The SCOOPER DOOPER, Mrs Bender's cherished birthday gift...
Posted on 06/24/2011 5:15:19 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
Good morning gardeners. Well this past week brought a respite from the sunny hot weather here in Mississippi. We received two days of beneficial rains, which helped to revive my garden. Watching the radar it looked like a good portion of south-central Texas from San Antonio to the northeast corner received some rain also. I hope it was helpful to our gardeners over that way. My winter squash are growing like mad and my hot and sweet peppers are doing great. What is left of my tomatoes seem to have revived a bit during these rainy and cloudy days. I really hope that what ever weather you have had improved a bit for you and your gardens this past week.
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The SCOOPER DOOPER, Mrs Bender's cherished birthday gift...
The eradication program has been so successful against the boll weevil that stink bugs are now resistant to every insecticide known to man and we now need a stink bug eradication program, guaranteeing several more generations of the same family jobs that seem to interrupt long lunches and naps in the shade to place and check traps.
To add insult to injury, if you do not have your cotton stalks cut down by December 31 each year, The Program will fine you exorbitant amounts of money. Doesn't matter whether or not you've been able to harvest the cotton or get in the field through the weather to get the stalks cut ... if it is December 31, you better have it done. One year we got fined $637,000.00 for uncut stalks. After much argument and wrangling, I think we paid $1,500.00 to make them stop harping and threatening to take the farm. It is almost as bad as organized crime.
On a more serious note, the boll weevil has been practically unknown for many years now and saved Louisiana's second largest source of income from certain devastation.
I think I'm done with that little hissy fit. [sigh]
Does it reseed, or does it winter over? (Borage)
I have one of those!!! It is homemade with an aluminum conduit handle ... either that or the old handle wore out and was replaced by a conduit handle. It will dispatch a snake in a heartbeat and scrapes the goose poop off of the concrete driveway in a noisy, yet effective, fashion.
Readily reseeds. But, it’s easy enough to spot and yank before you get too much of it. The bees really love it. :)
My husband says to mix your gas/oil mixtures 32:1 and use it for everything. The engines will last forever.
That’s about what I mix mine. One small can of oil plus a little more of another as I feel 50:1 is cutting it too close for long engine life...
I fled the cotton fields in 1951 and the vineyards in 1954 to work in the automotive repair business. It was a excellent choice...
Thanks to both of y’all for the info on the gas oil mixture. I would be more comfortable with the 32:1 ratio also. My next mix will be the 32:1 ratio and now I will only have one gas can for all my 2 cycle engines.
Is this kind of info widely known and I have be unaware of it, or what?
My husband uses that 32:1 mix in his Stihl chain saw which still runs like new after 27 years of heavy use.
My husband’s credentials? A UC Berkeley degree in Mechanical Engineering, State of California Registered Professional Engineer’s License, and a life time of repairing autos, starting with a Model A Ford at age 14. The latter credential is probably the most important of the three.
I love blue flowers. I’ll be looking forward to its blooms and will try it in a salad today while my “gourmet” daughter and SIL are still here. (Their kids won’t eat anything “new”.)
Now, it’s off to church and Cedarburg’s Strawberry Festival.
And this is one of my Burgess Buttercup Squash, vine type. - I am assuming this is a developing squash 
That has grown a bunch! I remember when it had 1 fig.
The companies making the 2 stroke oil reformulated it a few years ago so that it has better lubricating qualities.
Yes it survived the winter last year and is doing quite well - Figs all over it. This is the one I want to propagate and grow about two or three more. If I only knew how.
It gets really depressing to view the photos from all of you that get enough heat units to grow crops like your beautiful fruit trees Red! I have a 25 year old Barlett Pear and it is one sick puppy and the fruit is unfit to eat when it does manage to set some fruit. We have a couple of Plums that do fairly well and our lone Cherrie tree that is loaded this year but the wild Band Tail Pigeons will get most of them.
Re the 50:1 mix is a EPA mandate and not the engine mfgs wishes. Go with the 32:1
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