Lemon Thyme growing on my kitchen windowsill.

Herb Pots

The smallest urban garden of all might be an herb grown in a pot on a sunny windowsill.  The proper fresh herbs added to just about any vegetable or meat dish heighten flavor of the food—yet most folks cook with just salt and pepper.  Fresh herbs are an expensive addition to our grocery list that is often skipped for the sake of frugality.  Growing herbs on a sunny windowsill is an inexpensive option that is open to all residents.

Members of the NGHS Environmental Club look at the plants in their experimental garden.  Charlene, on the right, will take over leadership of the club in the fall.

First Preliminary Report from NGHS Environmental Club’s Experimental Garden

I was thinking about herbs this morning after getting an email from Jane, President of Loving Garland Green, regarding the first preliminary report on their experimental garden from the North Garland High School (NGHS) Environmental Club.  Shannon Lawless, president of the NGHS Environmental Club reported that she was surprised at how great food tastes with the addition of herbs.

Since the end of March the students have harvested 18 pounds of food from the small (125 square foot) garden plot they are stewarding down at the Garland Community Garden.  Eighteen pounds of food in two months is great in my opinion, but in reality it is likely typical of what one might expect to produce from a similar space in their own yard here in Garland, Texas. 

The benefits derived from growing 18 pounds of food far exceed the dollar value of that food.  Good things happen to people who grow some of the food they eat.  Perhaps the most important change in the gardener is a deepening appreciation and love of nature and an increased awareness of nature’s processes and the parts and responsibilities we have in protecting theses processes.

Salad served up made from lettuce, other greens, carrots and radishes from their garden

NGHS Environmental Club Memorial Day Picnic

To end the 2016-2017 stewardship of their garden plot down at the Garland Community Garden, student members held a picnic.  Some of the food served included produce from their garden plot:

1. A salad of greens, carrots and radishes from the garden.
2. Cucumber and goat cheese sandwiches—make from garden cucumbers enhanced by herbs grown in the garden.
3. Braised turnip greens served with caramelized turnips from the garden.

Shannon Lawless (outgoing President of the NGHS Environmental Club) and Megan May enjoy the picnic food.  Both girls are graduating on Thursday and with scholarships, Shannon is headed for Tarleton and Megan is going to Texas A&M.

In addition to the food, the students chatted about their future. Many of them are graduating and going off to college in August.  Their experimental garden plot, however, will continue.   Over the summer months members of Loving Garland Green will take over the responsibility of stewardship of this 125 square foot garden plot.  We will harvest and maintain careful records.  Then in September, the NGHS Environmental Club will take over their plot again. 

After we harvest the sweet potatoes in November, the two groups will jointly prepare a report that will be released to the public regarding just how much fun (and fun) one can expect from a 125 square foot garden in Garland, Texas.

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The Garland Community Garden is an excellent place for the youth of our community to learn all kinds of important things—from sharing with others to living sustainable lifestyles.

Scenes from the Garland Community Garden - May 22, 2017
BEAN PATCH with five different varieties of pole beans and POLLINATOR HEAVEN a bed beloved by pollinators of all shapes and sizes

The Garland Community Garden is becoming more lush and green by the day.  If you haven't stopped by for a while, now is definitely the time to stop and take a look.

Instead of bare poles in the Bean Patch, we now have green towers--many of which are blooming

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Large box bed in the winding garden at the Back of the Garden
Last week Charlie planted eleven heirloom tomato plants he grew from seed.  We checked on Sunday and they are thriving as is the Sunn Hemp, a cover crop that we planted in the other half of the bed

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North Garland High School Environmental Club Experimental Garden

This 125 square-foot garden is really thriving and has produced several salads.  It is a citizen science project being jointly undertaken by students of the North Garland High School Environmental Club and Loving Garland Green to ascertain just how much food one might expect to grow from a small (125 Square Foot) urban garden in Garland Texas.  Records of produce and value will be kept until the first week in November at the time of the sweet potato harvest.  Loving Garland Green will take over stewardship of the garden for June, July and August.

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Inventory of New Plants in Multicultural Garden Plot

At the Garland Community Garden we have a Multicultural Garden plot that was installed in October of 2014 in partnership with the Garland Multicultural Commission.  Donna Baird, a member of this commission as well as a Loving Garland Green member, is the official steward of this plot.  However, Donna has some health issues this spring that keep her out of the garden so she asked that I take care of the plot this season until she recovers.

This garden plot is on the way to becoming both attractive and interesting.  This week I installed a bunch of plants purchased at Rohdes—a local nursery here in Garland, Texas. With the rain and all I had time to paint a few rocks to identify the plants.

Russian Tarragon - Artemisia dracunculus

Although weaker in flavor than either French or Mexican Tarragon, the Russian Tarragon is the heartiest.  It grows to 39 inches tall, is drought tolerant and thrives in poor soil.  Russian Tarragon is so weak in flavor that many cooks disregard its value in the kitchen altogether.

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Rue - Ruta graveolens – native of Southern Europe
This herb is extremely drought tolerant. Medicinally, like many herbs, it has been touted to cure just about everything—even used as a witch repellant. Rue grows two to three feet tall with small yellow flowers

Rue is one of the oldest garden plants in Britain.  This hardy little evergreen thrives in poor rubbishy soils—even better than in rich soils.  Rue constituted a chief ingredient of the famous antidote to poison used by Mithridates.  In the middle ages Rue was thought to be a powerful defense against witchcraft and many believed that it provided second sight.  Early Roman painters consumed the herb because they believed it improved their eyesight.  Since the earliest of times Rue has been regarded as successful in warding off contagion and preventing attacks of fleas and other noxious insects. If bruised and applied, the leaves are said to ease the severe pain of sciatica. 

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Holy Basil - Ocimum tenuiflorum

This bushy shrub grows 18 inches high and is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.  As the name suggests, Holy Basil has spiritual significance.  According to Hindu mythology, the plant is an incarnation of the Hindu Goddess of loyalty, Tulasi who offers divine protection.  Many Indian families keep a living Holy Basil plant in their homes and tend it carefully.  Accordingly there are many rituals associated with this plant and its care.  For example, one must bathe and be clean before watering or picking the leaves of this plant.  There are even handbooks available for download regarding proper care and respect for the Holy Basil plant.  http://www.stephen-knapp.com/tulasi_devi_handbook.htm

Holy basil’s oil is said to have antioxidant properties that help reduce the damaging effects of stress and aging on the body. 

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Four Tomato Plants – all grown from heirloom seed
Tomatoes originated from the Andes, in what is now called Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador - where they grew wild.  The Aztecs and Incas first cultivated tomatoes as early as 700 AD.  Thus they have an appropriate place in our Multicultural Garden, as they are not native to the USA. [On Sunday Charlie and I counted the tomato plants that we planted from the collection he grew from heirloom seed.  We have 42 tomato plants growing all over the garden. In addition to these there are at least 10 more that other members planted and several that came up as volunteers from last year.]

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Chinese Kale
Friends have been telling me for several years now that I should go to an Asian market to get seeds and plants for the garden.  About a month ago I did.  I bought several bunches of lemon grass for $2.98 that have rooted in water. [It takes about a month so don’t give up.  It’s worth it as most garden stores charge from $10 to $12.98 per plant.]  I also bought some Chinese Kale and some Chinese Basil seeds which have now germinated.

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Tansy

Many of the plants newly installed in the Multicultural Garden are identified with Rock signs--Garland Community Garden May 22, 2017

There are two varieties of Tansy:  Senecio Jacobacea L. and Tanacetum vulgare.  I think I purchased Senecio Jacobacea which also has the common name “ragwort.”  I will know for certain when the Tansy blooms as ragwort has a flower that has petals similar to daisy plants while common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) has button flowers that look like little clusters of balls.

In either case, both of these species are classified in eight states as “noxious weeds.”  Thus I will monitor the Tansy closely and not allow it to go to seed. However, it is not on the list of noxious weeds for Texas. https://plants.usda.gov/java/noxious?rptType=State&statefips=48

Tansy has an interesting history.  Once upon a time no respectable garden in Britain and Europe would have been without a few Tansy plants.  It was used to make funeral wreaths and often corpses were wrapped in Tansy as it is an insect repellant.  The leaves of this plant are said to repeal fleas and ticks.  In fact, the man at Rohdes who helped me locate the tansy said that he wraps the leaves around his dog’s collar to prevent ticks.  One of the reasons I was interested in the plant is due to its reported ability to repel and even kill squash bugs—thus making it an ideal companion plant for members of the cucurbit family.

The Tansy and the Cinnabar Moth have eco paths that cross.  The Tansy is the host plant for the Cinnabar caterpillar.  As far as I know, the Tansy is the only host plant on which the Cinnabar Moth will lay its eggs. Many members of the Lepidoptera Order choose poisonous plants on which to lay their eggs.  The Monarch butterfly is another example.  Cinnabar Moths, not native to the USA, were introduced as biological control for ragwort in Oregon and the state of Washington.  These daytime moths did a good job of getting ragwort under control.

Cinnabar Moth (Tyria jacobaeae) - Charlesjsharp - Own work, from Sharp Photography, sharpphotography

We won’t be touching any caterpillars found on the Tansy!

The caterpillar stage of the moth’s growth cycle is covered in tiny venomous spines which readily release toxins into human skin following dermal contact. Although the effects of envenomation are usually limited to an itchy and/or painful rash spreading from the site of contact, more serious symptoms such as atopic asthma, dermatitis, hemorrhage and potentially fatal renal failure have been attributed to direct contact with the caterpillar.

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Bitter Melon - Momorica charantia (also known as bitter gourd and bitter squash)
Bitter melon originated in India and was introduced into China in the 14^th century.  It is widely used in Asian cuisine as well as in Hindu or Ayurveda medicine.  This squash-like vegetable has a number of purported uses including cancer prevention, treatment of diabetes, fever, HIV and AIDS, and infections. While it has shown some potential clinical activity in laboratory experiments, "further studies are required to recommend its use."  Most of us Heinz-57 Americans shy away from bitter.  It is just not in the vocabulary of our cuisine.  Thus the taste of a bitter melon dish is an adventure worthy to undertake.  I had some bitter melon soup a couple of years ago and it was indeed bitter.  

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Winged Bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), also known as the Goa bean, and Dragon Bean

Wiki Commons

Winged bean is widely recognized by farmers and consumers in southern Asia for its variety of uses and disease resistance.    Winged bean is nutrient-rich, and all parts of the plant are edible. Leaves can be eaten like spinach, flowers can be used in salads, tubers can be eaten raw or cooked, seeds can be used in similar ways as the soybean.  The winged bean i has the potential to become a major multi-use food crop in the tropics of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The seeds are about 35% protein and 18% fat. They require cooking for two to three hours to destroy the trypsin inhibitors and hemagglutinins that inhibit digestion.They can be eaten dried or roasted. Dried and ground seeds make flour, and can be brewed to make a coffee-like drink.  The nutrient-rich, tuberous roots have a nutty flavor. They are about 20% protein and its roots have more protein than many other root vegetables.  The leaves and flowers are also high in protein (10–15%).

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Cardoon
Cynara cadunculus

Cardoon belongs to the artichoke family.  However, unlike the artichoke, the fruit is not eaten.  The plant is harvested for its stems.  Once about 15 years ago when I was in Nice, France I ate some steamed cardoon stalks and they were delicious.  I hadn’t thought about them in years until I saw this plant when I was at Rohdes the other day.  If you would like a better understanding of what they are and how to prepare them, visit this link from Food and Style.  I will look for them and ask in the produce sections of specialty grocery stores.  They look like celery but taste more like artichoke hearts. Food and Style Recipe for Cardoon.  

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Pigeon Pea - Cajanus cajan

This perennial legume (not perennial in our zone) was domesticated in India 3,500 years ago.  It is consumed on a large scale mainly in south Asia and is a major source of protein for the population of that subcontinent.  The crop is cultivated on marginal land by resource-poor farmers, Last year we had it in the garden and it grew into small 7-feet tall bean treesThe seeds (peas) of this legume are similar in appearance and taste to the lentil.  Although not an important crop in the USA, the pigeon pea is critical to the survival of millions of people in the world who live and farm marginal land. Lifting Awareness on the Pigeon Pea—a Global perspective.  

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Lots more to see at the Garland Community Garden!  And we now have a little free library on the grounds. In addition to the 1,500 real ladybugs that Charlie and I released last week, our Bean Patch now has a permanent Ladybug resident.  But I don't think she will be eating too many aphids.

Packet of Sunn Hemp (Croteleria junicea) seed from my friend Susan Metz.  Generally speaking, the best seed of any kind you’ll ever acquire are those from a friend who lives nearby.

Replenish Your Soil with Crop Rotation, Cover Crops and Green Manure

Crop rotation is the practice of growing different types of crops in the same beds from season to season.  Different plants use different amounts of nutrients from the soil.  For example, corn is a high nitrogen user while legumes such as beans make their own nitrogen.  Tomatoes are heavy users of magnesium and nitrogen.  In the off-season most organic gardeners either plant cover crops or put compost, molasses and manure on their beds.  If you have enough space it is best to do both: grow different crops in the same space from season to season and replenish the soil with organic nutrients before planting a new crop.

The healthier the soil, the better the harvest.  Conversely, the poorer the soil, the poorer the harvest.  Most of the area of North Texas is part of the eco-region known as the Blackland Prairie.  Our soil, while rich in organic matter, is a heavy clay.  In order to successfully grow edibles in our area, gardeners must amend to the soil to make it more “fluffy” and not so dense. 

Our dense clay soil makes it difficult for roots to pull nutrients and water up to the plant.  Thus it can starve a plant to death—regardless how much the plant is watered.  To remedy this condition gardeners add substances such as expanded shale and perlite to the soil.  These amendments create air spaces in the soil and make it fluffy and easier for the roots to breathe and pull nutrients from the soil to the plant.

Farmers have practiced Crop Rotation for thousands of years.

Farmers have long understood the important relationship between the soil and the quality of the edibles at harvest.  For thousands of years in Europe and the Middle East farmers followed a two-field crop rotation.  Under this system of crop rotation, half the land was planted in a year, while the other half lay fallow. Then, in the next year, the planting in the two fields was reversed.

Then, around 814, farmers in Europe transitioned from a two-field crop rotation to a three-field crop rotation.  Under the three- field crop rotation, farmers divided available lands into three parts. One section was planted in the autumn with rye or winter wheat, followed by spring oats or barley; the second section grew crops such as peas, lentils, or beans; and the third field was left fallow. The three fields were rotated in this manner so that every three years, a field would rest and be fallow.

Under the two-field system, if one has a total of 600 acres of fertile land, one would only plant 300 acres. Under the new three-field rotation system, one could plant  400 acres. But the additional crops had a more significant effect than mere quantitative productivity. Since the spring crops were mostly legumes, they increased the overall nutrition of the people of Northern Europe. [Source Wikipedia]

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My Sunn Hemp seeds on a damp paper towel.  Inoculant I ordered from MBS in Denton should be here in a couple of days.

Sunn Hemp—A Cover Crop Is Coming to the Garland Community Garden

This week I am planting the sunn hemp Seed that Susan Metz, a local farmer and A&M educated agricultural researcher, gave to me.  [Note: Sunn Hemp is a member of the Crotalaria genus and is legal to grow; therefore there are no concerns about the appropriateness of its use as an agricultural crop. The Crotalaria genus has 600 known species all with varying characteristics. Please see this USDA article for more information.  http://www.seedland.com/seedland/info-PDF/sunn-hemp.pdf ]

In late August we will pull up the sunn hemp, chop it up into small bits and then spread it on top of the bed like topsoil.  After preparing the bed in this manner we will plant a winter crop of turnips, beets, cabbage, broccoli and kale.  The soil will not require fertilizer and there should be no weeds.

Sunn Hemp has many advantages.

Sunn hemp originated in India where it has been grown since the dawn of agriculture. It has been used as a green manure, livestock feed, and as a non-wood fiber crop. It has also been grown in Brazil and Bangladesh as a soil-improving crop.  It matures 60 to 90 days from planting at around 6 ft tall -- this may increase under proper conditions, to a height of 10 -12 ft.  This means around the first of September we can cut it down and use it as green manure for our winter garden.

• Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) is a legume that when grown as a summer annual can produce over 5,000 pounds of biomass and over 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre. 
• Moves a minimum of 10 lbs of residual phosphorous from the subsoil to the topsoil -- this can be as high as 20 lbs
• Moves around 80 lbs of residual potash from the subsoil to the topsoil -- under favorable conditions this may increase to 160 lbs
• Suppresses rootknot and nematodes as well as weeds!
• A great soil builder, increases drought tolerance and yield and cash value of the next crop
• The leaves of Sunn Hemp contain 30% protein
• Food plots -- Deer love the leaves; turkey and quail love the cover provided; Livestock will eat the dried leaves or 'hay'.
• When properly planted Sunn Hemp will eliminate weeds -- an advantage for food plots and farmers alikeInoculate the Seeds

Inoculate Seeds

Raw Sunn Hemp seed will thrive with cowpea-type rhizobia bacteria.

The inoculant can be purchased at a quality garden store.  You can spread inoculant on an old dinner plate and, after soaking the seeds, roll them in the inoculant. But you can also sprinkle the inoculate right from the can after laying the seed in its furrow and before covering with soil.

There are several types of Rhizobium bacteria and most are plant specific when setting up symbiosis. The bacterium that works together with beans and peas is Rhizobium leguminosera. I have never inoculated my bean seeds.  I might try next year and see what happens.  However, a friend of mine mentioned that she inoculated her bean seeds last year and could not tell any improvement in the production or general health of the plants.

I’ve read that inoculation is recommended when the field has no past history of growth of your particular legume, or when you have a high value crop for which you want to ensure successful growth. Often, inoculant rhizobia can remain viable in the soil without the presence of a legume for a few years, and then be ready to form nodules when its host plant is sown.

 Specifically, inoculation is recommended if the field has been out of host plant production for 3–5 years, or never planted to the host. Further, inoculation can help increase rhizobia populations in fields with unfavorable environmental conditions for the bacteria's long-term survival.

Take care of your inoculants.  They are Alive*

Inoculants come in many forms, but the most common is as a bacteria-infused peat that has a black, dust-like appearance. The bacteria on the peat particles may not look like much, but they are indeed alive, and should be treated with care. Although peat has been shown to mediate unfavorable conditions such as high temperatures and long storage times, certain precautions are necessary in order to increase inoculant effectiveness.

Inoculant packages come with an expiration date that should be heeded—use of an inoculant past its expiration date could mean that you are adding bacteria to your seed that are not alive or healthy. Treat the inoculant as you might treat a living organism—don’t leave it in the sun for extended periods of time, and store it in a cool dry place when not in use, such as a refrigerator. Many manufacturer recommendations offer a suggested temperature of 40°F.

Inoculants can be added to the soil or directly to your seed prior to planting.

*Source: 

http://articles.extension.org/pages/64401/legume-inoculation-for-organic-farming-systems - accessed May 17, 2017

Installation of the Garland Community Garden Little Free Library – May 12, 2017 - If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. – An African proverb

The group in the photo above attended the installation of the Garland Community Garden Little Library this morning.  Ana Maria DeYoung, President Garland Flamingo Neighbors  (at the left in white) and Jane Stroud, President Loving Garland Green (in the green shirt near the center) were the two “movers and shakers” who made the Library happen.  But there were also lots of people and connections that were also part of this story:  There were the folks at the Garland Neighborhood Vitality Department, who had access to the discarded Newspaper rack that they shared with us; there was the man who painted the rack and put the Flamingo and Loving Garland Green logos on it; and there were the citizens who donated the books and magazines to get the library going. And there will be the citizens who come to borrow and give to the Little Free Library and sustain it through their participation. 

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Charlie Bevilacqua, one of the founding members of Loving Garland Green, puts some Smithsonian Magazines that he brought into the Garland Community Garden Little Free Library and Ana Maria DeYoung adds a book about chickens.

Yes, this morning we installed a Little Free Library down at the garden. I can’t think of a more perfect place for a Little Free Library than the Garland Community Garden. Like our garden, the Little Free Library also reflects permaculture principles of sharing and reusing/repurposing things—both concepts central to the healthy and sustainable community.  

Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that inspires a love of reading, builds community, and sparks creativity by fostering neighborhood book exchanges around the world.  The Little Free Library is a free book exchange.  The general idea is that you bring a book and take a book.  As of November 2016, there were 50,000 registered little free libraries and no two are exactly alike.  You can find one near you by selecting this link: world map of Little Free Libraries.   Here in Garland we have three now that I know of:  One on Orchard Hill, one in the Camelot area, and now one at the Garland Community Garden. 

Ana Maria's grandson relaxes in front of the latest little free library in Garland Texas--made possible in large part by his grandmother.

We have registered the Garland Community Garden Little Free Library with its parent nonprofit organization and will be receiving our official number and license plate in the mail soon.  When it arrives, we will put it on our Little Library.  When folks visit the world map of Little Free Libraries, the Garland Community Garden will be on that map—thus we have helped to put our lovable city on yet another world map.

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Sir Albert Howard and Jerome Irving Rodale – Pioneers in organic gardening would have most likely approved of Little Free Libraries.

The Pioneers in Organic Farming Were Right

As I culled through my books and magazines earlier this morning to see what I would like to donate to the Garland Community Garden Little Free Library, I was reminded that making the choice to organically grow some of the food we eat has implications that ripple out to all aspects of one’s life and community—influencing not only our choices for the food we eat, but also many of the social aspects of our lives as well.

One of the magazines I came across was a special collector’s issue of ORGANIC GARDENING.  This issue contains stories about all my favorite organic pioneers—from Ruth Stout to Michael Pollan. There is a photo of J.I. Rodale and a quote from him on the cover.  In May of 1942 he said:  “One of these fine days, the public is going to wake up and will pay for eggs, meats, vegetables, etc., according to how they were produced.”  I would say that day has arrived.

 It’s somewhat ironic that Rodale (originally with the last name of Cohen) from the Lower East Side of New York City would become such an important leader in the organic agricultural movement. In fact, Rodale is the one who used the word “organic” to label the ideas that Sir Albert Howard wrote about in his classic An Agricultural Testament.  Sir Howard did understand that his concept was the basis for a revolution in lifestyles extending beyond agriculture but he didn’t provide the label that would promote his ideas. 

Sir Albert Howard (b. 1873 d. 1947) worked in India as agricultural adviser and was in charge of a government research farm at Indore.  Howard supported traditional Indian farming practices over conventional agricultural science.  He has been called the father of modern composting as he refined a traditional Indian composting system into what is not known as the Indore method.  His book, An Agricultural Testament, is a classic organic farming text aimed at the general public.  He advocated studying the forest in order to farm like the forest.  Understanding the interface between ecology and agriculture was especially important to him.

Snakes in Paradise

Just ask Adam or Eve.  It happens.  Snakes occur all over the planet.  Seven species of venomous snakes occur in the Dallas Fort Worth area.  To keep things in the general range of reality, it should be noted the national average for fatal snakebites in the United States is only 2 per year. 

Also, a vast majority of bite victims are white males ages 18-25 who are capturing, handling or molesting a venomous snake.  Oftentimes alcohol or other drugs are involved.  While legitimate bites occur on occasion it should be noted that most snakebites are avoidable and are the fault of the bite victim. 

More people in the United States die from vending machines falling over on them (after being shaken), being struck by lightning, or due to an allergic reaction from an insect sting.  [SOURCE]  

Seven Venomous Snakes Occur in the DFW Area

The following linked items from the University of Texas at Arlington's Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center provide information regarding the three Venomous snakes that have been sighted in Garland.  Of them, to my knowledge, only the Copperhead has been sighted in the Garland Community Garden over the past four years.  However, the wooded area adjacent to the garden may be a different story.  Therefore, when you visit, stay out of the woods. 

Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorous)

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)

*Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)

*Massasagua (Sisturus catenatus)

*Pigmy Rattlesnake (Sisturus miliarius)

*Texas Coral Snake (Micrurus tener)

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SAFETY TIPS FOR AVOIDING VENOMOUS SNAKE BITE

These tips are from the Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center at the University of Texas at Arlington—a reliable source. 

1. Do not attempt to capture or kill a venomous snake.

2. Do not attempt to capture or handle venomous snakes or any snake whose identity you are uncertain.

3. Wear shoes and appropriate clothing when walking through habitats in which snakes occur.

4. When hiking always pay attention to the ground and visually check logs, rocks, and other objects before stepping over them.

5. Watch where you place your hands and avoid placing your hands into rocky crevices, hollow logs, holes in the ground or any such location.

6. When lifting objects in places where venomous snakes occur, boards, logs or rocks should be moved with caution to avoid receiving a bite.

7. If you encounter a venomous snake in the wild leave it alone and move away.  SOURCE https://www.uta.edu/biology/herpetology/venomous_snakes_of_the_dallas_fo.htm

FIRST AID TIPS FOR SNAKE BITES

These tips are from the Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center at the University of Texas at Arlington

1. Do not try to kill or bring the venomous snake that bit the victim.  This can sometimes result in another bite!

2. Remain calm.  This is important as it allows for clearer thinking and lower blood pressure.

3. If bitten on the arm, hand, or fingers remove all jewelry, watches or long sleeved shirts.

4. DO NOT APPLY TOURNIQUETS OR CONSTRICTING BANDS.

5. DO NOT APPLY ICE TO THE BITE.

6. DO NOT CUT THE BITE AREA IN AN ATTEMPT TO REMOVE VENOM.

7. DO NOT APPLY ELECTRICITY TO THE BITE.

8. DO NOT GIVE THE VICTIM ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES OR ASPIRIN.

9. Keep the victim calm and seek immediate medical attention from a qualified physician.

The bite from a venomous snakes occurring in north Central Texas is an excruciating and painful experience.  However, it is important to remember that there is a high survival rate for venomous snake bites in the United States.

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After two sightings of Copperheads in the Garland Community Garden this spring, and after much discussion, we have decided to err on the side of caution and post the following sign in the area where most visitors enter the garden.  Copperheads are most active during the spring, early summer and late fall when the weather turns cooler.  During the hot dry months of summer and early fall they become almost entirely nocturnal.  Thus it’s a good idea to not wander in the garden after dark and in the very early hours of morning during the summer.

ADDED NOTE AFTER POSTING:   TWO COMMON SNAKE MYTHS:

 1.  Myth:  You can tell a snake is venomous if it has a triangular head.     
      fact:    Almost all snakes have triangular heads.

2.  Myth:  Venomous snakes have patterns.
     Fact:   Almost all snakes have patterns. For example, harmless snakes such as Garter snakes; Corn Snakes; and Milk Snakes all have patterns.

If you live in the DFW area and are interested in identifying the venomous snakes in our area, you would be better served by looking at photos of and reading up on Copperheads; Cottonmouths; Western Diamondbacks; Timber Rattlesnakes; Massasagua (a type of rattlesnake); Pigmy Rattlesnake and Texas Coral Snake.