Regulars (All)

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 8/18/11

The Bay Gardener’s Four-Legged Companions

What’s a farm without dogs and cats?

The Gouins have had five dogs and four cats. Yoder, our first dog, was an Appalachian beagle, from near Grantville in the Appalachian mountains. His mother was a beagle and the father, a neighbor’s dog. He was given the name Yoder, which is Mennonite, because we purchased his first dog food at Yoder’s meat market and locker. Our second dog was a black cocker spaniel named Dixie, so named because we purchased her from a breeder in southern Virginia. She loved to...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 8/18/11

Sporting Dogs I’ve Known and Loved

Let me start with Lance and Josh

I’ve spent innumerable hours hunting and fishing over the years, probably a good many more than any well-balanced man should have. My love of outdoor sport has always been more of a passion than a pastime, and I’ve had some great company with which to share it. Many of the friendships formed along the way with sportsmen and sportswomen have stood the test of multiple decades. But my strongest and fondest memories are of the dogs who were there with me. Lance the...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 8/18/11

Barking Ahead of the Sun

When the Dog Star rises, so does the heat

The waning moon rises around 10:30pm at week’s end Friday, with the bright glow of Jupiter trailing just a few degrees behind. By Sunday, the last-quarter moon rises a little before midnight just below the speckling lights of the Pleiades star cluster, which mark the back of Taurus. Ten degrees beneath the moon glares the bull’s red eye, the star Aldebaran, and midway between the two, outlining Taurus’ V-shaped face, are the stars of the Hyades cluster. The...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 8/11/11

The Tears of St. Lawrence

The near-full moon bleaches out all but the brightest of this year’s Perseid meteor shower

The moon waxes to full Saturday, rising between the dim water constellations Aquarius and Capricornus. August’s full moon is named the Green Corn Moon, the Grain Moon and the Sturgeon Moon, for the great fish that once filled our waterways. That same moon, alas, bleaches out all but the brightest bursts from this year’s Perseid meteor shower, which peaks late Friday. Still, away from city lights between midnight and dawn, don’t be surprised if you see an...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 8/11/11

The Plant Doctor Is In

I enjoy challenges in trying to solve plant problems, but I’ll need a full case history

A growing number of Bay Weekly readers are coming to the Thursday afternoon Deale Farmers Market with plants to be identified or with plant problems. I don’t mind interrupting sales of peaches to answer your questions. However, I find that I am not able to provide much assistance because many people bring only a leaf, a single flower or a photograph. Others try to describe the symptoms. Plant identification requires more than a leaf or twig. Bring a branch so I can see...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 8/11/11

All’s Well that Ends Well

When you go fishing, you’ve got to be ready to adapt

As we drifted away from the pilings, my son lifted his rod tip to feel if the spot he was live-lining was still down deep. His tip sagged, then his rod bent over and line started to feed out from his drag as we pulled away with the current. “I’m hung up again,” he said. It was all that needed to be said, for it was the third time in the last half-hour that he’d gotten snagged in that location. As I moved our skiff closer to get a better angle to free...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 8/4/11

From the Age of Dinosaurs

Gazing at the Andromeda Galaxy, we look through space and time

Of all the lights in the heavens, one stands alone. Looking at the night sky, we stare at a family of stars all akin to our own, all a part of the Milky Way Galaxy. However, nestled within the stars of the constellation Andromeda is a faint patch of light from far beyond. At roughly 2.5 million light years distant, the Andromeda Galaxy, or M31, is one of the most distant objects visible to the unaided eye. But it is also our nearest galactic neighbor, a two-armed spiral...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 8/4/11

August Is a Great Time for Transplanting

Trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials move best now

Many home gardeners wait until spring to transplant in their landscapes. But if perennial plants such as trees and shrubs could talk, they would tell you that August and September are the best times for transplanting. In the Garden this Week Skip the Wound Dressing After Pruning It was once customary to apply an asphalt-based wound dressing to pruned surfaces. Extensive research conducted by Dr. Alex Shigo has conclusively demonstrated that wound dressing actually does a...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 8/4/11

A Dauntless Sportsman

The tidal current was in a difficult phase. We were live-lining Norfolk spot for rockfish at the Bay Bridge, the water was moving fast, and my skiff was drifting as we swam baits deep along the bridge supports. At the helm, I had to avoid colliding with the concrete columns yet stay close enough to allow my partner in the bow, Randy Steck, to work his bait near the bottom of the structures. Fishfinder The summer doldrums are here, but the fish don’t seem to mind....

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 7/28/11

Mid-Summer Nights Delight

The new moon sets the stage

Early risers Friday should look for the last sliver of the waning moon low in the northeast before 6am. After that, the new moon disappears amid the sun’s blinding glare. Monday a thin crescent re-appears low in the west for a half-hour after sunset around 8:15. A half-dozen degrees away shines Mercury, and above that Regulus, the blue-white heart of Leo the lion and the dot of its backward question mark-shaped face. With darkness Tuesday, the...