet tall.

Wow.

And I have never had them get that big before.

So they you know they do like this hot human while there were a lot I was gonna ask which combination of weather Do you think that you know made it thrive or that it likes so much the heat the dry the humidity, I think the heat and the humidity is what is done it because they they that's you know it nature that where they're grown traditionally down Thailand in those countries, we have a lot of heat.

So I think that, but my other varieties are just as big this year.

So I that's got to be awesome.

Okay, anything else you'd like to share about that particular item?

No, but I will save that when we're gonna come back to you.

But don't go back to Ella with her second show until I don't what do you have?

For my second show and tell I want to talk to people about a problem that you see.

In the fall with yellow jackets.

It's a type of wasp.

They are ground nesters.

So sometimes they're known as ground bees.

And this is actually a trap.

This is the wasp that you might step into a nest when you're mowing.

Or if it's in your flower beds, maybe when you're weeding or something and they can repeat sting.

They're not normally terribly aggressive unless you disturb their nesting site.

So again, this is a wasp that can be quite damaging to fruit.

Late in the fall.

They can, you know decimate apples and pears that are you know really late ripening kind of almost eat the flesh out.

They also can bother people Add a fall picnic because they're attracted to a sugary, maybe drinks that you're holding, or maybe some salad that you might have.

And because they can potentially sting there something that you might want to think about how to control them.

So I've had experiences with them in the last week.

And I thought that I would share, because they're a ground Nester in the evening hours, most all of the adults have returned to the nest.

So if you decide to eliminate this hot colony, you would want to treat it in the evening hours.

And the easiest way to do that is to just use any general purpose insecticide and mix it up at maybe a gallon of liquid in a watering can or bucket.

And then you're going to just pour it down the hole, and then just set the bucket on top so that they wouldn't be able to come out.

And by morning, you'll have eliminated that underground colony, you can then also put up traps, maybe you don't want to eliminate an entire pot, they are pollinators.

But maybe you don't want them in an area where you're going to be picnicking or something.

And so you can have the trap that contains a bait.

Usually it has soapy water that they'll drowned in some type of liquid like apple juice or something that they'd be attracted to.

So we had a problem at the nursery where they had made a nest in a potted tree.

And so several people were stung, and we then treated the soil with a drench to eliminate that underground nest it was, you know, kind of an exciting day.

For other people it was painful but the these ground bees or Yellowjacket wasps, populations do build as do other insect populations like the bumble bees, there's a lot of bumble bees out bald faced Hornets that make those large paper, grey wasp nests.

Even the mud dauber wasp or the little paper wasps and honey bee populations are pretty much at peak right now.

So you're going to find that with some of these social insects that could be menacing, if you're afraid or if you're in direct contact.

I know Karen, one of the panelists that we've had in the past, she actually had a large wasp nest under the stairs of her deck.

And she said it contained like 32 individuals that she eliminated.

Well, you know, is there any way and this could be just an insane question, but is there any way to identify these ground these before you happen upon them?

Is there anything to look for?

Do they build a mound?

Do they you know, how can we identify them in our yard?

Well, stepping on the yellow jacket is pretty easy to identify because it has the black and yellow stripes and of course all wasps have that very cinched waist where a honeybee is the smaller, stouter, fatter looking and of course, you'd be able to recognize a bumblebee as being a large furry bee.

But most of the wasps have a clear wing and a larger wing in comparison to some of the bee species and mostly it's the striping on on the body.

But there's the bald faced Hornet it's black and white.

Again, very distinctive.

So if you I have a book about bees in your backyard, I'm sure you can also get a field guide on wasp identification and, and lots of people are posting to the internet, in Facebook groups and things you know for an identification so if you can get a picture You can probably post it and someone will have the answer.

Alright, just don't get stung.

Right.

Thanks.

So, okay, okay, we're going to go back to you for your next show and tell.

Okay, I have here, hopefully you can see them.

It's been Oh, yes.

Pretty humble.

It's one of my very favorite beans.

It's a yellow wax bean.

And it's called dragon.

And I grow them every year because they have such an excellent flavor.

And they're so interesting.

And they're all different.

See, this one is more white.

Mm hmm.

It's a bush pain.

And it's just got a really great flavor to it.

See, it is available.

This is not a real rare variety.

there see, available from a number of places that sell their seats.

In around I've grown this one for years, and I saved the seat from it from year to year.

Are they really good and hearty?

Do they you know produce well and Yes, they do.

They produce all my beats produced this this year again.

This was a banner year for beats like it was a plant I can't ounce and pounds and pounds of beads.

So they're on their way out.

Now.

They they're kind of done, but I'd let them go and let the pods dry.

And then I set the seeds for about a year.

Mm hmm.

How did you come?

How did you stumble upon those?

This wasn't the look that you were drawn to or when you initially started drawing or growing these?

Um, it's it's the look, you know, it's something different, something unusual.

That's what I love about heirlooms.

You often find things like this, that don't look like the regular green round thing.

So yeah, okay, I just wanted to ask when you boil these are cooked them up?

Do they lose the purple color?

Yes, they do.

Oh, yeah.

I like to steam the veggie.

Right?

Yeah, they'll they'll be all kind of a pale yellow I after they're cooked.

Nice.

I buy the tri colored beans.

Course my five year old you know, it's like a magic trick when you put them in the pot, and then they all turn green.

So razzle dazzle, you know, whatever it takes to get them to eat their vegetables will do it.

That will this this would be a fascinating one form before it's cooked.

Definitely def I'll have to look into those.

Okay, we've got some viewer questions that we're going to go to Ella, we'll start with you.

This is question number 80.

DJ.

This is from Beau Hickman writes in Hi, my name is Bo I live in Clinton, I found this can join cucumber growing in my garden.

And I was wondering how often this occurs.

This is the first one I've ever seen.

And we've got he sent in a photo as well.

So I'm Ella, is this something that happens in nature often?

Or is this sort of a cool little stumper?

Well, again, when you see in the picture here, you can see that there are actually two cucumbers that are physically growing together.

And this is because instead of one ovary in the flower being pollinated, there were two.

It is an anomaly.

It doesn't happen very often.

But it's not uncommon for the amount of fruit that's produced on cucumbers, it can also happen with some of the other cucurbits as well.

You don't see it sometimes I've seen it in peppers and tomatoes, too.

But maybe Kay has something that she can add.

Maybe she got one this year.

Well, I didn't get any this year, but I have seen them, especially in the tomatoes when they grow closely together.

I'll see that once in a while.

Interesting.

So are they I mean, would you consider these twins I guess, are these Well, they came from the same female flower it has multiple ovaries and usually you know, one would be more dominant and only one fruit will form.

But this was just it is a rare event I guess that it did happen.

And so you can see it I don't from the information I tried to look up it doesn't seem to be whether or insect or anything.

It's just you know, oh, one prize.

won the prize.

Yeah.

Yeah, slice it and get twice as nice.

There.

You Go.

Okay, pretty cool picture both.

Thank you for sending that in.

Okay, we've got another cool picture.

This one's for you number 73 DJ, this is from Laurie.

She had a very old ass tree cut down and just the stump remains then they noticed a very brightly colored fungi fungi what however you pronounce it growing on the top of the stump, they attached a picture.

She said it's already much larger now than it was in the photo and grows very, very rapidly.

And they would like to know what it is.

And they said that it looks like a candy corn to them and is weirdly beautiful.

So it does look like candy corn actually.

But okay, what are we looking at here?

You're looking at?

Well, what name does let a pouria so theorists, and the common name is sulfur shelf or chicken of the woods.

And it's very edible.

We'd love it.

I got some in my freezer.

Now my husband helped me with this one, because he forges for mushrooms a lot.

And this is one of the ones that that we really like.

It's really kind of thick flashed and they're best when they're there we had a really young, because there'll be softer light as they get older they heart and it is, like I said it's very edible.

But some people do have allergies to fruit, mushrooms.

And so they, you know, they can have a reaction to it, but it's not poisonous at all.

So it's usually an allergic reaction.

So to someone like if you're not familiar with mushrooms, or you don't forage, and lfl Feel free to weigh in here.

You know, what's the safest recommendation?

What's the best way to go about this?

If you come across something like this, and you think, Hmm, I wonder if I can eat it?

Where should folks tur try to get it identified?

Again, like you said, Facebook, there's a number of mushroom sites on Facebook.

There's a lot of books out on mushrooms.

You know, if you have a friend or know somebody that that hunts mushrooms, you know, but be sure to always identify them before you eat them.

Because now this one happens to be safe, but not all of them are on there are some look alikes.

So you really need to be careful.

My husband just studies all the time and reads about women.

So he pretty much knows what's good and what isn't.

So anything to add there.

I did try this mushroom and it is very meaty.

And I I wasn't a big fan of it.

And I think if you find it in the woods, it's interesting to watch like this woman says it's a quick growth rate.

And then also to see the colors on it.

I've seen pictures where it's covered the whole trunk of a dead rotting tree, it is a decay fungus.

And so this is the fruiting body of the fungus that is eating inside of the heartwood of the tree.

So I have a friend who just thinks it's wonderful so if I find him on my property she comes over because she she I think she eats mushrooms every day it's like a delicate we almost do it's the texture for me I don't know I'm just not now if you if you batter and fry me up and morale I'm there but I don't know the texture so a lot of the machines I mean they're different textures but they're they're pretty much they're not usually slimy or unless they're bad unless they've gone bad.

If you eat or morality you need some other ones to our challenge accepted Kay all right lol we're gonna go back to you.

We've got time for maybe one more this is from john and melody Allison.

This is about tree roots.

Question number 82 our Pacific Maple was planted by the nursery where we purchased it about 15 years ago as time has gone by the roots have become more and more prominent and I don't know why haven't noticed the soil deleting can one of your experts tell me what might be going on?

Should we add more soil to cover the roots?

Will it hurt the roots to cover them or should we just leave it alone?

So there's the photo that they attached and Ella what what is your advice for them?

Okay, if you look closely at the photo, and I don't know if we can enlarge it to actually see the area of the tree roots but what you'll find with older trees, remember that as the trunk increases in California in diameter, the roots that are associated with that will also get larger in diameter.

And many trees, depending on the type of tree will develop what they call buttress roots where they're where they kind of where the root flare is.

And that's the area between the root and the the stem tissue or the trunk.

But some of those can really develop these kind of like wings.

And you can see this on this tree as well.

That means that the tree probably was planted at the correct soil depth.

If you have a tree that comes out of the ground, especially as it ages and it still looks like a telephone pole, it was probably planted too deeply.

It won't hurt these roots at all to be exposed.

They could be covered with maybe up to you could cover the soil around them with several inches of mulch, if you found that they were problematic and it would be difficult to mow around something like that.

You don't want to injure the roots with the mowing blade.

So I think mulching might be a good way or some type of ground cover that could cover those roots.

Awesome.

Okay, ladies, we're out of time.

It goes so fast when you're having fun.

Thank you so much for coming on today and sharing your time and talents and thank you so much for watching and we will see you next time.

Good night.