A-Z Garden Tips: Pollen Protection is Positively Palatable

Got seasonal allergies? Pollen-sensitivity strikes in spring for many folks. I’ve sniffled and snuffled and sneezed my way through the season for years.

But those allergy symptoms have lessened considerably, since I took a farmer friend’s advice a few years ago. Local honey is the secret.

A spoonful of local honey each day, starting in early March, seems to help ward off the worst pollen allergy symptoms for plenty of people. It has to be local, which means the bees producing it used pollens similar to those found in the same area.

It seems to be sort of like building up immunity or inoculating oneself against the allergens. OK, some physicians may disagree, but lots of people swear by it.

Mass-produced grocery store honeys could come from anywhere, so they tend not to have the same effects.

Know a beekeeper?

Local honey can be found at feed and grain depots and lots of community grocery and food shops. Future Farmer and 4-H groups sometimes sell local honey in season as well.

I’m not rushing out to buy a beekeeper suit, a bee house, or other apiary supplies. But I love that I can enjoy a little honey on my breakfast toast or bagel, or perhaps in a cup of tea, and then step out into my yard without experiencing sneezing fits.

Call it an old wives’ tale, if you wish. But my experience (and that of many others) begs to differ.

NOTE:  This blogger has no affiliation with any product/s mentioned in this post and received no remuneration from the manufacturer/s or product promoter/s for this post.

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A-Z Garden Tips: Fighting Frost

A spring frost can harm early plantings in the garden, but it need not, if the gardener takes a few simple precautions.

First, potted plants can be moved to a sheltered spot when a frost is expected, such as overnight or during a sudden wintry storm. A garage, greenhouse, garden shed, or indoors will usually fit the bill till the frost has passed.

Plantings in the ground can be covered to protect them from frost. Nurseries and garden centers offer foam cones and other plant coverings. But simple household items may work equally well. I have used many of these things to tuck in my plants during spring frosts:

1. brown paper grocery bags
2. fabric remnants
3. flour sacks
4. gift bags
5. lightweight curtains
6. paper or reusable fabric shopping bags
7. pillowcases / sheets
8. socks
9. tablecloths
10. tee shirts

I try to keep old fabric items (as listed above) for this purpose, rather than tossing them out, once they become too frayed or tattered for their original uses.

Some gardeners use plastic dry cleaning bags, garbage bags, sheeting, or shopping bags to protect their outdoor plants from frost. Personally, I prefer coverings that offer some breathability.

It’s important to cover plants gently, being careful to avoid breaking off branches, buds, or leaves. For larger plants, it’s often helpful to place a plant hoop, a tomato cage, or a few garden stakes strategically and drape the covering on top. Be sure to anchor the covering on the ground with some dirt or a few rocks, so it won’t blow away.

Frost doesn’t have to destroy spring plants. And warmer days are coming!

NOTE:  This blogger has no affiliation with any product/s mentioned in this post and received no remuneration from the manufacturer/s or product promoter/s for this post.

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Pixabay - public domain

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10 favorite Easter basket candy picks

Hey, Easter Bunny! What’s in your basket? Easter eggs may be a perennial favorite, but Easter candy can really light up the eyes of any Easter basket recipient.

What are your best Easter basket candy treats each year? Here are our top 10 favorite candies for Easter baskets (listed alphabetically).

1. Cadbury Easter Creme Eggs

The Cadbury Crème Egg is an annual Easter basket essential candy treat. Created to look like a real egg, the foil-wrapped Cadbury crème egg has a milk chocolate shell. Inside is a gooey white and yellow sweet cream filling.

Besides, who doesn’t love those Cadbury egg commercials on television each year, with the clucking bunny and the eggs?

2. Chocolate Bunny

‘Nuff said.

But wait. Let’s be serious. The cheap hollow chocolate rabbits are nothing to write home about. Better to spring for the quality solid chocolate ones, Easter Bunny.

3. Easter M and M’s

No holiday is complete without the appropriately colored M and M’s candies. In the spring, M and M’s come in pretty pastel colors for Easter. Candy-coated chocolate treats (in plain, peanut or other styles), Easter M and M’s come in big bags, as well as colorful plastic Easter eggs.

Why not buy both? The plastic Easter eggs, filled with M and M’s, are great for children’s Easter baskets, while the big bag of M and M’s may be just right for the Easter Bunny himself (or herself).

Hey, the Easter Bunny has a sweet tooth too.

An earlier version of this article originally appeared on a Yahoo property, which is now closed. All publication rights reside with the author.

4. Easter PEZ

Ask any kid. PEZ candies are sweet little hard bricks that come in several colors and flavors. But that’s not why children like them. PEZ candies come with plastic mechanical dispensers that are fun to use. Kids pull back the themed heads (cartoon characters, holiday icons or even superheroes) to pop out the PEZ candies.

Easter PEZ dispensers usually sport cute bunnies, chicks, Easter eggs, or lambs.  Some Easter PEZ dispensers and candies even come enclosed in plastic Easter eggs, ready for tucking into an Easter basket.

5. Marshmallow Peeps

Marshmallow Peeps were once reserved only for Easter. Now the sugar-covered sweet candy treats are available for just about any holiday. But Easter is the top traditional Marshmallow Peep day of all.

Should Marshmallow Peeps be eaten soft and fresh (right out of the package), or are the chewy bunnies, chicks, ducks and other colorful candies better a little older and crunchier? And what is the proper way to eat a peep? (Ask the Easter Bunny.)

6. Reese’s Pieces Carrot

What more needs to be said about a big cellophane cone, filled with orange Reese’s pieces?

7. Smucker’s Jelly Beans

All kinds of candy companies make jelly beans, and nearly everyone has a favorite. Some like ‘em tart or tangy, while others prefer the gritty sweet ones. Classic Brach’s, Jelly Belly, Jolly Rancher, Starburst, and other kinds of jelly beans are fine. But nothing beats the fruity jam-like flavoring of the Smucker’s Jelly Beans, if you can find them.

8. Snickers Minis Filled Eggs

Only at Easter can one find Snickers formed into egg shapes and wrapped in foil. Butterfinger Eggs, Nestle Crunch Eggs, Twix Eggs, and other chocolate candy bar favorite Easter eggs are also available. Stick ‘em in the freezer! For a cool Easter treat.

9. Speckled Robin Eggs

Colorful speckled candy robin eggs are another Easter basket favorite. A crunchy malted milk center, coated with milk chocolate and covered with a hard candy shell make speckled robin eggs a super Easter basket candy surprise.

Brach’s, Hershey, Whopper, and other varieties of speckled robin egg Easter candies are available. Take your pick for Easter baskets.

10. Sweet Tarts Chicks,Ducks and Bunnies

These mouth-puckering sour treats may not be a grownup’s top taste pick, but they sure look colorful and sweet in an Easter basket. And kids can’t seem to get enough of them.

Perhaps every family has its own favorite Easter basket candy contents. What’s nestled in the shredded Easter grass in your Easter basket?

NOTE:  This blogger has no affiliation with any product/s mentioned in this post and received no remuneration from the manufacturer/s or product promoter/s for this post.

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10 favorite Easter basket candy picks

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Water is wellness.

Well, maybe this is a no-brainer. Water is a wellspring of wonder for wellness.

We knew that.

Still, knowing it and practicing it may equal wildly different things.

Wow, have I experienced this firsthand, since I began running regularly. Dehydration can strike suddenly, and it is a scary thing.

If I plan to run more than three miles on a comfortable day, or at all on a hot and humid day, I carry water with me. Yep, I’m the geeky one out there with a big bouncing water bottle tucked in a pack strapped around my waist.

I don’t care how it looks. I’m sipping as I stride. I may even spill a few swigs on my shirt. But I’m staying healthy on the road.

Still, bottled water can be wreckful.

Yesterday, I tossed out a half-empty (or half-full) bottle of water at a horse show, simply because it was warm. Nope, I wasn’t being picky. But the plastic water bottle had been sitting in my car for a few hours on a warm, sunny day.

We’ve been warned.

Apparently, harmful and possibly carcinogenic chemicals can seep into bottled water, if it is allowed to freeze or warm up.

It wasn’t worthwhile to risk it – for a few sips.

So I stepped up to the snack bar and anted up for a fresh bottle of water. Why not?

Usually, I fill my own reusable sports bottles. My favorites are made of stainless steel. They wash up well and stay pretty cold.

And that works for me.

Practically at Home is participating in the April A to Z Blogging Challenge again this year. Stop on back, so you don’t miss a single post!

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