The Rural Voice, 2019-09, Page 55For the past two years I have been
using a soft mulch and so enjoyed
both the look and the benefit to the
soil. The drawback on a summer like
this one is that it can also harbor
slugs. Nasty, wee creatures have
been nibbling through the base of my
hosta leaves and making a mess. I put
two and a half cups of ammonia into
a gallon jug, fill the remainder with
water and pour over the crown. This
is supposed to deter them and is also
beneficial to the plant. So far it is
working on some of them. So I
would recommend keeping the mulch
back from the crown of the hosta by
seven or eight inches depending on
the size of the plant.
Avoid applying deep mulch
around any of your plants as one or
two inches will suffice. This traps the
warmth in the soil and helps the plant
avoid frost heaving.
And this is how I rush through
life, thinking about next spring and
how things will look!
Before I sign off I wanted to tell
you about a lovely experience I had
this summer. I was asked to be a tour
guide for the Ontario Maple Syrup
Producers who gathered in
Kincardine for their Summer Tour.
What a delightful bunch and all tree
huggers! We visited both small and
large operations and it is amazing
what is going on in the woods around
Huron. Some attendees were hobby
syrup makers and some ran large
multi-generational family operations
over several woodlots.
Being a tour guide presented a
learning curve for me as I thought I
just had to talk about what they saw
along the routes between sugar shack
stops. But buses move right along
and as I spotted things they were
gone. The real trick to being a tour
guide is to simply talk about the area
you live in, why you love it and why
all of them should come back to take
in more of Huron County. It was very
rewarding meeting so many “sweet”
people. I must say you only see your
own community when you are
showing visitors through it. We take
living here in rural Ontario for
granted and have to be gently
reminded that it is an awesome place
to live, raise our families and enjoy
old age. ◊
September 2019 51
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