From the Univest Studios of the Undead at Lehigh Valley Public Media in Bethlehem, P.A..

It is time for another eerie episode, a chemical free horticultural high jinks.

You bet your garden.

I'm your host, maniacal Mike McGrath.

And yes, it's our annual Halloween show.

Cats and Kittens will revisit a terrifying question of the week about poisonous plants and pests from Halloween 2020, which itself was a pretty terrifying year.

Plus, all new fabulous phone call questions come in tips, tricks, suggestions, and hideously haunted Headless Horseman.

So keep your eyes and or ears and or alien antennae right here.

True believers, because it's all coming up faster than you wondering what's lurking out there in the pumpkin patch right after this.

Support for you bet.

Your garden is provided by the sponsor company offering a complete selection of natural organic plant foods and potting soils.

More information about a sponsor and the sponsor natural gardening community can be found at ESP.

Omnicom.

Welcome to a truly carbon mad episode of You Bet Your Garden from the Universal Studios at Lehigh Valley Public Media in Bethlehem, P.A., I am your host, Mike McGrath.

We have a hybrid for you today, cats and kittens, which could be dangerous on a Halloween show.

We're going to do all new phone calls, but the question of the week will be repeated from Halloween 2020 because I couldn't find anything better to do.

So you'll see me back in the kitchen again.

In the meantime, we better hop to those fabulous phone calls at 8884929444 for Jennifer.

Welcome to you.

Bet your garden.

Well, thank you.

How you doing, Jen?

I'm doing great.

How are you?

Oh.

Just Ducky.

Ducky hasn't picked out anything yet.

Yeah.

All right.

Where are you?

We are.

Well, I'm actually at work, which is in Northern Kentucky, but I live in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Okay.

So I presume your question is about Cincy.

Yes.

All right.

What do you got?

So I live in a pretty urban setting.

And Cincinnati is pretty hilly.

And we're right near downtown and.

And our hill our house is on the side of a hill.

And built in 1865.

It's an older home.

And we have two large stone, I guess you would call them stone planters in front of the house instead of a regular yard.

Mm.

Obviously, we didn't have a garage in 1865, so they were put in.

We're going.

Wait a.

Minute.

After is that where.

They where where did they keep the horse.

I'm not sure.

Sure.

Maybe on the sidewalk.

But yeah.

So when they I think when they built the garage, they put the stone planters in because originally it was just kind of a giant planter.

Mhm.

And I, this is, we just moved there two years ago and I think what's happened is I kind of did this last.

It was filled with of course, boxwood and a weeping cherry tree.

So I took those down since we had kind of a nice fall.

And when I went to go into the soil, the soil was hard.

So I went, Oh, it was just dry.

So I got it wet.

And it's not just dry, it's dry and awful.

There's Dusty and I don't know how else to explain it.

I can't say I'm the most, you know, seasoned gardener, but I couldn't even find a worm in my soil.

It's just in the tree.

Pretty much just fell over when I pushed on it, you know, after I cut one one.

You know, one of the roots, it just fell over.

And I it makes sense now because I really couldn't get anything to grow in there.

Okay.

But I was just wondering, how do I make it better?

So the terrible soil, where did it come from?

I have no idea.

I'm assuming it's I think the people that own the house before us and the people they, they redid this we think around 1995.

Mhm.

So I'm going to bet that's probably because the tree was definitely looking like it was in it, you know, it was at the end of its life.

So I was thinking it was around 30 years old anyway.

So you know, I mean they haven't done anything.

You didn't plant any of these?

No, I did not.

Okay.

Um, just curiously, why were you taking out the cherry tree?

The cherry tree had, um.

It had gotten some of those big boiling things looking really good.

They're called on the side canker.

Good for the Halloween episode.

Yes.

Yeah.

It had two big anchors, and it was really weeping.

It just started to look kind of sickly and well in the box.

Woods were just way too big for the space.

They were.

I mean, yeah, it was just too much in a small space.

I just can't wait to.

Get these plants are out and done.

I, I would suggest you excavate as much of the soil as you can, and you're probably going to have to leave a couple of big rocks around.

Yeah, but if you say they're nice.

Yeah.

Take the nice ones and incorporate them into that landscape.

Okay.

Um, and then in the spring, I would suggest you get, um, is there a way a truck could dump some topsoil at your property, or is everything too tight?

Yeah, it's pretty tight, but we could.

There are trucks that come through there all the time, so I'm sure we can find someone to come through.

One thing you can do is go to the nearest compost site.

I would imagine Cincinnati collects the fall leaves and makes compost from them for the residents, or a nursery that has a really good reputation and good quality materials and fill up those big rolling trash cans.

Okay.

Ideally, half topsoil, half compost, and by two big bags of pearl white.

Okay.

That's a popped white material.

It's mind.

It's really good for the lightning, your soil.

And I. I would fill the, um.

The enclosures, the garden beds, 5050 compost and topsoil.

And as you're filling it up, empty, one of those huge bags of pearl white into each one.

Okay.

Then you're going to have fabulous, uh, you're going to have fabulous soil.

It would not be cheating if after a rain, there's a bunch of earthworms on the ground to try and transplant them into the soil.

And then, okay, when you're done that work, you can literally grow anything.

Oh, wonderful.

That's much better news than I thought.

Well, I'm happy to deliver it.

For you, and I appreciate all your help.

Oh, my pleasure.

You take care now.

888492 9444.

Jackie, welcome to you.

Bet your garden.

Hey, Mike.

Thanks for taking my call.

Well, thanks for making it, Jackie.

How you doing?

Oh, awesome, man.

And I deserve.

Well, that's always good to hear.

And where is Jackie?

Awesome.

I'm in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Okay.

And what can we do you for.

Mike?

I've got pantry moss.

Mm hmm.

And every time I think I get rid of them, then I have another explosion.

How can I get them out of my house and keep them out?

Well, it's not that difficult.

What have you tried so far?

Well, I have, uh, the.

The pantry muskrats.

Mm.

And then I empty out my covered in, like, down with, like, bleach, water, bleach.

So I don't use bleach, Jack.

It's dangerous to you.

And this isn't an infection or a pathogen.

They're just little molds.

So now, um.

And your pantry moth traps have been working.

You've, you know, the inside.

Oh, yeah.

Getting covered.

Okay.

What's.

What's in the pantry that they could be feeding on?

Typically, things like rice or cereals or snacks.

Yeah, that's what it is.

They get it into my cereal boxes in, like, muffin mix.

Mm.

Even when the containers are closed, I open them up and have pantry moths, larvae and the web.

Yes.

In a closed container.

Well, it's not closed to them.

Um, what you need to do is go out to any home store or, in this case, even a big box store that has a nice selection of housewares.

And you buy, uh, what would you call them?

Um, things to store your cereal in hard plastic with a hard plastic cover, you know, essentially containers and get all of your grain based material into them.

But first, if you're going to use this thing material.

Um, you actually, you know what?

If it's not too expensive, you should probably throw it all out, because even if you put it.

Okay, even if you put it in the freezer, you're going to have dead moths and dead larva, which is actually a little bit more more protein for you.

But it might be too cool even for a Halloween show.

So typically the best way to do this is to start fresh.

Um, you know, you don't have to worry about canned goods or jars or anything like that, but by container time, which you can keep your cereal.

And for smaller packages, get big Ziploc bags and put the packages inside the zip locks.

And of course, sanitation is everything.

You just want to wipe down the inside of the pantry with soap and water.

No need, no need for bleach.

And, um, put fresh traps out.

The traps alone cannot really control the past.

But they tell you when they're around again and you know, they can come in inside the packages.

This is a huge problem in food processing, as you can imagine.

You know, tons of grain moving around.

It's almost impossible to keep them out.

So a lot of times they come in on the product you purchased.

But the idea is do a good cleaning.

Set out fresh traps, buy all new grains and keep them in sealed containers.

The boxes are not good enough.

I learned that personally the hard way.

Oh, all right, Mike, that sounds like a great place to start.

Yes, it makes your pantry look a lot more tidy, too.

I got used to it real quick.

Oh.

Oh, very nice.

Hey, thank you.

My pleasure.

Thank you.

When you have a good day.

And now for something completely different.

You may remember a few shows ago that Lynn in Akron had grown a very unique tomato.

And of course, like most of us, she lost the tag, didn't know what it was.

It stumped me.

And we sent it out to you, our listener and our viewers and our Facebook page, friends.

And we got a lot of responses.

And Lynn is on the line with me right now to, I believe, reveal the true name of that tomato.

Lynn, welcome.

Do you bet your garden?

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And I know that you had originally picked one of the entries and said it really looks like that.

But then we had other people sent in photos of differently named tomatoes that sure looked the same.

So what's your what's your final decision here?

The Brads Atomic Grape.

Because the a lot of the other ones, number one, I'm sorry, I did not realize that there were so many varieties of tomatoes out there all week.

Um, but looking at the brads, the way mine looked, they average about one and a half ounces.

The way they change color.

The way I found out they're ripe is by squeezing them a little bit and getting a little resistance.

Mm hmm.

But when you cut them open, too, that's.

That's the other.

That was the one of the main things.

I mean, besides the outward color and the way they changed.

So, yeah, I looked at quite a few tomatoes that I never knew existed.

Yes.

So did a lot of people.

Now, Brad's atomic grape, I believe almost everyone who came up with that answer said they got the seeds from Baker Seed Company.

Okay.

Who publishes the most delicious looking catalog you've ever seen?

Where?

Yes.

Yeah.

What kind of venue did you purchase your plants at?

Where?

I live in Lancaster County.

We are blessed with many, many different garden centers and some Amish and stuff like that that have their own greenhouses in the summertime.

I bought this one at a local nursery.

Um, and I don't usually see heirloom tomatoes locally, you know, in transplant spots.

It's just myself and a few neighbors that I garden for.

So I don't need to have 15 tomato plants or even ten tomato plants because I know what that to do to a person.

You'll, you'll, you'll be overrun.

I made that mistake many years ago.

So, yeah, it was a local garden center and they closed for a period of time at the end of the summer and before they open up for fall.

And I couldn't I couldn't get a hold of anyone there, so.

Right.

That's why I reached out to you.

In your wisdom of tomatoes, you might have run across something like that.

Well, the my wisdom of tomatoes includes the knowledge that there can be four differently named tomatoes that are the same tomato.

When when somebody would get seed from someone else and they would grow it out for a couple of seasons, they might give it a different name.

And so we discovered this at the flower show when our major exhibit was all hot pepper varieties and we must have got the same plant from at least two or three differently named seed packets.

So names on peppers and tomatoes are often changed and you know, given new names, they get divorced, they get a new last name.

Good information.

I always learn something from you.

I always learn something from myself that I forgot eight years ago.

Okay, great.

All right.

Well, thanks for playing Stump the Jump and we'll announce the winner next week.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lynn.

Bye bye.

Bye bye.

As promised, a Halloween question of the week, which we're calling scary monsters and super creeps.

Now, this episode will officially air for the first time on Halloween of an already very scary year, 2020.

Or as Daniel Defoe didn't exactly phrase it, the year of the plague.

And in our last thrilling episode, I promise some scary stories for All Hallows Eve.

So let us begin with insect fear.

Just last week, Linda in Rock, Virginia emailed us a photo and this missive.

I found this one, a rosebush in my backyard.

Yesterday I was picking spent flowers off with my bare hands and thought this was one of the rose hips.

But when I picked it up, it was squishy and it looked like an alien or a WWE wrestler.

Turns out that it is a saddleback caterpillar that apparently has some vicious sting.

Luckily, it didn't sting me.

Yikes.

Yikes.

Indeed.

Linda.

As those of you watching on TV can clearly see, this caterpillar looks like something from a nightmare that kept Rod Serling up at night.

But those crazy colors in the fall, sorry, on its back serve as a warning to predators that says I am a worse meal than a Malfoy Yellowjackets.

And hopefully this same warning to us, as well as the University of Florida, notes in a bulletin on the past.

This quote, Slug Caterpillar has a voracious appetite for plants, but, quote, is encountered most frequently as a medically significant pest, which can't be good.

Found from New York all the way down to Florida and west to Kansas, Indiana and Texas.

The final larval stage before they morph into a mop is covered with hollow spines that, quote, inject intruders with hemolytic investigating a venom secreted from nearby glands that cause direct tissue damage.

The spines are capable of breaking away from the body and then they remain embedded in whatever the caterpillar stump.

Lovely.

Okay.

You might want to get the kids out of the room now.

Cats and kittens.

The bulletin continues.

The venom can cause a systemic condition called acute due to carrier severe symptoms may include migraines, gastrointestinal problems, asthma complications, anaphylactic shock, rupturing of red blood cells and hemorrhaging.

The researchers end by suggesting that the best tactic is to avoid the beast thereby.

Gardner says, children and other living things should know what it looks like.

If you are stung, they know your first job is to pull out the spines as they're still pumping venom, then apply ice to the area, take a couple of Benadryl and have somebody else drive you to the nearest emergency room or dock in a box.

Oh, and the researchers somewhat gleefully note that this monster is only number two in the stinging caterpillar parade.

Even worse may be the reaction should you ever touch a plus caterpillar?

Unfortunately, this larval form of the southern flannel moth does not have a fierce and scary aspect.

In fact, it looks a lot like a Star Trek tribble.

A soft, cuddly creature that, in its final and most deadly phase before becoming a moth, could easily pass for a plush toy and the University of Florida bullet in on this creature may really seem to have an obsession with stinging caterpillars.

Explains that the name Puss Caterpillar is likely in reference to the caterpillar's resemblance to a cat with its soft power and tail.

Oh, how cute.

Not found in about the same range as the Saddleback.

Stings from this innocent looking creature can cause a variety of symptoms, including headed seizure, muscle pain and convulsions.

It can also shoot its fecal pellets through the air.

And you thought Asian hornets were scary, right?

Time to move on to scary plants.

Do not poke this week, Kathleen, in my old hometown of Philadelphia, sends us a photo and writes, Do you know what this is?

I can't seem to find any information on it.

Am I accidentally growing blueberries once again?

The picture is worth a lot of words, so check out our website.

If you are an audio only fan of y, b, y, g, or just search the word hope week anyway.

Although the berries on this plant are pretty much the same color, blueberries are always round and pop.

Wheat berries always have a flattened shape.

Blueberries are delicious and superfood and nutritious.

Well, poke weed, berries and the rest of the plant are poisonous.

And I don't know anyone who's ever been lucky enough to have a blueberry plant.

Just show up.

But poke weed is all over the place.

Thanks to the fact that birds are immune to the toxins while people, dogs and livestock are not.

Small amounts will make adults violently ill for several days.

Large amounts or even small amounts in small children can be fatal, with death being caused by respiratory paralysis.

It's native to North America.

A native plant.

It must be good.

And the young shoots never had the root.

Our harvest did very early in the spring, in some southern regions to make poke salad.

Even this use is dangerous as the Greens must be repeatedly boiled and rinsed to make them safe to eat.

The New York Times calls it the vegetarians puffer fish.

And yes, these are the same greens referred to in the hit song Polk Salad Annie where the gators eat her granny.

Well, that sure was more information about poisonous pests and plants than you might have wanted to hear now, wouldn't it?

Luckily for use, the question of the week appears in print at the Yes Gardens Alive website.

To read it over at your leisure, make sure it's in a brightly lit room.

Click the link for the question of the week at our website, which is still and will forever be.

You bet your garden.

0rg gardens alive supports me.

You bet your garden question of the week.

And you will always find the latest question of the week at the Garden Slide website.

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Your garden is a half hour public television show and hour long public radio show and podcast.

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You bet your garden was created by Mike McGrath.

Mike McGrath was created when Ash from a nuclear experiment in the Nevada desert drifted to Philadelphia and got into his cheesesteak.

Yikes.

My producer is threatening to put a push in my boots if I don't get out of the studio.

We must be out of time.

But you can call us any time in eight, eight, eight, four, nine two 9444 or send us your email, your tired, your poor, your wretched refuse of a message teeming towards our garden.

Sure.

At why b y g at w lv t0rg.

Please include your location or we will send spooks in mummies and wolves to see you.

Your horrifying host McJob, Mike McGrath.

And if I come to your door, you better have good candy.

That means no Milk Duds, no bitter honey, no candy corn, no Mary Janes.

And number one on our least wanted list.

Nefarious Necco Wafers, according to Bryan Coburn's hilarious list of, quote, candies, we need to stop giving out these alleged treats.

Necco Wafers have been around since 1847, which meant that they were probably an excellent candy in the year 1847.

They taste like chalk.

And anybody who defends these so-called candies is either 150 years old or enjoys licking chalkboards.

Put those in my plastic pumpkin and I will not see you again next week.

Hello.

I called last week.

My name is Mike.

When I want to know if Mike McGrath still living and if you bet your garden still being made.

I keep hearing old editions on.

I listen.

So please tell me if it's still going on by.