The Garden Thyme Podcast

A monthly podcast where we help you get down and dirty in your garden, with timely gardening tips, information about native plants, and more! The Garden Thyme Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. https://extension.umd.edu/. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

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The Garden Thyme Podcast

S04:E07 Cannning

August 14, 2023 • Garden Thyme Podcast • Season 4 • Episode 7

Hey Listener,

In this month's episode, Dr. Shauna Henley (a Senior Family and Consumer Sciences Educator with the University of Maryland Extension) returns to the podcast to discuss canning those summer fruits and vegetables. She will tell us a bit about the history of canning, what supplies you need (~5:20), the difference between canning with a hot water bath and pressure canning (~9:53) , common mistakes (~16:00), and give us some resources on where to find recipes (~18:34).

We also have our:

Native Plant of the Month - Ghost pipes (Monotropa uniflora) (~32:05)
Bug of the Month – Bluet Damselfly (~34:50)
Garden Tips of the Month (~40:28)

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The Garden Thyme Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. Hosts are Mikaela Boley- Senior Agent Associate (Talbot County) for Horticulture, Rachel Rhodes- Agent Associate for Horticulture (Queen Anne's County), and Emily Zobel-Senior Agent Associate for Agriculture (Dorchester County).

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The Garden Thyme Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. Hosts are Mikaela Boley- Principal Agent Associate (Talbot County) for Horticulture; Rachel Rhodes- Senior Agent Associate for Horticulture (Queen Anne's County); and Emily Zobel- Senior Agent Associate for Agriculture (Dorchester County).

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University programs, activities, and facilities are available to all wit...

Garden Thyme Podcast Transcript: S4:E07 Canning (Aug 2023)

Note: The Garden Thyme Podcast is produced for the ear and is designed to be heard. If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.

:Up Beat Music:

Rachel

Hello, listener. Welcome to the University of Maryland Extension Presents, the Garden Thyme Podcast, where we talk about getting down and dirty in your garden. We're your hosts. I'm Rachel.

Mikaela

I'm Mikaela.

Emily

And I'm Emily.

Rachel

In this month's episode, we're joined by Dr. Shauna Henley to talk about canning, summer vegetables and fruit.

:Up beat Music:

Rachel

It's summertime and hopefully your garden is full of fresh, delicious produce. You might be sharing some of your extra tomatoes or squash or zucchini with your neighbors, your friends, your coworkers, or you might be visiting your local farmers market and taking advantage of all of the wonderful produce that we grow in Maryland. If you have extra produce left over and you're considering starting to can some of your summer's bounty, this is the podcast for you.

Mikaela

So some of you may remember that we had Dr. Shauna Henley on to talk about a different topic. What episode was that?

Emily

It would have been a November because it was Food Safety for Thanksgiving. I want to say it was November 2021.

Mikaela

It would have been 2021. I think I was on maternity leave.

Emily

Well, we are super excited to have you back on, Shauna. So before we dive into canning, why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do with University of Maryland Extension.

Shauna

So, unlike you all, I'm actually located on the other side of the bay, up in the Baltimore area.

Mikaela

We forgive you for it.

Shauna

I like hills and mountains, so I'm happy over here, but I'm a senior agent with Family and Consumer Sciences and an affiliate to the nutrition department, so I focus on nutrition and food safety, farm to fork. And one of the things I get to do is help people learn how to can or update more experienced canners with what's going on in terms of the research and best practices. So I'm happy to answer any questions you all have today. I know we have a group of beginners as well as extremely advanced seasoned professionals here.

Mikaela

I don't know if the history of canning, that's a huge question to ask. The tradition behind canning and how it got started, because back in the day, if you wanted a tomato in the middle of winter, that wasn't going to happen. So if you want to tell us a little bit more about the history of canning and how it's kind of made a resurgence, even today, it's become more and more popular again.

Shauna

Yeah, it's great that people are interested in preserving food, whether it's for monetary reasons, to be more environmentally friendly, or more nutrition focused. But the history of canning did not start in the United States. It actually started in France during the Napoleonic war. So basically, Napoleon needed to feed his troops and announced that there was going to be a 12,000 franc reward for someone to come up with an invention to help preserve food so his soldiers could stay well, nourished. And this fella, Nicholas apart actually won the competition and was able to figure out how to use canning technology to preserve food. So to kind of fast forward things a bit to bring it back over here and some names that we might be familiar with, Mr. John Mason patented the Mason jar right around a little before 1860. So right before our own civil war. And then over time, we saw that the Ball Corporation started manufacturing some of the jars that we're familiar with in the 1880s, and then again with the Smith Lever Act that you guys might have talked about in your programming that really helped get extension established and going. We saw a lot more with canning just because we had farmers and housewives that needed to preserve crops. And canning was a great way to have value added products so maybe housewives and children could make some money on the side while husbands were doing more of the traditional agriculture. And we also saw that, again, canning was a great way to provide for your family. And Maryland actually has a pretty rich history with canning with all the canneries that used to be around in Baltimore City and especially on the Eastern Shore.

Emily

I think one of the interesting things about canning is how tied it is with Extension and the land grant universities where extension programs were, how to grow the food for the husbands and how to can the food for the wives and daughters. So this ties into our roots very much.

Emily

So say someone's interested in canning right off the bat, what supplies are they going to need to start with?

Shauna

Yeah, so the first thing you're going to want to start off with is the right type of jar. There's a lot of different styles of Mason jars out there. But the thing that I would say that's important is making sure you're choosing glassware that is going to be able to withstand the hot boiling temperatures of a boiling water bath canner or a pressure canner. So your glass needs to withstand temperatures of 212 degrees Fahrenheit all the way up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit under pressure. Other key things that you would want is making sure you have the right lids. So right now, research shows that a two piece metal lid is the best. So a metal screw band and a flat metal lid and the glass jar and the metal screw band you can use for canning purposes until they break or get damaged. But that flat metal lid you want to use once for canning. After you've used it for canning, recycle it. I've heard people will poke a hole through that flat metal lid, tie it up outside to scare birds away for their blueberry bushes, or maybe you're bringing in leftovers in a Mason jar and have that flat metal lid for the cap.

Shauna

I would say, depending on what foods you want to can, you might want to look into purchasing a boiling water bath canner that has some sort of rack on the bottom. Oftentimes here in Maryland, you'll see the steam canners for crabs, but just make sure it has a rack, or fashion up your own rack at the bottom. Or if you think you want to do something that's going to require pressure canning. And you can convert your pressure canner in a water bath canner. A pressure canner will be more expensive, but again, it has multiple purposes as well. So I think knowing what kind of foods you want to start canning with will help dictate which canning direction, pressure canner or boiling water bath canner you go with.

Rachel

Those are some really great tips. Now, I have my own personal feelings about decorative jars. Can you go into jars because you see these really cute jars.

Shauna

So cute jars. I mean, they're cute, they might be functional, but personally, I would say keeping with the standard four ounce, eight ounce, 16 ounce regular mouth or wide mouth jars is probably best. You don't need jars that are going to be tinted by color. I remember seeing some jars in the past that were tinted blue or purple, and those colors kind of washed out during the processing time. Now you see jars that you can stack like a pint for beer kind of thing. You see ones that are super wide and very short. So I would personally, to me, just stay away from them just because they're a bit novelty. So price might be an issue. Two, are they really easy to store around your house after they've been full of food? And even though the companies that make the jars say that they're safe, they have tested them to make sure there's not cold spots where bacteria can grow. I would say most people are used to the standard half pint, four ounce wide mouth pint jars, regular mouth pint jars to keep things basic and simple.

Rachel

That's great. Those jars are really cute and pretty. But the practicality and the cost, once you get into those factors, or even when you're actively canning, they usually take up more space in your canner than the typical four ounce or half pint or quart jars would. And they also dictate your water level as well, how much water you have in your canner versus the other standards. So you really have to kind of think through the process before you even start.

Shauna

Ad I'll jump in. Rachel, you do bring a good point up because some of those newer novelty jars, the recipes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation as well as USDA, they weren't tested using all these new jars. They were more of your standard type jars that is easily accessible to everyone. And I think accessibility is really important here.

Rachel

I 100% agree. Can you kind of go over the difference? Because I mentioned it and I think you've mentioned it water bath versus pressure canning.

Shauna

So for water bath canning, I tell people, if you can boil water for rice or pasta, you can definitely make jams and jellies, pickled and fermented foods, fruits, tomatoes, no problem if you're someone that's looking to preserve vegetables and water. So maybe green beans and water, different proteins like chicken and water or even soup dishes, you want to use a pressure canner. And the big difference between water bath canning and pressure canning is going to be based on the foods that you're trying to preserve. So a boiling water bath canner is perfect for high acid foods. So again, your fruit based jams, a lot of your tomato products that are going to be acidified, and your pickled products because you're adding so much vinegar at 5% acidity to make it safe for water bath canning. Your pressure canning, you have options to buy a pressure canner with a weighted gauge that might make a rocking or a jiggling noise based on the manufacturer when it reaches pressure. Or you have a pressure canner that has a dial, so you're just reading a needle. To know when your canner has reached pressure, it needs to start processing your food correctly.

Shauna

So pressure canning is going to be great for canning things like protein. So it could be chicken, fish, meats, your soups, it could be vegetables and water. So green beans and water. Some people actually like to can their fruit and tomatoes in a pressure canner because it retains a little bit more of the nutrient value. So a lot of great options. It's kind of what people are comfortable with. So even just knowing where your cooking skills are and what you're comfortable with may dictate where you start with what you're canning. Other items that you would want to address before getting into canning is knowing your stove. So if you are someone that has a gas stove, we really recommend that all canning is done inside and you really want to can on a gas burner that isn't going to exceed 12,000 BTUs just because something that might be a higher BTU. So maybe you have one range that's 18,000 BTU that might be too high heat and could warp the base of your canner. So for most stoves, 12,000 BTUs and under is best. So that will typically eliminate propane tanks, other contraptions that you might rig outside or have seen outside with people canning, we don't recommend that.

Shauna

If you have an electric stove, there's a few things to keep in mind. So if you have an electric stove with coils, you want to put your canner on the coil that has the largest diameter, and you'll also want a canner that has a smooth bottom to maximize that heat surface ratio. If you have a smooth top electric stove, you want to make sure you read the manufacturer's instructions because you may see that there might be a weight requirement that you can't exceed because the smooth top glass might break. And the other thing too is sometimes those smooth top electric stoves will say it's not for home canning because as a safety mechanism, it'll stay hot and then after it reaches a certain temperature, it'll turn off. But with canning, you want constant heat. So if those are not in your books, maybe you can find a friend that has the proper stove. Maybe you make a good reason why you want to invest in a new stove. Other type of stovetops that are really popular now are induction stoves and there's canners that you can buy that allows you to can on induction stovetops. So a lot of great options that are inside

Rachel

During the pandemic we bought a brand new stove just for canning.

Shauna

That is awesome.

Mikaela

And you referenced this, and maybe we can talk about just some general recommendations. But how do you know which type of processing to use with what vegetable?

Shauna

So for that, I would say have an idea of what you want to grow or what you have currently and then think about what are the foods that my household likes to eat. If I'm growing a lot of tomatoes, I might not make salsa because maybe my household doesn't like salsa. Maybe I'm thinking, all right, let me stick with the basics. If I have tomatoes, I am just going to can tomatoes whole or halved in water. And from that tomato, I can make tomato sauce. I can add it to stew, I can make spaghetti sauce and then just giving you a wide range of different dishes based off of just tomatoes. If you're a family that loves, oh, gosh peach salsa, maybe you commit to making a ton of peach salsa. But if you don't think your household can commit to tons and tons of jars of peach salsa, maybe you just do the peaches and then figure out what you do with the peaches after you crack open the can. Other things too. If you have a garden or you have a farm where you can do a pick your own, we recommend that folks harvest and can their produce within 24 hours in terms of peak flavor and nutritional value.

Shauna

So a lot of times we know you can buy seconds for a cheaper cost. Obviously, those seconds are a little bit damaged, they're a little bit bruised. Maybe their nutritional value isn't as high. But if you're doing a mixed dish or something else that you know that you're going to be adding those second tomatoes to a lot of other things, maybe the quality doesn't matter so much. And these might be small situations that you want to think about before you start canning.

Mikaela

As we're discussing these different processes, what are some common mistakes people make while canning?

Shauna

Oh, I mean the mistake where do I begin? No or don't know are really endless, right? So it could be just the ingredients that you're using. Maybe you're not using pickling or canning salt like you should maybe you're using some sort of mineral salt, which isn't recommended because that can play with some of the chemistry, especially when you're talking about pickling and fermenting, even time and temperature understanding. So if you are pickling and fermenting, there's a certain amount of temperature and salt and kind of babying your cucumbers to make sure they're not getting moldy or too moldy. Right. So there's a lot of different variations and variables that can come into play when you get into home canning, where commercial canning, it's a specific process. There's no cutting corners and there's more consistency. So it really just comes down to that. Best Practices for home canners and obviously commercial canning, there's a lot more protocol to follow. I agree.

Rachel

It's making sure that you have the most sterile environment as humanly possible when you're getting ready to can. So it's like a full clean process before you start and then a clean process after you're done.

Mikaela

Oh, so you mean if your child wanders into the kitchen and they sneeze across all of your clean Mason jars, you have to go back to square one?

Rachel

I would that sounds like my home.

Shauna

I would argue it would depend. Right? So let's say Mikaela, your toddler or my toddler walks in and just sneezes during production. If it's something that hasn't hit the pressure canner where you know there's going to be maximum sterilization going on, I might be like, all right, well, I know who's eating it. Your sneeze is not going to bother whatever's in the jar because it's going to be processed in a pressure canner for X amount of minutes.

Mikaela

That's fair.

Shauna

If they sneezed before production and it was going to be a juice that you're canning that time, you need to pre sterilize your jars before you fill them because the processing time won't be long enough to kind of keep that food sterile. So I would say it can depend.

Mikaela

It sounds like there's a lot of rules, and I know there's a lot of steps and things you have to follow. Where are some locations people can find recipes and resources about canning?

Shauna

So I always tell people that they want to start off with the National Center for Home Food Preservation. It's sponsored by the University of Georgia's Extension Program, and they are the gurus of anything preserved, whether it's freezing, drying, canning. And they do have a new center director, Dr. Carla Schwann. And she and her team are really working to add some new recipes that are scientifically validated for quality and safety. So some of those recipes could be new cultural recipes. It could be things that have lower sugar, less salt, things like that. For us field agents that teach canning, we're really excited to see what the National Center for Home Food Preservation is going to do. And then kind of in step with them is the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. And that's also a really great resource so you can visit both websites or even the National Center for Home Food Preservation and look up the Guides of USDA on their website. The National Center also has some really good videos about home canning. And if you're someone that's a visual learner, those videos of the general steps to do a boiling water bath canning or a pressure canning are really helpful.

Shauna

So you can read it, you can watch it. If you're someone that does like to watch YouTube, Penn State Extension has some really good videos, so you can do more of a can-a-along with their extension agents. If you're someone that might be a little bit more tech savvy, colorado State Extension has an app called Preserve Smart. So you can find recipes for one, but you can also figure out what your elevation is. So you can set your processing time for the correct amount of time, just because as you move higher in elevation, the boiling point of water decreases. So something that might take 20 minutes in your part of Maryland might take 30 minutes when you start creeping into Western Maryland into the mountains. Another app that folks might be interested in, too, is one by Oregon State University's Extension Canning. Timer and checklist their app is actually going to help you kind of just, here's the food item. This is the processing method I'm going to be using, and it'll help spit out an actual timer for you and your food item. So these are some nice technology pieces that some folks can use.

Shauna

One piece of technology that we wouldn't recommend right now are electric pressure canners or pressure cookers for canning. Right now, we're just not sure or confident of the science of whether or not electric pressure canners or electric pressure cookers, even though they might be advertised for home canning, is actually safe. We've done a little bit of research, but again, we need other scientists to weigh in on this matter.

Rachel

So, Shauna, how do I know that a recipe is safe to use? Because there are a lot of recipes out there online, there's a lot of bloggers pushing out canning recipes, and this pandemic that we've had and this movement for food preservation, how do I know that the resources that I need are safe?

Emily

Or the flip side of that is I have Nana's great canning book from the 50s. Is that still relevant?

Rachel

Exactly that, too.

Shauna

So there's a lot of competing space around home canning, and that's a sure thing. Everyone's excited about it, and that's great to be excited. But again, we want to be creating high quality foods that are also safe. And a lot of times, if you're looking at blogs, social media, TikTokers, grandma, ask for a reference, was this recipe scientifically validated? So a lot of times, you really want to start off with the National Center for Home Food Preservation. You want to look at USDA's recipes for home canning. If you can't find either one of those. You could always look at a process authority. They are the food scientists with the white lab coats that are going to test the PH, the processing time that you have and really understand that the ingredients and your processing time are appropriate for your home location and what you're trying to achieve. So it does cost a little bit of money, but to pay some money to know that your food that you want to can, that's going to be a unique recipe, is going to be high quality and safe and not get anyone sick or possibly killed is well worth the money.

Shauna

And even for a process authority, you'll run into recipes like Rachel, you talked about roasting tomatoes to make your spaghetti sauce. There isn't a recipe out there, but with a process authority you could work with them to make sure your method of roasting the other ingredients that you're adding to your pasta sauce is going to be a shelf, stable product that people can enjoy. So that is probably the best avenue for new recipes someone develops at home or wants to make sure grandma was right with what she was trying to make. But TikTok social media aren't a great way to go. Even sometimes at the library you'll open a book and see and look for a canning recipe. So the first things I'll see is if the recipe is calling for squeezing your own lemons for juice, that book is going not in the garbage can because it's a library book, but not one you want to use. Other things that would be red flags is if people are telling you to use homemade vinegars, you want to use commercial grade vinegar, white distilled or apple cider at 5% acidity because again, those acidity levels are known to bring safety.

Shauna

If I was looking at a tomato recipe and I saw that it did not specify to acidify each jar, that would be a huge red flag that I would say not using that recipe. So those are some quick tips for how to tell if a recipe is safe or not. But again, if you start off with a trusted recipe and your extension agent, whether it's in Maryland or in a different state, can help you figure that out. Afto.org does have a process authority directory, so you can do a little searching. Some land grant universities will have those services available. Maryland does not. But if you look at Virginia Tech, Cornell, Rutgers, for example, locally to Maryland, they do provide those services for a small fee.

Rachel

So you brought up a great point and we didn't really talk about it. Why can't I use fresh lemon juice or lime juice when I'm canning?

Shauna

You would expect that using fresh would be fine, but there's too much variability in the fresh lemon or limes. So going commercial is going to be consistent and that's what you're looking for when you're canning is consistency

Rachel

And that's variability and acidity levels.

Shauna

Yes.

Emily

So along those lines, I know one thing that I always get worried about is when I can things is what's the likelihood of me canning wrong and giving myself food poisoning of some type. So I guess what are some of the food safety risks of canning incorrectly and then what are some simple things to do besides following the recipe to make sure that you are canning correctly.

Shauna

So in terms of canning and food safety, the bacteria most people are really worried about is Botulism from Clostridium botulinum. And botulism itself does not like to live in acidic environments. So Jams and jellies pickled products, fruit, most tomato products. So those food items botulism doesn't want to grow in. You typically hear botulism being a problem with foods that have a high PH. So it could be your green beans and water, it could be your proteins that you're pressure canning. And a lot of times the issues with Botulism is that home canners are choosing incorrect methods. So instead of canning your green beans and water in a pressure canner, someone's doing it in a boiling water bath canner. So that process could allow botulism to grow because you're not using the right canner type. Other areas that botulism could have a problem or other foodborne pathogens is if you under process your jars. So you always want to get to the right pressure, you want to get to a rolling boil with a water bath canner and then you start your processing time. If you undercut your processing time, that's when you might get food safety concerns.

Shauna

So I always like to tell folks there is a good thing about Botulism, there is antitoxins. So if you have symptoms of botulism which are generally noticeable within 18 to 36 hours on average, and some of the symptoms, you might think someone's drunk, they might have blurred vision, slurred speech, other symptoms are going to be drooping eyelids, muffle weakness, dry mouth, dizziness, paralysis. But hopefully if folks were having those symptoms, they would seek immediate medical attention. And typically when you do seek medical attention, they should be able to get that antitoxin to you fairly quickly to reverse any of the symptoms and have you make a full recovery. So I would say outbreaks related to botulism and home canning are fairly low. But if you think about botulism A, that one's going to be your botox. So the same toxin that can cause food poisoning is also what people are willingly injecting into different parts of their body. So always a fun spin with food safety.

Emily

That's a fun fact.

Mikaela

What has been your favorite thing to can or do you switch depending on the season and what you're into at that moment?

Shauna

So I'll try to have canning classes that follow the growing season in Maryland, but some of my favorite ones is during that late summer, early fall where you have a ton of apples and a ton of tomatoes. And I was telling Emily this. I love the tomato chutney recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. It has just the nice level of acidity and sweetness and goes really good with anything. There's also a good hot relish recipe that's been really good, so I would say those and the peach salsa are probably my favorite.

Emily

Does the tomato apple thing taste tomatoey, or are you just using the tomatoes to get the acidity?

Shauna

Tomato apple chutney, I would say it's a little bit more sweet. You use an apple cider vinegar. So as much as the nutrition thing I'm into, my palate isn't the best, so I can't differentiate the tomato when I eat that.

Emily

Okay. I just wasn't sure if it was like, because sometimes I'm weird about things. Like, I don't like the peach and the pineapple salsa. Like, if I have a salsa, I want it to be savory.

Mikaela

I appreciate that, but I like walking the line. That's why I'm going to try the peach salsa if I can.

Rachel

I think I love all salsa. I don't discriminate against salsa.

Mikaela

I love all chutneys.

Rachel

All chutney, all salsa, all pickles. You name it, I love it.

Mikaela

Although I'm looking through the book as we're talking, and there's a corn relish recipe, and I'm super into it right now.

Shauna

Oh, that one's actually really good, too.

Mikaela

It looks really good.

Shauna

It has a lot of ingredients, so I did that a few times, and then it's just like if you're logging stuff from one class to another, forgetting ingredients is a real thing. So I've also looked at recipes that have minimal ingredients for lack of forgetting.

Mikaela

No, that's a great tip, too, because it's like you can't just well, when I cook, I'll omit things, of course, that I don't have in the kitchen. But this isn't something you can do that with.

Shauna

Right?

Mikaela

Right. Yeah, it's a good tip.

Emily

Is there anything else important that you want to tell us about canning, Shauna, that we missed?

Shauna

It's fun. It's tasty. Bring over a couple of friends or family that you can trust in the kitchen and not get too distracted by and have a good time. Yeah.

Emily

Awesome.

Mikaela

Well, thank you so much, Shauna, for taking the time and coming on.

Shauna

Thanks for having me and the questions. Let's think of some other topics.

Emily

Yeah, we'll definitely have you back on. Maybe when your intern finishes the edible insects, we'll come back on for that because I think that'll be a fun one.

Mikaela

That would be really cool.

Emily

Yeah.

Upbeat music: It the native Plant of the Month with Mikaela

Mikaela

My anti plant, actually, I'm super excited. Native plant of the month is actually ghost pipes, or monotropa uniflora, so ghost pipes also go by the name Indian pipes. This is a super fascinating perennial plant. It's native to pretty much the entirety of the lower 48, and as their name suggests, these plants are white and they completely lack chlorophyll. And if. You go back to grade school? Biology and botany. Chlorophyll is the thing that plants need to do photosynthesis, which is the process of turning sunlight into food. Right. So this means they do not generate their own nutrients from harnessing the sun's power. So what do they have to do instead? Ghost pipes acquire their nutrients from mycorrhizal fungi, which are a mutually beneficial fungi that grow in forests on tree roots. So this is something that forms usually in dense or older forests. So this term is referred to as a microtroph, which makes ghost pipes actually a parasite of fungus. So that's pretty interesting. So while technically a plant, they look like a fungus, and they lack that characteristic green that most plants have. Right. It also means they can grow completely in the dark because they don't need sunlight, they don't have chlorophyll.

Mikaela

And so they are usually found in dense forested areas with plenty of mature trees, in particular, beach trees. And I don't know if that's because the mycorrhizal fungi growth is higher in beach forests, but anyways, their appearance is very unique. They have one single bell like flower that droops downward on top of a very straight stem, and I almost call it translucent, but it's mostly white. And there are clusters of mini flowers and stems, and they only grow to be about six inches tall, so they aren't very tall. You have to look on the ground to find them. There's no real cultivation or propagation of these plants, so they are best enjoyed in natural environments with plenty of beach trees and rich earth. And that's my new plant of the month.

Emily

These were really cool, Milkela. I feel like you should have saved this for October.

Mikaela

I know

Rachel

This is a good Halloween.

Mikaela

Plant, but this is probably better seen in August or September. It doesn't really start to come up in October. Yeah, I know.

Emily

Okay, well, I guess we'll let that slide now.

Mikaela

I'll fine a different weird plant.

Emily

These are super cool looking. I love them, right?

Rachel

They are so cool.

Rachel

Yeah, man, they're cute, too. They look like fairy village.

:Upbeat music: It the Bug of the Month with Emily

Emily

This month's bug of the month is the bluet damselfly, which is several different types of damselflies. But this is going to be specifically the genus Enela Gemma. So just a quick disclaimer first. So when we talk about damsel flies, these are very similar to dragonflies. They are in the same order, which is Odonata. Damselflies tend to be a little bit slimmer and they are a little bit smaller, and they will hold their wings across their back when they are at rest. Versus a true dragonfly is going to be a little bit more robust. And when they land on something, you're always going to see them having their wings out horizontally. So adults from this genus tends to range from about 26, so about an inch to an inch and a half. And that's lengthwise, they're really thin and that's not taking their wings into consideration. So we have several species that are found throughout the United States and southern Canada and then several even more species that are found worldwide. So for those of our listeners who are international, I know that there are several species that are really common in the UK as well as in Australia.

Emily

So they typically get the name bluet from the males which typically have a bright blue body that will also have black stripes along the thorax and then black and blue markings along that abdomen. Now, to get down to identifying them, not to species, you typically have to catch them and examine them with a hand lens and oftentimes that requires freezing them so that they'll stand still enough. But I think these ones are best enjoyed out in nature where they are beautiful flickering around. So the females, on the other hand, have a wider variety in coloration and even the ones that are blue tend to be a slightly duller blue. So think of like a sky blue versus like a neon blue, but the females can also be green, yellowish green or tan. Here in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic we have about 20 species that are found and some of them are super common, like the familiar bluet which is found all across Maryland and actually most of the United States and Southern Canada. But then we also have some species in Maryland that are distinct to our different regions. So there are some species that are only found in western Maryland because they like mountain streams versus we have some that are only found here on the Eastern Shore because they like sandy coastal areas.

Emily

So the familiar bluet typically is found late May through October and it tends to be found in a wide variety of habitats, typically near water. So lakes, ponds, marshes, anything from slow streams to even quick moving rivers. As long as it's got vegetation around it, you will find them. This is also the species that is most likely to colonize man made water structures. So if you have sort of a rain garden that you've put in or if you see a new construction go up where they have kind of a swelling pond or something like that and you're noticing blue damsel flies around, chances are it's this familiar blue net. One really kind of neat thing about them is that they are being used by several researchers out in the Midwest to study climate change and climate change's effect on temperature rising and developmental time of aquatic insects. So there is a really neat research paper that came out several years ago on Entomology today about these kind of research projects and how they're using this species as a model species. So just like other damsel, flies and dragonflies, the larvae are aquatic. This does do incomplete metamorphosis.

Emily

So we have a nymphal stage that malts several times before it becomes an adult. So no pupae. And the larvae are predacious, meaning that they will feed on a wide variety of other animals. So these guys are known to go after mosquito larvae. And I think there was a study that said, on average, one of these can eat six mosquito larvae a day. So they're pretty voracious eaters. They can also feed on other aquatic insect larvae. So things like flies, mayflies, freshwater shrimp, adult damsel flies will eat pretty much any soft bodied flying insect that they can catch. So this would be anything from mosquitoes to small moths, mayflies, flying ants, termites as well. So one interesting thing that damselflies and dragonflies share is they have kind of this unique mating habit. And I know we talked about it, I think, back in our February episode when we talked about weird mating habits. But what happens is the male, because they have those really long, thin abdomens, will clasp the back of the female's neck, and then she'll bend around, so it makes this oblong, heart like shape. Basically, they'll mate, and then she'll droop down and lay her eggs, like, right at the water level or right underneath the water level in vegetation.

Emily

And then those eggs will hatch. And the nymphs, again, are aquatic, so they grow up fully in the water. And when they are ready to malt to their adult stage, they will climb up a rock or reed and do that final malt. So that is my bug of the month. This is one that I have been seeing out in my research fields a lot. Allison, my amazing intern, who was always pointing them out to me. So I was thinking about them the other day. I think they're one of people's favorites.

Rachel

I love them.

Mikaela

I love them. Frankly, I like them a little bit more than dragonflies. Don't tell them that, but yeah I'm partial.

:Up beat Music: Get your tip of the month here with Rachel.

Rachel

All right, guys, it's time for your Garden Tip of the Month.

Rachel

What can we say about the dreaded August garden? It's hot and just like us, it's all but given up.

Mikaela

Yeah. Cranky. Can a garden be cranky? Because that's what I am.

Rachel

It's stressed, just like we are, because it's hot and humid. So keep up the watering, keep up the weeding that has probably taken over your summer vegetable garden. You need to try to avoid mowing your lawn during extremely hot and dry weather, because this opens up the grass blades and creates more of a surface area for plant moisture to escape. And when it's hot and dry, we want to preserve all the moisture that we can possibly have in our lawns. If you planted anything like trees or perennials or even a vegetable garden, continue watering. In the ideal situation, you want to water to soak into the surrounding soil and the root ball, if you're hand watering, wet the soil around the plant base. Overhead watering may encourage plant diseases, but it can also help cool plants and provide moisture for beneficial insects such as spiders during the hot, dry weather. But we want to avoid watering during the evening because this can really cause some disease problems when we have wet leaf surfaces. So you want to water in the morning when possible.

Mikaela

I know we've talked about this before, but tall fescue is a very common turf grass species in Maryland and it tends to go dormant when it gets hot. So by continuing to water through drought and trying know fertilizing and trying to cut it short, you're stimulating growth that actually makes the grass more susceptible to being damaged and to stressing it out, basically. So don't feel bad if your lawn looks a little bit crispy. Tall fescue does go dormant and that's what it looks like. So it's not going to look gorgeous, but that's all right.

Rachel

No, if you're seeing any plant diseases or insect infected plant material, remove those. And don't remove those by throwing them in your compost bin. You want to throw them in the trash, get rid of them off of your property. We don't want to promote plant diseases or insect life cycles like the squash vine bore throughout another season. If you're having an abundance of tomatoes, make sure you pick them when they first start to change color and then ripen them on your kitchen counter. This is especially true for your heirloom varieties because they can ripen really quickly and then crack on the bottom. So when they first get that first blush of color, that's when you should be picking them. Harvest and preserve your herbs like tarragon, rosemary, basil, sage, and other herbs that you have growing in your garden. Tidy up things so dispose of any rotten or dropped fruits or foliage to reduce those plant diseases and insect issues for the next season. This is especially true for rotten fruits because usually in the height of August, we see a prevalence of European hornets because they're out there sucking up all those sweet, rotting fruit and they're going to kind of go after you if you are messing with their food supply yet.

Rachel

Ready for your fall garden. So you can start planting spinach, lettuce, carrots, beets, broccoli, to name a few. Keep those seedlings mulched and moist. If you love garlic and onions and shallots, now is the time to order those so you can plant those in the fall. If you are ready to start your fall bulb planting, go ahead and start looking at varieties that you want to order. Or it's also the perfect time to start scouting out some of your local native plant nurseries to see when they're going to have their fall plant sales so that you can order your perennials and your native grasses or trees and shrubs that you might want to order and plant for the fall. And that's my tips.

Mikaela

Very good reminders.

Rachel

Yeah.

:Upbeat Music:

Emily

Well, that's all we have for this episode. Listener we hope you enjoyed it, and we'll tune in next month for more gardening tips. If you have any garden related questions, please email us at umegardenpodcast@gmail.com or you can look us up on Facebook at for more information about University of Maryland Extension and these topics, please check out the University of Maryland Extension's Home and Garden Information Center website at go umd.edu. Backslash. Thanks for listening, and have fun getting down and dirty in your garden. Goodbye.

Mikaela

The Garden Thyme Podcast is brought to you by the University of Maryland Extension. Hosts are Mikaela Boley- Senior Agent Associate (Talbot County) for Horticulture, Rachel Rhodes- Agent Associate for Horticulture (Queen Anne's County), and Emily Zobel-Senior Agent Associate for Agriculture (Dorchester County).

Emily