About moles in your garden and landscape

by Debra Anchors

The Common Mole - Image from National Geographic

Contrary to popular belief, moles are not rodents; they are insectivores. Averaging 7-inches long, these tiny eating machines consume nearly their body weight in insects, slugs, and grubs every day. Those of us who have come across slugs or grubs while gardening know that they are not very big. Imagine how many grubs a mole would need to eat before reaching its body weight!

The reality is, if you have a population of moles in your landscape, you need them.  A mole requires welcoming, moist soil, which provide it with shelter as well as a steady diet of invertebrates to fuel its racing metabolism.  No invertebrates in your soil? No moles.

As a mole breaststrokes through its dark and moist world, it pushes the soil out of its way and down the sides of its body, forming both runways and tunnels from which to feed. Nearly blind, a common mole cruises just below the surface of the soil, at the root level of many plants, and uses its highly developed senses of smell, touch, and hearing, as well as sensitivity to vibrations, to locate food.  As a mole burrows, it leaves behind the telltale signs of his presence – a mounding wake of loose, crumbling, soil.  A mole may only travel his mounded runway once before moving on to a better feeding ground of insects.

The permanent tunnels of moles are used year-round and are located about a foot under ground. Those tunnels often lead to burrows, lined with grass, which in the spring can be home to three to six young.  A mound of soil at the surface, or molehill, is characteristic of a mole’s burrow.

If you enjoy this website, you might like my magazine, Gardening Life. Thank you for stopping by to spend time in my garden.  If you liked the article, please take a moment to let me know. I will be delighted if you would suggest Gardens Inspired to your friends, follow me or subscribe to my Blog.

Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 

-Debra

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The many benefits of green tea

by Debra Anchors

The many benefits of green tea (you are free to use this image)

Green tea is derived from unfermented leaves that contain the highest concentration of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. Antioxidants fight free radicals, the damaging amalgam in the body that modifies cells, wounds DNA, and even causes cells to die.

Researchers at Harvard Health site the following promising benefits to drinking green tea -

Improves memory	High in antioxidants and fights free radicals
Benefits the heart	Blocks the oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol
Reduces cancer risk	Increases HDL (good) cholesterol
Facilitates weight loss	Improves artery function
Boosts immunity	Hydrates the body
Reduces the risk of hypertension	Regulates glucose levels

Consume a few cups of green tea each day to absorb antioxidants, or catechins, and other healthful plant benefits. In Japan and China, the usual amount of green tea consumed is three cups per day. Allowing the tea to steep for three to five minutes will bring out its beneficial properties. The optimum way to get the catechins and other flavonoids in tea is to drink it freshly brewed.  Loose, freshly brewed, green tea is less processed and therefore the antioxidants are more concentrated.

Are you interested in boosting the benefits of green tea even further? A study conducted by Purdue University researchers found that lemon juice caused a significant boost to the beneficial level of antioxidants in green tea. Since tea can interfere with the absorption of, adding lemon or drinking tea between meals will negate this problem.


If you enjoy this website, you might like my magazine, Gardening Life.

Thank you for stopping by to spend time in my garden.  If you liked the article, please take a moment to let me know. I will be delighted if you would suggest Gardens Inspired to your friends, follow me or subscribe to my Blog.

Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra

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Plant a windowsill garden

by Debra Anchors

Image courtesy of
University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension

With containers of herbs on your windowsill, you can enjoy gardening even on the wintriest days.  A pot of green onions and companion pots of garlic and chives will yield tasty stalks for snipping into salads and onto baked potatoes.  You will need a dozen onion sets, one or two heads of garlic, a packet of chive seeds, a couple of 8-inch pots with drainage holes, and some potting soil.

Plant and place your pots on a sunny sill.  Begin snipping when the plants are three to four inches tall.

Note:  Supermarket onions and garlic may have been treated to retard sprouting, so try your local nursery or garden center for the items you would like to grow.

If you enjoy this website, you might like my magazine, Gardening Life.

Thank you for stopping by to spend time in my garden.  If you liked the article, please take a moment to let me know. I will be delighted if you would suggest Gardens Inspired to your friends, follow me or subscribe to my Blog.

Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra

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