Posted on 06/05/2008 10:10:48 AM PDT by Gabz
Please remember folks --- this article is from 2006!
June is here, and along with it, summer. Gone are the soft pastels of flowering vines such as jasmine and wisteria. The bolder, brighter summer colors of orange trumpet vine and the tropical colors of mandevillas are on their way. The soft, new greens of spring have been replaced by the harder greens of maturing leaves. Crepe myrtles and gardenias and hydrangeas are showing off their colors. Now that the things we hate about warm weather are back in full force-all the mosquitoes, sand gnats, yellow flies, and various other nasty biting insects, along with the heat and humidity and scads of weeds—we’re once again questioning our sanity. Why, exactly, is it that we have another garden planted? Didn’t we promise ourselves last year that we weren’t doing this again next year? Somehow, in the long span between springs, gardeners always forget the bad things about gardening and remember only the taste of that first ripe tomato, or the joy of a freshly cut bouquet. The scent of warm soil calls us, compels us to dig and plant, as seductive as any siren’s song.
Among the vines that will be blooming are the wild roses. The white one that smells like cinnamon and spices blooms early, perfuming the air. Too bad the flowers aren’t much. Another one is a pretty little hot pink rose, one that seems to haunt ditch banks and other wetter areas. Do not feel sorry for this rose and take a piece of it home. No matter how cute and lonely it seems, like throwing scraps to a stray dog, once given any attention, it will never leave. Almost impossible to kill, it has thorns that proclaim it to be an escapee from the impenetrable wall around Sleeping Beauty’s castle.
The cool weather lasted much longer than we expected and crops will be correspondingly delayed. Tomatoes and other warm season crops will be coming off later, but all they need is some really warm weather, especially at night, and they’ll take off. Watch them for insect pests, they like warm weather also.
Ever check on your tomato plants one day and they’re fine, only to go out the next day to find the vines defoliated and most of the tomatoes almost completely eaten? The culprit is often huge, green caterpillars, called hornworms. Look closely, they’re masters of camouflage. Usually bright green with white stripes, they have a very distinctive horn on one end. If they’re on tomatoes, they’re called tomato hornworm. If they’re on tobacco, they’re called tobacco hornworm. Go figure! Same pest.
Guess what hornworms turn into? Hummingbird moths! If you’ve never seen one, the moths are truly delightful. They resemble a baby hummingbird and are just a little larger than a bumble bee. Hummingbird moths are tan in color, unlike their colorful namesakes, but they fly just like a hummingbird does. They can usually be spotted around flowers early in the morning or late in the evening. Sometimes they will come out during the day if it is cloudy, so if you see something that looks like a baby hummer, look closer. It might not be what you think it is!
One other word about hornworms. They aren’t hard to kill, simply pick them off and squish them. If you see white, rice looking grains on the hornworm, don’t kill it. What?! That’s right, don’t kill it. The rice grains are the eggs of a parasitic wasp. Guess what it eats? Tomato hornworms. Pick it off, certainly, and move it far away from your garden, into the edge of your yard or woods. The wasps will hatch and go find another hornworm to start the process all over again.
Mid June is time to plant pumpkins and gourds and winter squash. Winter squash? Winter squash is a term that means a squash with a hard shell that will keep during the winter. Butternut squash is a good example. Butternut will often keep a year or even longer. Summer squash is a term used to denote softer squash, such as yellow straight neck or crookneck. There’s nothing wrong with planting butternut earlier, it just keeps better if it’s planted later. The cooler weather of fall helps harden the shells.
If you planted Vidalia’s early, June is usually about the time to dig them. Wonderful sliced in quarters or eights and microwaved until tender with a little salt and butter, they are equally delicious stir fried with summer squash. Add a little zucchini and some eggplant and… Technically, the only onions that can be called Vidalia’s are the ones grown in Vidalia. The onions themselves are actually yellow granex. These can also be grown in the fall if you can find the plants. They don’t keep well because of their high sugar content, so enjoy them while they last. Hard to believe that Vidalia’s have about the same sugar content as a large orange.
"... but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
I will agree with you on ticks! They don't like sunny areas. Tall grass and shady moist leafy areas are a breeding ground. They don't jump or fly but they do crawl. They will crawl up a stalk of grass and sit there and wait with their front legs out, it is called "questing". When you or an animal walks by and brushes the grass, they latch on!
You'll have to tell me how you make the vinegar.
While i plant both hot and sweet, I primarily plant hot for making jelly and salsa.
OOOOOOOOOOO!!! I like the way you do your eggplant. I adore eggplant, cooked anyway!!!!
My guys, and most people round here, just pour cider vinegar over hot peppers and let it steep. It will keep a long time, like from one year to the next. If it gets a little flat during the season, they add more peppers. Make sure you use cider vinegar. Add more vinegar as needed.
UMMMM. Salsa!
Just like you I have tons of lightning bugs al summer long. I love the light shows. I remember when I was growing up, in NYC of all places, how mean us kids were with the lightning bugs. We loved to catch them an then set them on the sidewalk or in the street and smoosh them, dragging our feet --- we'd have light streaks on the ground.
I have never had anything hurt so bad or take so long to heal.
I despise yellow jackets. They are not only mean, they are evil.
Ticks. Oh boy, I had one embedded already. It was bad. I have plenty of these little terrorists.
We have a SEVERE tick problem already. I was pulling them off me at the rate of 2-3 a day a week or so ago, as was my husband and daughter and our friends who live down the road, as well as other friends in other parts of the county.
Jerry Baker to the Rescue!!!!!!!!!
1tbsp dishwashing liquid
2 cups rubbing alcohol
1 gal rainwater or soft tap water
Mix ingredients in a bucket, pour into a 6 gallon hose-end sprayer,and spray your plants top to bottom making sure you get under leaves where they like to hang out. Spray in the evening if spraying on shrubs, the alcohol will cause burns if done during the day in the sun.
My hose-end sprayer (bought from Jerry Baker's website) is making the rounds around the county. All my friends are using it and the mixture, but we're all using it primarily on the grass/weeds around the house where we all congregate or our pets hang out. It seems to be working!
YIKES!!!!!!!
We're supposed to get into the 90s this weekend. 80s I can handle, I start wilting (let alone my plants) when we start climbing into the 90s.
She still wont eat cucumbers but fresh slices of zucchini on her salad, yum again!
I am thinking, if grows in our garden she will try it and find out she enjoys it. Either that or she is torturing herself so I wont be disappointed. LOL
Just loverly!!!
Ahhhhh... New Mexico.
My husband says that about Arizona where he used t ski in the morning and bask at the pool in the afternoon.
We’ve also had extremely high winds this spring. It’s been gusting to about 30 MPH for the past week or so during the daytime. That really dries out any moisture, especially potted plants.
Half the sprinklers on the golf course water the lawns on the NW side instead of the course. They aren’t watering the area next to my house yet. Last year, I hardly put any water on that area.
If that is happening to you, you're not freezing them properly. I've got habaneros in the freezer on the same shelf as ice cream. Never any cross contamination.
In my youth I spent 6 weeks in Flagstaff, Az attending a geology field camp at Norther Az. Univ. I am sure it has all changed but the whole area really impressed me.
ROFLMSS!!!!!!!!!
That describes me when I encounter stinging insects, you know bees, wasps, etc.....
The use of the cider vinegar makes sense to me. I primarily use cider vinegars for my hot pepper jellies. It seems to add that needed “something” to the jelly and I find that especially true with the jalapeno and serrano jellies. It’s not as prominent a difference with the habanero, and so with that jelly I just use what I have the most of.
Don't fight it, which ever is true!!!!
We have had the same type of wind problem, but for the most part we were not having 30mph gusts, but rather 25-30mph SUSTAINED winds.
The winds have been particularly annoying because I have been trying to do my potting and seed starting on my deck, which is 12 feet above the ground and the wind is worse up there.
The tides must be changing because the wind is practically non-existent right now, so I think I will head back outside for a bit before everyone comes home and starts clamoring for dinner!
You are probably right! I’m sure hubby just stuffed them in a ziplock and threw them in! Do you put yours in containers?
The wind never stops around here anymore, just changes direction.
Used to be you could count on a lull, like you said, when the tide’s changing. Not even that seems to matter.
The wife and I were outside yesterday evening and we were wondering how mosquitoes could fly and land on us with the wind. Some birds had to make more than one attempt to land on the high wires.
If I run them through the food processor I will put them in containers. If I’m planning on making a clear jelly (with no pieces of pepper in it) I run the peppers thru the processor, and then just strain it all before I jar it.
Otherwise, whole or seeded and cut up, I just put them in ziplock FREEZER bags. In more than 20 years of freezing hot peppers, I’ve never had a problem.
We wonder the same thing! LOL
Maybe because the skeeters are so light, the wind doesn’t affect them? You’d think—hope—that they’d blow farfar away!
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