Pet Food

There is an old saying: They make dog food as good as they do, because he’s man’s best friend and he wants to give his dog the best. And, they make cat food as good as they do because they have to, or the cat will go somewhere else to eat! And any caring pet owner will agree, I’m sure.

So, if you are reading this, I can only assume you’ve learned from past newsletters or from visits to Rohde’s not to use toxic fertilizers and pesticides on your yard or in your home where your pets can walk through and later, lick it off themselves. But do you know what’s really in the food you are feeding them? If you are still buying your pet food at chain grocery and pet stores then you apparently haven’t put much thought into it. Not only were most of the recalled pet food lines, the larger chain store brands that needed to be made as cheaply as possible, but the large majority of recalled foods were the ones that also contained some tell tale ingredients that indicate an inferior product, such as meat by products, and toxic preservatives, like BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin. Some can surmise that the use of these ingredients usually means the manufacturer doesn’t have many scruples.

After many years of reading and learning, the buyer here at Rohde’s has learned the hard way, that it is cheaper in the long run to pay more for higher quality food along the way, than to continue taking poor sickly animals to the vet for problems that could have been avoided. Huh, isn’t that funny—they keep saying the same thing about people too! So here at Rohde’s, we are carrying only pet food lines made with high quality ingredients, by smaller companies that refuse to sell to chain stores, so they can maintain their high standards. They use human grade ingredients, and natural preservatives like Ester C and vitamin E, and they have used vegetables and fruits to supply the other vitamins and minerals needed, instead of a long list of chemicals. Some of the formulations are specific to older or younger animals, or those that are a bit too “round,” but all of them are Good! So don’t ask well “Which one is better?” NONE OF OUR FOODS HAVE BEEN RECALLED! AND THEY ARE ALL MADE IN THE UNITED STATES! THEY ARE ALL BETTER!

We offer the Precise pet food line, the Eagle Pack line, the Nature’s Variety line also known as Prairie, the Innova and Evo line, and the California Natural line. We offer both canned and dry, for dogs and cats in all the lines. Over the past few years we have narrowed it down to the flavors and sizes most often asked for by the pets and their people, if you do not see one that you want, just let us know, and we will get it in for you-no problem! And because all pets deserve treats we carry some of the more healthier treats offered by these companies and a few others. Orders are done every week or two, so we can keep fresh stock in, so just call your order in by Sunday for the next week.

Unlike some people, we recommend that you alternate the type of food you feed your pet every so often. This does two things. One, it helps make sure your pet doesn’t develop an allergy to a meat source or grain due to repeated feeding. Two – if you had to live on little brown hard crunchy things, wouldn’t you at least want them to be different little brown hard crunchy things? Between the different lines of food we carry you can get every thing from chicken, lamb, turkey, herring, salmon, venison, etc., etc., and many different fruits and vegetables, not to mention adding some of the canned food in! Wuhoo Hooo! This is way better eating than most of us humans get! Now, switching flavors now and again is not going to cause digestive upset if you stay in the same quality of food, assuming there are no allergies involved. Going from cheap to good and back again-will, just think how you feel after eating fast food!

So you can learn as much about our products as possible, I’m going to give the web sites and numbers to the manufacturers. When you come in we have brochures and some samples, so you can see which one the “little darling” prefers.

Precise: 1-888-477-3247
Eagle Pack: 1-800-255-5959
Innova, Evo & California Natural (Natura Products): 1-800-532-7261
Nature's Variety aka Prairie

November Chores

Watch for Brown Patch in lawns. In the Dallas area we have two of the most susceptible grasses to this lawn disease. Brown patch is a fungal disease that becomes more active with cooler temperatures and or wet and overcast conditions. Since the first part of October we have had the perfect conditions for Brown Patch to occur, with daytime temperatures ranging between 75 and 90, and night temperatures below 68 degrees. We have had plenty of moisture and high humidity. To make things worse some of our customers tend to water as soon watering restrictions allow, which in most cities is 6:00 pm. This late watering allows moisture to remain for long periods of time causing favorable conditions for the disease.

Poor soil drainage and thatch buildup can be factors in brown patch occurrence. Aerate your lawn or at least the areas that show symptoms of brown patch.

Symptoms: The disease can start as splotches, not necessarily round, but as patterns become more noticeable they tend to become circular as they grow together.

The areas can be brown or gray in appearance. The disease starts at the stolons where the leaves join at the base. You may pull some of the leaves out and notice splotches as if a painter cleaned his brush and flicked off the excess water “spotting” the foliage.

Potassium Bicarbonate and Corn Meal help cure the disease. We have had positive reports from customers who applied Green Sense Lawn and Garden Microbial Treatment. Some claim that it is the only product that was used in the area affected by the disease and that after a few weeks the symptoms went away. The microbes help break down thatch and create air pockets in the soil.

Kelp

Seaweed products blended from Norwegian Kelp contain Ascophylum nodosum. These contain hormones that help protect plants in times of stress, such as from disease and insects, cold weather and drought by promoting the functions and structural integrity of plant cells. As we go from warm days to cool or cold nights plants treated with Ascophylum nodosum may have a better chance of making it through the cooler temperatures.

One of the most studied kelps, Ascophylum nodosum, was applied to tomatoes by T.L. Senn to study the effects of cold temperatures on tomatoes. Untreated and treated tomato plants were exposed to temperatures of 29 degrees. All the control plants were killed while the treated plants survived.

Fall Is for Planting

If a plant that is a perennial, native, or woody ornamental that will do well in your USDA Zone plant it now. The roots will grow all winter and by the time summer comes along they should be well established and able to allow sufficient moisturize and nutrient intake to remain healthy.

Mulch

I have heard predictions for a warm winter. The bad news is that in North Texas we can be in the 80’s one day and down to the 30’s the next. As I mentioned earlier this is a good reason to spray plants with kelp now while they are still able to take up the materials.

It is necessary to mulch your beds. The mulch serves as a blanket that can help retain heat and keep soil temperatures above freezing, minimizing damage to roots.

It does not matter which mulch you use. You can even use leaf mulch if you are not one of those who thinks that it looks messy. When I use leaf mulch I do actually run the leaves over with a mower to minimize the size of the particles. After a few weeks I place pine needles over the leaf mulch for a different texture.

Please remember that if you do not have time to do any of the above we can do it for you. Call us with measurements of your lawn if you want fertilizing, brown patch control, and applications of beneficial nematodes, aeration or any other service.

For applications of mulch measure your beds.

Watering

What did we learn over the past three years of drought?

Most of us learned that plants do not need water every day or on a scheduled basis. One inch of water a week, even if the same day of the week is not observed, is plenty for the plants to survive on.

It has been less then four months since watering restrictions have been lifted in most North Texas Cities and already I see systems watering during rains, or a day after we received one inch of rainfall. I see broken heads or heads that are spraying concrete areas instead of the intended grass. I see runoff occurring from almost every lawn that is being irrigated. WHAT’S UP WITH THAT???

Now that the fall is upon us and plants are going to sleep, they will not need as much water as during the summer and up through September.

Water less frequently, conserve more—retrain your plants to seek water. Deep roots find more water than shallow roots.

When you start shopping for Christmas presents please remember our store. It has been a difficult year. If each one of our readers purchased one gift from Rohde’s, we would feel the difference in our account.

Rohde’s does landscape plans, installations and maintenance. We also repair fences, gates and patios (pavestone, concrete and brick).

Tree Trimming

Unlike other companies we trim most trees in the winter only. This allows the sap to be stored in the root system of the trees.

Some customers ask how you can tell if a branch is dead or not if all the leaves have fallen. The color of the branch and the sound that a dead branch makes are very different than a live branch. After years of experience noticing a dead branch becomes second nature.

If a tree blooms in the early spring wait until after it blooms before trimming.