Air layering  – noun –  Has nothing at all to do with 2 or more air guitars. It is a method of producing roots on the stem of indoor landscape plants that have become “leggy” through the loss of their lower foliage. The procedure was to wound the stem or branch of a plant and enclose the wounded stem with moist sphagnum moss or similar rooting medium until roots develop from the wounded area.  

Annuals – noun –  There are two types of plants when it comes to vegetables and flowers: annuals and perennials. Annuals live for one year, then die.  You don’t see that plant again. However, sometimes you see the offspring of that plant – because they drop their seeds and come back as ‘volunteers’ next season. Zinnias, snapdragons, petunias, marigolds are examples of annuals. Most garden vegetables are annuals.  Many obnoxious trendy sayings are as well: how often do you hear “awesome sauce” or “totesadorbs” anymore?  Gratefully, those phrases were annuals. However- they may have spread seeds.  Totesauce!

Autumn Joy Sedum  – noun with adjectives – It sounds like someone named by hippies – Lotus Lulu Loop, Peace Lily Pad, Autumn Joy Sedum. But no – it is a succulent outdoor plant. It’s a reliable bloomer, and the flower progresses from warm pink, to bronze rose, to a deeper brick red before frost. Let dried flower heads (I know – again it sounds like very old hippies from San Francisco back in the day) remain to provide nice winter interest.

Average Frost Date  – very important noun –    A frost date is the average date of the first or last light freeze that occurs in spring or fall. Note that local weather and topography may cause considerable variations.  In the northern hemisphere, the last frost date happens as summer comes, the first frost happens in the fall.  Important because frost kills your garden.  Thank you Old Farmer’s Almanac for collecting the dates for the United States and Canada. https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates#states-and-provinces

Bokashi composting – noun and verb –  is a composting method that needs a 5 gallon bucket and a lid to tightly cover it to make sure the process is anaerobic, meaning without oxygen. You don’t have to buy a kit for this – besides the bucket, it does need a shallow tray to catch the liquid coming through the holes.  You can use kitchen scraps of all kinds — including meat and dairy products banned from aerobic systems. The most important thing is to use spent beer grains which you can buy or get at a brewery.  This starts the fermenting process and you can have compost in 2-3 weeks.  One Caution: It is still so acidic that plant roots should not come in contact with it for two to four weeks.  Put it in soil you are preparing ahead of planting or in the fall when the garden’s going fallow.

Bolting – verb –  This means a plant goes to seed prematurely. The plant starts producing flowers and seeds instead of the leafy stuff we eat, as in lettuce, spinach, cilantro, basil. Broccoli is a notorious bolter. It happens when it’s too hot for the plant to survive, so it rushes to make the seeds that will grow the next generation. So it bolts – it thinks “I’m outta here find me a pool”. Not so different from us in the hot weather.

Bulbs – noun – You may have noticed you’ve never seen tulip seeds at your favorite nursery. Some things grow from bulbs. If they bloom in Spring, like tulips or daffodils, plant in the Fall. Summer bloomers (summer bloomers – haha- sounds like the underwear women wore in the 1880’s) like dahlias and gladiolus can be planted in the Spring after danger of frost.  Plant 2 to 3 times deeper than the bulb is tall.  And plant them butt side down, or they grow into UPSIDE DOWN TULIPS. (Hey, good name for a podcast!)

Bulblets – noun – They’re little, or ‘daughter’ bulbs found attached to a larger bulb.  Just like chiclets are little chicks running around mother hen.  You know I’m kidding about that last part. Chiclets are gum but shouldn’t they be tiny chickens?

Bunny Honey – noun –  How to say this?  This cutesy combination of words isn’t a stuffed animal, a children’s book character, or a pre teen influencer.  It’s rabbit shit. Yes, Bugs Bunny droppings.  The Easter Rabbit’s poop.  But gardeners who know what good fertilizer this makes call it bunny honey.  For some reason, geese poop does not get the same respect.  See “Scat”

Estragon – noun – is the French word for tarragon.  Tarragon is a leafy green herb that is highly aromatic with a subtle licorice flavor. Estragon is also the name of one of the characters in the absurd play “Waiting for Godot”, first written by Samuel Beckett in French. Theater and gardening intersecting again. Ep. 38.

Calendula Oil – noun –  a natural oil extracted from the bright and cheerful calendula flowers, aka pot marigold. (Note: not  the same as annual marigolds that are grown in flower gardens)  Calendula has high amounts of flavonoids, plant-based antioxidants and is often used for its antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties that might make it useful in healing wounds, soothing eczema, and relieving diaper rash.  Christy makes body butter out of hers.  Way better than Betty’s.

Chrysalis – noun –  Sounds like a pre pubescent influencer, but it’s the hard-shelled pupa of a moth or butterfly. The pupa of certain kinds of insects, especially of moths and butterflies, that is inactive and enclosed in a firm case or cocoon from which the adult eventually emerges.

Cold Frame  – noun –  A cold frame is another way of describing undernourished supermodels.  No it isn’t.  It’s a simple structure that utilizes solar energy and insulation to create a microclimate within your garden. Cold frames overwinter plants, extend the growing season, start seeds, and harden off plants.

Companion Planting  – noun –  In order to attract certain insects to your garden, and to provide your plants with the best  environment for their growth, use companion planting. For example: Imagine kale as Romeo, Juliet as cabbage, and tomatoes as Tybalt. These 3 in a room together: bad outcome.  So it is in the garden.  Romeo Kale loves Juliet Cabbage but Kale will combat Tybalt Tomato. Hmm. Maybe the pandemic is getting to us a little.  Google it for a more scientific explanation.

Compost – noun and verb – A soil amendment done by adding organic matter to your soil. You can do it in a bin, in a hole, in a trench. You can use food scraps, leaves, grass clippings, manure, peat, coffee grounds, eggshells, hair, dryer lint. Seriously. Dryer lint.  Not poo.  Not meat or fish. Put it in your compost bin or hole in the ground.  Let it cook. Or dig a trench and put the stuff in, then put the dirt back on top of it. You have just composted your compost.  Oh, funny English language.

Compost Tea – noun – Put some compost in a bucket and add water. Let it steep for a while. Feed to your plants.

Culling – verb – To take some fruit off of a young tree so you don’t have many tiny fruits rather than fewer big ones. You’ll see some fruit that are smaller than others – take those off.

Crucifers – noun –  Members of the vegetable family that include cauliflower, cabbage, kale, broccoli and Brussel Sprouts.  They get their name from the shape of their flowers whose four petals resemble a cross.  Almost all brassicas prefer cool weather and make great spring and fall vegetables. Mark Twain once said that cauliflower was just a head of cabbage with a college education. Does that mean you get smarter when you eat pizza with cauliflower crust?

To Deadhead – verb –  Not, like Christy joked, the followers of the great band The Grateful Dead.  It means to cut off a flower after it has bloomed and begun to wilt. Doing this ensures more blooms.  Doing this to herbs means you’ll prolong the life of the plant and it won’t go to seed and get bitter. Same with veggies. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried to eat broccoli, for example, that has formed the little yellow flowers that turn into seeds.  Not yum.  Not yum at all.

Determinate – adjective – This refers to tomato plants that are bred to stop growing usually somewhere around 3′-4′ feet tall. When flowers blossom at the tips of the branches, the plant has reached its full height.  And all the tomatoes ripen at once.  So it’s good if you have tomatoes you want to make sauce with – the Romas, Marzanos, Amish Paste etc.

— Indeterminate – adjective –  Indeterminate tomatoes will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost. They can reach heights of up to 12 feet although 6 feet is normal. Indeterminates will bloom, set new fruit and ripen fruit throughout the season.  They require substantial staking for support.  Most tomatoes are of this variety. 

Diatomaceous Earth – noun –  Used in the home and garden to kill insects.  And this is cool – it’s made of fossils!  And this is not cool – it kills anything with an exoskeleton.  Ladybugs, so good for aphid control in the garden, have exoskeletons.

Dog Vomit Slime Mold – so many nouns! –  Also known as scrambled egg fungus is most often found in moist, shady areas and on materials such as mulch, rotting logs, leaf litter, and untreated lumber. Dog vomit fungus and other slime molds are saprophytic, which means that they feed on decaying organic materials. They are not toxic and just might get your young son out into the garden.

Edimentals – noun –  The word is a combination of “edible” and “ornamental”.  So it’s a pretty plant that you can eat. Swiss chard, lemon gem marigolds, violets, dandelions and roses,  can all be eaten, just to mention a few. Most edible plants sprout beautiful edible flowers, like mustard, radishes, carrots, asafoetida, cucumbers, squashes, gourds, onions and garlic.

Effluvia – noun –  A fancy way of saying, “Oo-EEEE! It’s discharging and it STINKS!” when around waste or decaying matter.   It could be in reference to your guinea pig scat but, strangely, NOT your bokashi fermenting experiment. (See Bokashi).  Ep 25

Fertilizer – noun –  While compost enriches your soil, better feeding your plants, fertilizer are nutrients given directly to the plants. You can use both. Also possible to overdo. Don’t get crazy.

Frizzable – adjective –  This is the Webster dictionary’s defintion: to make a sizzling or sputtering noise in frying or the like: the sound of bacon frizzling on the stove. verb (used with object), friz·zled, friz·zling. to make (food) crisp by frying. When the word was used on Upside Down Tulips episode 32 when referring to soil, it was incorrect. The correct word was friable. Which means easily crumbled. Cause soil doesn’t make sizzling or sputtering noises.  And if it does, you need more help than Upside Down Tulips can give you. Ep 32.

Galvanized –  adjective –  is the result of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting.  Safe for garden use.  Looks super cool.  Lasts a long time.  Warms up the soil.  When you join two pieces together, it is riveting.  Episode 36.

GMO’s : Genetically Modified Organism  – noun –  This is done by gene splicing in a lab. Most GMOs have been engineered to withstand the direct application of herbicide and/or to produce an insecticide. However, new technologies are now being used to artificially develop other traits in plants, such as a resistance to browning in apples, and to create new organisms using synthetic biology. Sixty-four countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, require genetically modified foods to be labeled. Canada and the United States does not require any GMO labeling. Most packaged foods contain ingredients derived from corn, soy, canola, and sugar beet — and the vast majority of those crops grown in North America are genetically modified. Some say that these crops are responsible for ’superweeds’ and ‘superbugs’ which then call for ever more pesticides.

Going to seed – verb – Isn’t it great that the word ‘seedy’ has been used to describe people who have let themselves go and are a bit used up looking?  The whole life meaning of a plant is to make seeds so there will be more plants.  When they go to seed they too look used up and become bitter.  Bitter tasting, not bitter emotionally. You can prolong the useful life of a vegetable, herb, or flower by deadheading and then, end of season, letting them go to seed, which is their destiny, and then you can collect the seeds and plant them next year. The circle of life right there. Done by you.

Garlic scapes – noun –  The tender stem and flower bud of a  hardneck garlic plant.  Scapes first grow straight out of the garlic bulb, then coil. When harvested, they look like long, curly green beans. Cut them off to let the plant put its energy into making its bulbs bigger.  And eat the scapes in a variety of ways!  How?   Google it.  This is what the Google is for! 

Hardening Off –  verb –  Giving a seedling the time to get used to being outdoors before planting them by taking them in at night so they don’t get too cold; and not letting them sit in the hot sun all day.  Scandinavians like jumping from the sauna into a hole in the frozen lake and then back into the sauna. Not plants

Heirloom – adjective – vegetables that are heirloom are old time varieties which are open pollinated rather than hybrid. Christy and Edith love heirloom veggies.

Hugelkultur  – noun –  pronounced Hoo-gul-culture, means hill culture or hill mound. It’s a horticultural technique that builds a raised garden bed from the bottom up with logs, sticks and branches, wood chips, grass clippings, manure, leaves, food scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds… everything you would put into a compost heap. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t lead a horticulture.

Hybrid – noun – A fruit is technically defined as having a seed/s. Hybrids are usually easily identified as fruit that is seedless. (seedless watermelon, seedless grapes, etc.) Here are two things I found: Hybrid fruits contain more sugar which stresses our pancreas more than regular fruits and has less nutrition than seeded unaltered varieties. And then it’s opposite: Among scientists, it is believed that hybrids provide a higher number of nutrients, due to a better utilization of soil, solar resources and root systems that have enhanced its quality and resistance.  Honestly, friends, we have no idea which is true.   So weird!!

Iris Dividing – verb – Mid to late summer is a good time to divide bearded irises. You want to make sure that the roots have ample time to grow before winter.  Irises will tell you when they have had it and need to broken up:  rhizomes starting to grow into each other and popping up from the soil.  Sometimes there is a empty circle in the middle.  And the flower will stop blooming.  It’s not you, it’s them.  

Iris Divination – verb –  Not to be confused with Iris Dividing.  This practice seeks to foresee, to foretell, to predict or to prophesy — with an Iris blossom.  Georgia O’Keefe once said, “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment.”  Maybe Iris Divination is what she is talking about.  Or maybe Christy just misspoke in Episode 5.  (Lettuce Turnip the Beet:  Harvesting Your Garden)

Keyhole Gardening  – noun –  It sounds like teeny tiny secret fairy gardens. Which would have been great.  It’s not though. But the truth is almost as good.  It was first used in the 1990’s in Lesotho, Africa to deal with drought and erosion. It’s a raised circular garden bed with a wedge-shaped cutout along one side that allows easy access to the center of the garden, where a cage serves as a compost pile. The cage is filled with yard and kitchen waste, which decomposes and releases vital nutrients into the rest of the raised garden.

Leaf Mold  – noun –   Leaf mold is just composted leaves. It is an excellent, free soil amendment that conditions soil. It’s easy to make, simple to use, and has a huge impact on soil health. Leaf mold is essentially a soil conditioner. It increases the water retention of soils, improves soil structure and provides a fantastic habitat for soil life, including earthworms and beneficial bacteria.  And we say again: it’s free. If you don’t have leaves, at least one of your neighbors would be glad to give you some.

Milky spore – noun-ish – It sounds like a troubling skin condition, but no. It’s a powder containing a bacteria that is lethal to Japanese beetles. The soil temperature must be 60 to 70 degrees for three months. Check the instructions, as it is a living thing it has an expiration date.

Mucilaginous – adjective – this means, when it comes to plants, that they contain a polysaccharide substance that is extracted as a viscous or gelatinous solution.  In other words, mucousy like snot. Except that when it comes to spinach, such as Malabar spinach which loves the heat, it’s delicious! Edith is sorry she called it mucousy. See Episode 34.

Mulch – noun and verb – This means covering the ground around your plants to keep the soil cooler in summer and warmer in winter if you’re keeping carrots or other root vegetables in the ground until you need them. Also prevents weeds.  Wood chips, rubber pieces – it comes in a lot of ways. Found in garden centers, greenhouses, and landscaping companies near you. Or use untreated grass clippings. So you mulch the mulch. Oh, English language, let us count the ways. 

Pelleted – adjective –  Small seeds like carrots, onions and lettuce are sometimes “pelleted.” No, they can’t be used in a BB gun.  (Sorry, it comes to mind because Colorado is an open carry state) Pelleted  means that each seed is coated with a layer of clay to increase its size for easier handling. This makes spacing the seeds much easier and enables growers to use set spacing on their seeding machines. It also increases evenness in germination. That is according to the NPA, the National Pelleted Association.

Noxious weeds – noun – A plant, usually a non native aggressive invader, that has been designated as harmful to or injurious to other plants, and will probably spread uncontrollably. A noxious person is one who breaks up with you via text message.  Looking at you, Joe.

NPK – noun – Is it a bird? A plane? Nasty Putin’s Kommissar? No, it’s the main components in garden fertilizer. N is for Nitrogen, P is for phosphorus, and K is for potassium.  (It just is, ’cause the ‘P’ was already taken.)  So a 10 – 10 – 10 NPK means it has equal measure of each element. A 20 – 20 – 20 has twice as much as 10 – 10 – 10. If a fertilizer is 10 – 0 – 0 it only has nitrogen.  We could go on and on but we think you get it.  Ep. 45.

More info:

• Nitrogen (N) – nitrogen is largely responsible for the growth of leaves on the plant.
• Phosphorus (P) – Phosphorus is largely responsible for root growth and flower and fruit development.
• Potassium (K) – Potassium is a nutrient that helps the overall functions of the plant perform correctly.

Organic Fertilizers – adjective, noun – Organic fertilizers are made from mined rock minerals, and natural plant and animal materials. They include ingredients like manure, guano, dried and powdered blood, ground bone, crushed shells, finely pulverized fish, phosphate rock, and wood. (See Synthetic Fertilizers) Ep. 45.

Penstemon – noun –  (Beardtongue) An outside perennial plant that comes in a variety of shapes, colors and bloom times to deliver texture and dimension to your garden across the seasons. They are long blooming and will do well in a drier climate; and are especially happy  in loose gravelly soil and good drainage.

Perennials – noun –  A plant that lives 2 years or more. In the flower world, this includes daisies, lilies, lavender, coneflower (also called echinacea) and many more. In the long run, I find it more economical to buy perennials than I do annuals.  Less work as well. For vegetables: rhubarb, asparagus, and horseradish, among others. Some herb perennials (dependent on your zone): Sage, rosemary, thyme, (the Scarborough Fair herbs minus parsley) and oregano, among others. Can you believe this beautiful song is over 50 years old?

Planting zones – noun –The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree F zones. A warming climate is affecting the natural ranges of plants around the country and the zones are moving north.  A look at your seed packet will tell you which zone you are in. You don’t want to plant something that’s not in your Zone – you will most likely be disappointed.  For more information see www.climatecentral.org.

Potash:  Don’t ask us how to pronounce it – but it is good to have in your garden. The name derives from pot ash, which refers to wood ash soaked in water in a pot, which was the primary means of manufacturing the product before the Industrial Era. The word “potassium” is derived from “potash”.  Both people and plants need potassium. In plants it is essential for water uptake and for synthesizing plant sugars for use as food. The addition of potash in soil is crucial where the pH is alkaline, like here in Denver, CO.  More compost to the rescue!

Pruning  – verb – It could be an extreme anti constipation strategy but it isn’t.  It means to cut a tree’s wayward branches, take out thin growth, remove suckers (stems growing up from the roots) and water sprouts (upright shoots growing from the trunk and branches). Promotes plant health: Trees and shrubs stay healthier if you remove branches that are diseased, dead, pest-ridden, or rubbing together.

Rhizome – noun – If you have iris, you have rhizomes in your garden.  Greek for “mass of roots”.  A creeping rootstalk and horizontal underground plant stem capable of producing the shoot and root systems of a new plant. Don’t confuse them with bulbs or roots.  Some rhizones like ginger and tumeric rhizomes are used directly in cooking. We found out the hard way that iris rhizomes should not. Blecch.  Ep. 39.

Rotate – verb –  This is garden lingo and means moving where you plant your annual veggies every year. If you plant tomatoes in the same place every year, bug predators will lay eggs where the tomatoes were planted and be there waiting next year.  Be one point smarter than the bugs – rotate your plants.

Rue – noun and verb – An ancient and all but forgotten herb, Ruta graveolens [L. strong smelling rue], commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, has a bitter taste and is used in Ethiopian coffee.  It was once used as a witch repellent and as an antidote to poisoning. It also means to bitterly regret.  As in Ophelia  handing some rue to Gertrude, Hamlet’s mom: “There’s rue for you; and here’s some for me.” Neither of these definitions refer to the wonderful actress Rue McClanahan, often remembered for the Golden Girls. No one ever called her “Bitterly Regret McClanahan” or strew her over a floor to repel plague and black magic.  Isn’t the English language wonderful? Ep. 38.

Sage Bundle – noun –  Used in the  practice of burning dried sage leaves and other herbs, letting the smoke cleanse and purify a home, office, or even a person.  Some people believe the smoke drifting from the herbs can help to replace negative energy with positive and healing vibes.  Some sage advice:  White sage is being illegally harvested.  Regular garden sage works fine!  

Scarlet Runner Beans – noun with adjectives – Used by native Americans, these large, beautiful, vigorous vines grow over 10 feet. The ornamental flowers grow in clusters of the brightest scarlet. Hummingbirds and bees love it. After the flowers come bean pods of up to a foot long. A foot long that isn’t covered with cheap meat and limp lettuce! Yes!  Good for snap, shell or dry beans. The huge seeds are very colorful, violet-purple mottled in black. The vines are beautiful to look at and you can eat the beans.  Does it get better than that? We don’t see how.

SHU – abbreviation – The Scoville Heat Unit a measurement of the ‘heat’ in hot peppers. Wilbur Scoville, a pharmacologist born in 1865, invented the Scoville scale in 1912 to measure the pungency of peppers and chillies, generally related to their capsaicin content. To establish a chilli pepper’s rating, Scoville would prepare it in a solution, which was then tested by five people. He increased its dilution until the sensation of heat disappeared. The score on the scale represents the level of dilution required for the sensation of heat to disappear completely. To compare: the original red Tabasco sauce has an SHU of 3,750.  The Carolina Reaper, which we mentioned you could get from Puckerbutt Pepper Company in S. Carolina, has an SHU of 1,5000,000.  The pepper spray used by police has an SHU of 5,3000,000. Ep 39 & 40.

Square Foot Gardening  – noun –  Gardening by grid. It involves carefully measuring gardening plots to maximize your garden output and minimize waste.  Like Martha Stewart would do. (looking at you, Christy). Perfect for those who have small gardens.  Usually done in a 4 x 4 raised garden. Careful planning can have a huge impact on how much food you grow, and how much waste you can avoid.

Seedling – noun – These are little, or baby plants. They grow from a seed, and they’re little, hence the ‘ling’.  So do people, come to think of it – start as a ‘seed’ and then grow, sometimes in a nursery.  I’m going to start calling kids ‘adultlings.’

Stratification – noun –   Mother Nature is a masterful teacher. So much of what we try to create in our gardens are just shadows of what she does perfectly herself. When we start seeds outside in the winter (See Wintersowing), we are taking advantage of the cold and wet conditions to help break down seeds for us, for easy germination come spring. This process is called cold stratification. On your seed packets, look for terms like “self-sowing”, “direct sow outside in early spring (or) fall”, “perennial”, or “cold hardy”. Keywords like these are good indicators of seeds that will work well for winter sowing.  You will find it so “Stratifyng!”  (Sorry – we can’t help ourselves sometimes.) Ep. 25

Synthetic Fertilizers – adjective, noun –  are “man made” inorganic compounds – usually derived from by-products of the petroleum industry. Examples are Ammonium Nitrate, Ammonium Phosphate, Superphosphate, and Potassium Sulfate.  Miracle Gro is a synthetic fertilizer.  Synthetic fertilizers can harm the environment because their nitrogen and phosphorous levels are often higher. Phosphorus runoff from farms and landscapes that use fertilizer has contributed to the algae bloom in Lake Erie, which has been disastrous to aquatic life in the region. So, maybe think about using that blue stuff?  We sure are. (See Organic Fertilizers)Ep. 45.

Thinning – verb – nothing whatsoever to do with dieting, thank goodness.  Many plants need room to grow so they have to be thinned.  If you don’t thin carrots, for example, you can get tiny carrot sculptures (see pics) or carrots so thin they’re like carrot paint instead of a vegetable.

Three Sisters  – noun –  A native American method of companion planting.  “Sister Beans”– deposit nitrogen from the air into the soil, in a form that the plants can use. Use pole beans.  The beans will use the corn as support, so wait to plant the beans until the corn is about knee high. “Sister Corn”– provides support for beans vines to climb upon. “Sister Squash”–shades the ground with its large leaves to provide a good growing environment for all the sisters.Squash can be winter or summer types, or a combination of both. Sometimes a fourth sister is included:  either Sunflower or Bee Balm. This sister also supports the beans, lures birds away from the corn with their seeds and attracts insect pollinators.

Scat  – noun –  This is a word that means wild animal droppings. As in deer, bear, fox scat.  Not birds though, but we don’t know why. Birds don’t have scat, they have poop. Geese poop a lot, and goose poop makes wonderful, nutrient-rich fertilizer. The droppings contain 76% carbon, 4% nitrogen and 15% phosphorus when dried, giving them a fertilizer value of close to 2-4-2 which makes it a very good, quality fertilizer for vegetable gardens. But you never see anybody in a park collecting goose poop. Maybe because they’re mean. Maybe because people would think you’re strange and avoid you.  Interestingly, scat also means, in vocal jazz, singing with or without words, sometimes nonsense syllables.  The English language could not be any weirder.

Volunteer – noun – A volunteer is a plant that grows and you didn’t plant it.  A seed could have blown in, laid in wait all winter, and then BOOM! A volunteer. A bird passing by could have decided to spare your car and instead deposited a seed in your garden, already encased in the fertilizer that is bird poop. It lays around – it waits for just the right weather – (volunteers know what they’re doing)and then BOOM! Another volunteer.  

Winter Sowing – verb – the practice of sowing seeds in miniature “greenhouses” made usually from plastic milk jugs in January and February and letting them sit outside for the winter. And it works.

Worm Castings – noun –  This is what worms cast out of their bodies. Yes, worm poop. Really good for your soil – the worms, which are in bins with bedding or soil, eat all kinds of stuff, digest it,  and then they poop. The best (only?) loved poop on the planet.