GROWING CELERY FROM SEED


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Over the years celery has become a common household food along with carrots, onions and potatoes. Its crunchy texture and distinctive flavor has made it a popular addition to salads and many cooked dishes. In fact you shouldn't even consider a soup or stew recipe that doesn't have celery as part of the stock - in my opinion anyway.

So important has celery become in common dishes that growing your own celery can become extremely valuable. Not only is it hardy and easy to grow, its distinctive flavour is so much more intense and - more importantly - you can guarantee that it has not been bathed in a cocktail of pesticides and fungicides.

What is Celery?

Celery is an ancient food having been cultivated in the Mediterranean region for more than 3,000 years. It is excellent for weight management diet as its high water content and fibrous nature means weight watchers can eat this vegetable a lot without fearing of weight gain. It is high in Vitamins B1 and B6, Vitamin C, calcium, fiber, folic acid, potassium, and anti-oxidants. Kidneys can benefit from celery as it helps in eliminate body waste though urine. Eating celery will reduce high blood pressure risks, relief arthritis pain and suppress cancer cells growth.

So, how do you grow celery from seed?

Because celery has such a long maturity time, unless you live in a location with long growing seasons, you need to start celery seeds indoors at least 8 – 10 weeks before your expected last frosts.

Because you will be starting off your celery seed under protection, you will need to use either 3 inch pots or large module trays filled with a good quality seed compost such as John Innes 'Seed and Potting'. Celery seeds are tiny and tricky to plant, so try mixing them up with some horticultural sand first and then sprinkling the sand/seed mix over the pots or modules that you are starting the celery plants in. Cover the seeds with just a thin layer layer of soil as celery seeds definitely like to be planted shallowly. Gently water in, you may wish to to sit the tray/ pots in a pan of water and allow the water to rise through the compost using capillary action. Once watered, cover the pots/ trays with a transparent cover - sheet of glass, clingfilm, or propagator lid and transfer to a warm bright position. Just make sure that it is out of direct sunlight. Once the seeds have germinated you can remove the cover, and now water as necessary.

Once the celery seeds are large enough, either thin the seedlings or prick them out to their own pots. Once the temperatures outside are consistently above 50F, you can plant your celery into your garden. Remember that celery is very temperature sensitive, so don’t plant it out too early or you will kill or weaken the celery plant.

Unless you live in a location that is ideal to grow celery plants, you are best planting your celery where it will get 6 hours of sun, but preferably somewhere that the celery plant will be shaded for the hottest part of the day. Also, make sure that where you will be growing celery has rich soil. A growing celery plant needs a lot of water so make sure that you keep the soil evenly moist and do not forget to water them. Celery can not tolerate drought of any kind. If the ground is not kept consistently moist, it will affect the taste of the celery. You will also need to fertilize regularly as celery plants require plenty of nutrients.

Blanching Celery

Many gardeners prefer to blanch their celery to make them more tender, but be aware that when blanching celery, you are reducing the amount of vitamins in the celery plant. Blanching celery is where you artificially turns the green part of the plant white.

Blanching celery is done in one of two ways. The first way is to just slowly build a mound of soil around the growing celery plant. Every few days you would add a little more soil and at harvest time the celery plant will be blanched. The other method is to cover the lower half of the celery plant with thick brown paper or cardboard a few weeks before you plan to harvest the celery.

For related articles click onto:
Photo care of http://how2growtaller.com/how-to-grow-celery-part-2/ and http://how-to-grow-organic-garden.blogspot.com/2011/01/growing-organic-celery.html
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LIVING DINOSAURS - The Coelacanth



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Of course, the Coelacanth is not a living dinosaur - more of a living fossil. Why? Because up until 1938, the only proof of the Coelanths existence was from the fossil record! In fact its very existence continues to serve as a reminder of just how little we know about the natural world.

The coelacanth - a large primitive deep-dwelling fish - has managed to provide an immediate link to our dim evolutionary past. This is because of their striking resemblance to the lobe-finned fish which are believed to have been the first to leave the water and take to land, ultimately begetting the amphibians, reptiles and mammals - including the human race - we see today.

The fish’s discovery was a worldwide sensation, and the coelacanth remains famous to this day. However, new research just published reveals, just how little we still know about this fish, despite it being the subject of intensive scrutiny and excitement for more than 70 years.

A team of scientists based in France and Germany has just summarised the results of a 21 year study into coelacanths living in the Comoros Islands, in the western Indian Ocean.

After its initial discovery in South African waters, no other coelacanths were sighted by western scientists for a further fourteen years, when a few fish were found swimming off the Comoros. The fish was not filmed alive until the BBC serendipitously took some footage of one for the programme 'Life on Earth' broadcast in 1979 and the first photos of the fish in its natural habitat were not taken until 1988!

The study was done on Colacanths species Latimeria chalumnae by Hans Fricke of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany and colleagues.It is a deep blue fish that has been sighted around Africa, off the coasts of South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar. It is one of two species of coelacanth; the other, Latimeria menadoensis, is a brown fish found much more recently in Indonesia.

The scientists used remote operated vehicles to descend into the sea and survey an 8km-long stretch of coastline around Grand Comore inhabited by coelacanths. The ROVs followed the fish into the caves in which they live, filming and photographing individuals, which are recognisable by the pattern of white spots on their blue bodies.

What did they discover?

Coelacanths, it seems, are peaceful animals that do not act antagonistically to one another, even when groups of up to 16 fish share the same cave.


Females are markedly larger than males but there doesn’t appear to be any sexual content to their gatherings.
During the day, the fish live at a depth of 170-240m along a steep volcanic landscape of caves, and at night they drift down to depths of 500m to feed, coming back to their caves in the morning to rest.


The survey reinforces the impression that perhaps just 300-400 coelacanths live at Grand Comore and that the fish do not tolerate waters above 22 degrees Centigrade particularly well, as many fish disappeared from the study area in 1994 when the water warmed, returning later.

Other research in this time has shown that coelacanth embryos develop for three years, the longest recorded for any vertebrate.

Coelacanths also appear to have the lowest metabolic rates among vertebrates.

But the study by Fricke’s team also gives away how much more we still don’t know.

For example, during the entire survey period, the team did not record a single subadult, juvenile, or baby coelacanth. They didn’t spot one in the Comoros, and have never spotted one in separate expeditions to study the fish off Indonesia, South Africa or Tanzania.

Only a single baby coelacanth has ever been sighted, filmed by different researchers in 2009 at a depth of 160m.

So we do not know where coelacanths give birth, where the young go, or why they don’t live with the adults. Such information is vital to preserve species of such rarity.

We still have little idea about how long these ancient-looking fish live for. However the survey by Fricke’s team confirms that coelacanths can live for at least 21 years; they resighted the same fish at the start and end of the survey, while 17 fish were sighted 19 years apart. That confirms that it is unexceptional for a coelacanth to live for two decades at least – the first real evidence of a coelacanth’s minimum age.

The scientists’ survey also allowed them to calculate the mortality rate of the fish, based on how often the same fish were resighted over the following years.
Their best estimate is that coelacanths have a mortality rate of 0.044. That means that out of a cohort of 100 individuals, we would expect one to still be living 103 years later. Their data can be used to make another mathematical projection which suggests coelacanths can live for between 95 to 117 years old.

Other deep water fish have been found to live for around 100 years, so it’s plausible that coelacanths do indeed reach this epic age. But we still don't know for sure, nor what their average age might be.

One bit of positive news is that accidental catches of coelacanths around the Comoros are declining steeply.

Fishermen in the area used to fish using a long line and hook from motorless canoes called galawas, and would occasionally snare a coelacanth while fishing at night for oilfish.

Nowadays, the fishermen use motorized boats called vedettes to travel further out to sea – mostly avoiding the coelacanth’s habitat. Between 1954 and 1995 two to four coelacanths were taken each year. But after 2000, that has fallen to just 0.3 coelacanths on average.

These fishermen are the only known cause of mortality for coelacanths; Fricke’s team’s survey occasionally encountered large sand tiger sharks in the area but never witnessed any predation on coelacanths by larger fishes.



As ever, though, with extremely rare species, threats to their very existence never seem far away. In Tanzania, another home to coelacanths, fishermen once took edible small fish from shallow waters. But once these were wiped out, they took to using deep-water gill nets. Since 2003, when these nets were first used, more than 80 coelacanths have been caught, and the number is increasing each year.

That is of huge concern for this population of Latimeria and it also reinforces how similar might happen around the Comoros, one of the fish’s remaining known strongholds.

One answer, if it can be arranged with the people of the Comoros, is to set aside a protected area along the south-west coast of Grand Comore, a policy supported by Fricke’s team and other researchers.

We still know so little about this ancient fish. And perhaps we owe it: having thought it extinct for so long, it might be considered tragic to let it go extinct now.

This is a fish that has survived almost unaltered for millions of years. Yet we risk it becoming extinct in just a handful of years due to subtle shifts in the way we choose to fish, and treat our marine life.

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Based on an article by http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wondermonkey/2011/06/slow-reveal-of-the-coelacanths.shtml

Photo care of http://animalinformations.blogspot.com/2011/06/coelacanth-fish.html and http://www.dinofish.com/Coelacanth%20briefing.html
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WHAT IS THE WORLDS LARGEST EAGLE?



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There are a number of eagles vying for this accolade - the Australian Wedge-Tailed Eagle, the Berkut Golden Eagle, and the American Bald Eagle to name but a few. However, it all depends on how you decide to measure them ie. longest wingspan, heaviest body weight etc.

The general consensus is, that on average, the Steller's Sea Eagle is the heaviest eagle in the world therefore making it the world's largest eagle!

The Steller's Sea Eagle, Haliaeetus pelagicus, is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It lives in coastal northeastern Asia and mainly preys on fish. It is, on average, the heaviest eagle in the world, at about 4.9 to 9 kilograms (11 to 20 lb), but often lags behind the Harpy Eagle and Philippine Eagle in other measurements.This magnificent bird is named after the German naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller.

Steller's Sea-eagle is the biggest bird in the genus Haliaeetus and is one of the largest raptors overall. The typical size range is 85 to 105 centimetres (33 to 41 in) long and the wingspan is 195 to 230 centimetres (77 to 91 in).

 Females typically weigh from 6.8 to 9 kilograms (15 to 20 lb) while males are considerably lighter with a weight range from 4.9 to 6 kilograms (11 to 13 lb). An unverified record exists of a huge female, who apparently gorged on salmon, having weighed 12.7 kilograms.

There are in fact two subspecies have of Steller's Sea-eagle. The relatively widespread Haliaeetus pelagicus and the virtually unknown H. p. niger. The latter name was given to the population which lacked white feathers except for the tail and supposedly was resident all year in Korea. Last seen in 1968 and long believed to be extinct, a female matching H. p. niger in appearance was born in captivity in 2001. Both its parent were "normal" in appearance, indicating that H. p. niger is an extremely rare morph rather than a valid subspecies, as had already been suggested earlier.

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Photo care of http://www.birdquest.co.uk/HolidaysbyRegion.cfm?holiday=801
Based on an article by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Sea_Eagle
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BLOGGER TUTORIAL - How to add another Page Element (Add a Gadget)



If you are intending to use blogger to run an adsense business, you will need to optimise your layout in order to maximise your adsense income. Now google provide plenty of excellent help and information regarding this, and perhaps the most important piece of advice you can follow is to position you adsence adverts as per their adsense heat map.

This heat map is a simple approximation of your blog layout, but most importantly it shows which areas of your layout will return the most revenue. Of course, you should aim to place your adsense adverts in the red or dark orange areas, that what you are maximising the potential of your blog layout. However there are two problems.

1. Blogger will only allow you to place 3 x adsense adverts in your page elements.

2. If you are using an 'old' blogger layout - like I do  - then you are extremely limited on where your 'Add a Gadget' page elements are.

The question is, what can you do about it? Well, want you want to do is manipulate the blogger layout HTML code so that you can add another 'Add a Gadget' page element. That way it is possible to add an adsense advert slap bang on the red number 9 in the heat map.

So, how do you get an 'Add a Gadget' page element sat above your primary content?

To do this, go to LAYOUT, and click EDIT HTML. This will take you to the template editor. Now before you start, make sure you save a copy of your layout in case a mistake is made and the whole layout corrupts! It shouldn't as this is one of the easiest manipulations of the HTML code you could ever do!

Look for showaddelement. Change showaddelement='no' to showaddelement='yes'. If there is a maxwidgets='1' in front of the showaddelement. Change it to maxwidgets='2' or more or even leave it as maxwidgets='' (unlimited number). If you have problem looking for the above, press ctrl+F and search.

Once you have adjusted the template go back to the Design option and press page elements. You should now have a number of extra 'Add a Gadget' page elements at your disposal.

The above adsense ad unit was added using a HTML/Javascript gadget - yes it doesn't quite fit but I wanted the biggest one I could get. Whatever else you want to add - gadget wise - can be dragged to any sections of your blog using your mouse.

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Based on an article by http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.com/2009/02/extra-add-gadget-page-element.html
Photo by http://www.makemoneymyways.com/make-money-online-blogging-lesson-2/ and  
http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/google-heatmap-2.htm
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BUY GIANT CABBAGE SEED




Want to buy Giant Cabbage Seeds? Click here to view seed shop.

If you are looking to buy Giant Cabbage seed, you are in luck. The 'Garden of Eaden' seed shop now has Giant Cabbage seed in stock as part of its standard range. Just click on the links to be directed to the new and improved seed shop.

So, how do you grow giant cabbages from seed?

There is something almost magical about growing giant vegetables, and for those few who chose to do so, their techniques are often shrouded in secrecy. However, while there are undoubtedly a number of hard earned family secrets that you will never get to know about, the one thing that you can't do with out is the seed. And not just any seed. The seed for growing giant vegetables would have been specially selected - often from a long line of show winners - from a lineage that can date back as far as the 19th century. The simple fact is that with out the right seed your attempt at growing giant vegetables is likely to fail. However, should you be able to get your hands on the real worlds equivalent of 'Magic Beans' then you are welcome to try my cultivation tips for the perfect giant cabbage.

When growing giant cabbages you will need to sow your seed quite early on in the year – around about the beginning of February – in order to achieve some proper giant-sized cabbages come the autumn. You will also need to start them off under protection in order to achieve a quick germination; otherwise their growing season won’t be long enough for them to reach their optimum size. Fill the tray to overflowing with John Innes ‘Seed and Cutting’ compost then lift the tray up and tap it down on the bench twice to consolidate the compost. Use a level, flat piece of wood to level off the compost by sliding it along the edges of the seed tray and finally use a flat board to lightly flatten and level the compost Do not compact the compost as this will drive all of the air out of it which in turn can reduce root growth

One seed tray will take about 25 seeds but space the seed out individually so that each germinated seedling will have the optimum amount of space to develop. Lightly cover the seed over with the same compost, but this time pass the compost through a fine garden sieve. Sit your prepared tray into a second – slightly larger - tray holding no more than an inch or so of water. Allow the water to be naturally absorbed into the compost until all of it is moist – you may need to add more water to the bottom tray in order to achieve this. You will know when the compost it saturated with water as the surface of the compost will change from a light brown to a dark brown colour.

After covering the seed with the fine compost give the surface a spray of water through a hand sprayer. This will ensure that the seed are not disturbed and keeps them at the same depth that you sowed them. At this point you can cover the seed tray with glass until the first seedlings emerge or give the surface a light spray of water on a daily basis or if it looks like the surface compost is likely to dry out.

Place the seed tray in a propagator to germinate or leave on the bench if your greenhouse is heated to a minimum of 50°F.

After the seedlings have germinated and showing two strong seedling leaves, transplant the seedlings into individual small pots or modules.

With giant cabbages, they must be looked after in order to achieve their optimum size and quality. Right up until they are planted outside, they will need to be re-potted on to a larger sized pot on a regular basis – at least until the weather has settled sufficiently to plant them out with out the risk of damage from late frosts.

You also need to make sure that you spend adequate time in hardening off giant cabbage plants. Put them outside too early and you will not only risk physical damage to them but you can also cause a check to their growth. Start off by placing them in a ventilated cold frame during the day but remember to bring them back in over night. After a week or so - and when overnight temperature stabilize – you can eventually start to leave them out overnight in the cold frame. After another week they should be able to leave the cold frame altogether and be placed out into a sheltered area.

When it comes to planting you giant cabbages out into their final position, it is all about preparation Plant them in a well manured plot that ideally is free from club root disease. If you do have clubroot you can still achieve some really commendable heads by saturating the planting hole with a dilution of Armillatox made to the makers recommended strength. Before planting, liberally dust the hole with lime.

To get really the large heads on your giant cabbages you must give them ample room for development, it’s no use at all planting them out a foot apart and eighteen inches between the rows, as they will not be able to achieve a large enough size. Ideally and for the really big sized heads, they need to be at least a metre apart and likewise between the rows. When they are planted out initially this sort of spacing will look a bit ridiculous and your young plants will appear lost on the soil when your giant cabbages really start growing in earnest, you’ll be struggling to work your way in between them.

GROWING TIPS. One of the key things to growing giant cabbages is plenty of Nitrogen, they need it in order to produce the huge amounts of large sized leaves. Regularly use a high nitrogen liquid feed, particularly during the initial stages to start the plants on the road to giant-dom. Regular watering is just as important, particularly if you are growing over a hot summer. Forget to feed and water and your crop of giant cabbage will end up as just another crop of greens.

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Main Photo - Clappers.grit.com
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HOW TO TRAIN A DOG TO FIND TRUFFLES


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Truffles are difficult to find and as such are very expensive as a result! To give you an example, white truffles cost from about £700 to over £1,500 a pound, and black truffles cost from £200 to over £400 a pound.

Truffle hunters in Italy and France use pigs and mixed-breed dogs to sniff out truffles. Dogs are preferred to pigs because pigs love to eat truffles. Notice the staff held by the truffle hunter in the picture with the pig. The hunter uses the staff to force the pig to back off, once the pig has located a truffle.

So, how do you train a dog to find truffles?

In Italy, truffle dogs are trained in several steps. First, the dog is taught to retrieve a rubber ball. Next, a small bit of smelly Gorgonzola cheese is substituted for the rubber ball. After the dog has learned to retrieve the cheese, the cheese is hidden, forcing the dog to sniff it out for a reward of food. Finally, a small truffle is substituted for the cheese. The dog is now trained to fetch, then dig up the truffle.

Dogs like other food better than truffles, so bread and other treats are used for rewards. The night before a truffle hunt the dog is not fed in order to make it more eager to find truffles for the treat. Just be aware that dogs generally do not find young truffles because the odor is too weak, but the odor does becomes stronger with age as the spores mature.

The value of commercial truffles means that there are laws controlling their collection. In Italy, for example, truffle collectors are tested and licensed. There, organizations of land owners called cooperatives control truffle hunting on their property. Unless you are a member of the cooperative, you can be arrested for collecting truffles from cooperative truffle beds.

In North America, truffle collectors use three major clues to find truffles. First, it must be warm and the soil moist. Truffles are often found 10 to 14 days after a heavy rain. The umbrella shaped mushrooms which pop up after a good rain can be used as a kind of clock. Look for truffles after these mushrooms have started to collapse.

Second, the right trees must be present. Truffles are formed by fungi that are partners (ectomycorrhizal) with certain trees. You will not find truffles under maples, for instance, because maples do not form ectomycorrhizae. Trees to use as clues include: pines, firs, Douglas-fir, oaks, hazel nuts, hickories, birches, beeches, and eucalyptus.

Third, truffles use animals for spore dispersal. In North America, squirrels and chipmunks are the major wild animals dispersing truffle spores. Search among the right trees for pits dug by rodents in their own hunt for truffles. Pits do not guarantee success, however! Rodents also dig pits searching for acorns, onion bulbs, and beetle grubs.

The best success results from raking around fresh pits. Look for pits not filled with leaves or other debris. I use a four-tine garden cultivator with the handle shortened to 30 inches to rake leaves off the surface and dig into the soil 3 or 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) . A good eye is required as many truffles are small and colored red, brown, white, or even black.

Bring a supply of small paper bags for taking your truffles home. Write your collection notes on the bag before putting the truffles inside it. Information on fresh appearance and habitat is often needed to identify fungi. Note the color and shape of the truffle, and what kind of trees are close by. The date and precise location are also useful information. These data can help you understand when and where to look next year.

Do not put truffles in sealed plastic bags. If you do they will mold, get slimy, and smell bad!

NEVER EAT ANY TRUFFLE, OR OTHER FUNGUS, UNLESS IT HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED BY AN EXPERT!

You might confuse the button stage of a poisonous mushroom with a truffle, or even be naturally allergic to it.

For related articles click onto:
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Kesar
The Mushroom
TRUFFLES: What are Truffles?
What are Mycorrhizal Fungi?
What are Plant Macronutrients and Micronutrients?
What are Plant Nutrients?
What are Truffles?
What Causes Blue Hydrangeas to Turn Pink?
What Causes Moss in Lawns
What is an Aphrodisiac?
What is a Truffle?
What is Chlorosis?
What is Frankincense?
What is John Innes Base?
What is John Innes Compost?
What is a Leaf Mould Compost?
What is Cork Made of?
What is a Wormery?
What is an Epiphyte?
What is an F1 Hybrid?
What is an Orchid?
What is Over-watering and How to Recognise it?
What is Pricking out?
What is Rhubarb Poisoning?
What is the Difference between a Fruit and a Vegetable?
What is the Difference between a Frog and a Toad?
What is the Difference between Currants, Raisins and Sultanas?
What is Saffron?
When should you Re-pot an Orchid?
Which Foods make the Best Aphrodisiacs?
Why do Onions make you Cry?
Why do Leaves Change their Colour in the Autumn Fall
Why do Trees drop their Leaves in Autumn Fall
Why is the Sea Salty?
Why is the Sky Blue?
Based on an article by http://herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/funfacts/truffind.htm
Photos care of http://latrufflepig.blogspot.com/ and http://realestatepv.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi?q=finding-truffles&page=4 and http://www.expressionsholidays.co.uk/Featured-Holidays/Truffle-hunting-in-Piemonte/ and http://www.boisdale.co.uk/members/events2/event_detail.aspx?id=50
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HOW TO GROW GIANT CELERY FROM SEED


WANT TO BUY GIANT CELERY SEED? CLICK HERE FOR THE NEW 'GARDEN OF EADEN’ WEBSITE AND SEED SHOP

Because giant celery has such a long maturity time, unless you live in a location with long growing seasons, you need to start celery seeds indoors at least 8 – 10 weeks before your expected last frosts.

Because you will be starting off your giant celery seed under protection, you will need to use either 3 inch pots or large module trays filled with a good quality seed compost such as John Innes 'Seed and Potting'. Like normal celery seeds, giant celery seeds are tiny and tricky to plant, so try mixing them up with some horticultural sand first and then sprinkling the sand/seed mix over the pots or modules that you are starting the celery plants in.

Cover the seeds with just a thin layer layer of soil as giant celery seeds definitely like to be planted shallowly. Gently water in, you may wish to to sit the tray/ pots in a pan of water and allow the water to rise through the compost using capillary action.

Once watered, cover the pots/ trays with a transparent cover - sheet of glass, clingfilm, or propagator lid and transfer to a warm bright position. Just make sure that it is out of direct sunlight. Once the seeds have germinated you can remove the cover, and now water as necessary.

Once the celery seeds are large enough, either thin the seedlings or prick them out to their own pots. Once the temperatures outside are consistently above 50F, you can plant your celery into your garden. Remember that celery is very temperature sensitive, so don’t plant it out too early or you will kill or weaken the celery plant.

Unless you live in a location that is ideal to grow celery plants, you are best planting your celery where it will get 6 hours of sun, but preferably somewhere that the celery plant will be shaded for the hottest part of the day. Also, make sure that where you will be growing celery has rich soil.

A growing celery plant needs a lot of water so make sure that you keep the soil evenly moist and do not forget to water them. Celery can not tolerate drought of any kind. If the ground is not kept consistently moist, it will affect the taste of the celery. You will also need to fertilize regularly as celery plants require plenty of nutrients.

Blanching Celery

Many gardeners prefer to blanch their celery to make them more tender, but be aware that when blanching celery, you are reducing the amount of vitamins in the celery plant. Blanching celery is where you artificially turns the green part of the plant white.

Blanching celery is done in one of two ways. The first way is to just slowly build a mound of soil around the growing celery plant. Every few days you would add a little more soil and at harvest time the celery plant will be blanched. The other method is to cover the lower half of the celery plant with thick brown paper or cardboard a few weeks before you plan to harvest the celery.

For related articles click onto:
Photo care of http://how2growtaller.com/how-to-grow-celery-part-2/ and http://how-to-grow-organic-garden.blogspot.com/2011/01/growing-organic-celery.html

Photo care of http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2144019/posts
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WHAT IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST SPIDER?



CLICK HERE FOR THE NEW 'GARDEN OF EADEN’ WEBSITE AND SEED SHOP

Let's face it, spiders are not the most popular of creatures, in fact - for most people - spiders are creepy and they are scary. Like disembodied hands they sculk along the floor just waiting to jump up and bite you. Why, because they are evil! Be that as it may, some people love them and the bigger the spider, the better it is.

So just for them , what is the world's biggest spider?

Well, if you are going by body weight, it is the Goliath Birdeating spider, otherwise known as Theraphosa leblondi. Despite its name, the Goliath Birdeater predominately eats invertebrates - such as crickets and mealworms, and small vertebrates - such as mice and lizards. Unsurprisingly, the Goliath Birdeating spider has been known to catch young birds, although this is very rare behaviour. Even so, this spider recieved its name after a Victorian explorer who witnessed one eating a hummingbird.


Native to the rain forest regions of northern South America, these giant spiders have up to a 12 inches long leg span when fully extended and can weigh over 120 grams. Wild Goliath birdeaters are a deep burrowing species, found commonly in marshy or swampy areas.
Not only are they horribly large (if you haven't already guessed, I don't like spiders) they can live and extraodinarily long time too. Female Birdeaters have an average life span of 6 to 14 years, however, males die soon after maturity, and have a lifespan of only 3 to 6 years - good!

The colours of Goliath Birdeating spiders can range from dark to light brown, with faint markings on the legs. They have hair on the body, abdomen, and legs. The female can lay anywhere from 100 to 400 eggs, which will hatch within two months producing 'spiderlings'.

Wild Goliath Birdeaters are a deep burrowing species, found commonly in marshy or swampy areas. They may make a hissing noise when disturbed, and can defend themselves by biting, or by releasing their body hairs. The Goliath Birdeater, like all tarantulas, has fangs large enough to break the skin of a human. Luckily, its venom is relatively non-toxic, but a bite will still cause mild discomfort and swelling for a few hours. WARNING -  problems will occur only if the victim is allergic to spiders, or if the wound becomes infected.

The Goliath Birdeating spider, like many tarantulas, can also release its hairs - which are barbed - by flicking at its body wit hits hind legs. These creates a cloud of fine hairs which can cause severe discomfort and irritation when they make contact with bare skin, or when they are inhaled.

Of course, some experts say we should judge the size of a spider by its leg length instead, in which case the largest spider is the Giant Huntsman spider.

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World's Largest Insect
Zebra

Photo care of http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/04/pictures/110418-20-surprising-species-yoda-bat-walking-shark-science-animals-biggest-spider/
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