Regulars (All)

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 6/20/13

My African Safari

I hunted 14 species of game birds; a lion hunted me

When a herd of zebras loomed up in the sweep of our headlights, I began to believe I was in Africa. As we’d landed at Johannesburg Airport after dark and loaded up for the two-hour drive to our lodge at Kroonstad, those zebra were my first sight of the wild Africa I’d come for. The next morning I saw much more. As we motored to our first game-bird shooting area, plains antelope gathered behind farm fences along the road. Ostriches roamed at...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 6/20/13

How to Grow Big Tomatoes

It’s not big plants you’re after

Last fall I met a Bay Weekly reader who had perfected the art of growing big tomato plants. Without testing the soil in his 1,500-square-foot garden, he spread half of a bag of 10-10-10, about 20 pounds. While planting his tomatoes, he added a handful of urea fertilizer, which contains 46 percent nitrogen. He used the same planting method for peppers. His tomato plants grew to five or six feet tall, but they produced only a few small tomatoes late in the summer. ...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 6/20/13

Following the Sun and Moon

Supermoon comes just days after summer solstice

Thursday, June 20, is Midsummer’s Night, the shortest night of the year, with barely nine hours of darkness. Then, at 1:04am Friday, the sun reaches its northernmost position above the earth, marking the astronomical beginning of summer for us in the Northern Hemisphere. It is our longest day, with more than 14 hours 54 minutes of sunlight. In Latin solstice means sun stand still, and like a pendulum at its apex, the sun appears to pause, rising and setting at almost...

Article - The Dish; by Lisa Knoll - 6/13/13

Meaty Dishes for Dad’s Day

Father’s Day celebrations often revolve around cooking out. My father is neither a cook of any skill nor a deft grill master. Yet come Father’s Day dinner, he is put to work. If left to his own devices, peanut butter and jelly and Lean Cuisine with a side of Entenmann’s donuts would supply all the sustenance he requires. But Father’s Day is more than about the man. It’s about the role he plays in the family dynamic, and for that he’s got...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 6/13/13

No Celestial Role Model Here

The strained relationship of Cepheus and his daughter Andromeda

When we look to the night sky for father figures, we’re hard-pressed. There are heroes and rogues, serpents and dragons, birds and beasts, fish and fishermen, harps and chariots. But there is only one father among the constellations, and not a good role model at that. King Cepheus ruled a seaside kingdom and was father of the great beauty Andromeda. But when his wife Cassiopeia bragged that she was more beautiful than the sea nymphs of Poseidon, the enraged god sent a...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 6/13/13

Fishing with the Boys

Croaker in the cooler makes for good eating at the table

My young sons were doing their best to emulate my actions as we drifted bloodworms over a hard shell bottom in a gently moving tide that June evening. My one-ounce sinker sent a tic-tic-tic flicking up the line on my light casting outfit. The rod tip was twitching right in rhythm. Harrison’s rod suddenly arched. He struggled to keep the rod from being pulled over the side while avoiding the hard gunnel. Fishfinder The croaker bite continues to expand, but...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 6/13/13

Dads: Teach Your Children to Garden

It’s a lesson for life

Children learn so much about life from working in the garden. Watching a seed germinate and develop into a plant, then watching that plant develop and produce flowers, fruits and more seeds teaches them the cycle of life. Sowing seeds of different crops and watching them develop into different shapes, flowers, fruits and vegetables teaches them that variability is as common in plants as it is in humans. Proper nutrition is as important for growing plants as it is for good...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 6/6/13

Tight Against the Horizon

Three planets toy with the sun

This week boasts the earliest sunrises of the year, when old Sol crests the horizon at 5:41am. We’re still a couple weeks from solstice, the overall longest day of the year, and the latest sunset won’t come for another two weeks after that. Why? Several reasons, including earth’s not-quite-spherical shape, its elliptical orbit around the sun and the varying point of high noon across the globe. If you’re up before dawn, look to the northeast for the...

Article - The Dish; by Lisa Knoll - 6/6/13

Tastes of Early Summer

Camp Letts’ Wingstock Festival and Gordon Biersch’s Summerbrau

It’s not summer yet, but things are heating up. This Saturday, June 8, Camp Letts in Edgewater hosts the second annual Chesapeake Wingstock Festival. This tasty fundraiser supports Camp Letts’ Caring for Community Campaign, which provides kids in need with full and partial scholarships to attend camp. Seven local restaurants fire up their best wings for both judges’ and people’s choice awards. There are lots of activities for the youngsters (12 and under get free...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 6/6/13

Second-Chance Pruning

Early bloomers have been going wild; now’s the time to tame them

If you did not get a chance to prune your plants earlier this spring, you have a second opportunity, especially for pruning crabapple, cherry and shade trees. Pruning these trees now will lessen the heavy growth of suckers originating from the base of the plants and from around the large cuts you make to prune the plant to the desirable shape. After the tree has finished its first flush of growth in the spring, the food supply it has stored in the roots and in tissues surrounding the buds is...