Hello Everyone!
It’s been quite eventful here! Some rain for past couple of days.
Went to State Fair and learned some things which I found to be vastly important.
I had seen some really scary looking critters crawling all over my cucumbers munching down. I thought they might be thrips, because of some things I had read. But I wasn’t sure. I started killing these as much and fast as I could. I had a little nudge, possibly from one of my garden angels to take a picture of these beasts and ask our county extension guy what they are. So I did.
I had not planned to do this, but when I got to the Fair, I had my camera with me. I saw an extension agent running a booth in the ag area, and realized I could ask her what this horrible beast is. I was distraught to learn that I had been a lady bug murderer. These little critters were the good guys munching down on the aphids which had been the real culprits interfering with the already prolific cucumber production.
I am so glad to know what these guys are now because I had had NO IDEA! Never had seen them before! I really thinned down the herd, but did not manage (thank God) to kill them all.
http://www.ladybuglady.com/ladybugweb9.htm#
[scroll down a bit on the page to see the relevant pictures]
We also saw the people who have developed a product called “Garden Anywhere Boxes.” Darlin’ and I were both mightily impressed! They have several kits, and seem like they are quite reasonably priced. Probably are similar to others which have been discussed on these threads, but we got to see these in action and broken down and got to visit with the guy who developed them to make this particular configuration work. They are out of Newalla, OK.
Larry Pierce
http://www.gardenanywhere.net
Harvest has picked up a bit. I’ve been getting some BLACK TURTLE BEANS which I’ve been allowing to dry and collecting into a jar. I had thought with some of my difficulties with them at the start of the season that they would not like it here, but that hasn’t been the case. It isn’t a big amount, but I did not expect it to be. I was trying different varieties to see what kinds like our soil, etc. This is the bean varity that have made it the best. GREAT WHITE NORTHERNERS have also eeked in some representation, but I know that the black turtles can grow well here. The SNOW PEAS are actually making a comeback after I found the caterpillars which had been destroying them. They are flowering and have produced a few pods here and there which I’ve put immediately into soups.
I’ve absolutely been bowled over by the OKRA! Our four little plants have turned into a veritable forest, and we have a LARGE mess of them building up in the fridge, even with me giving away a couple of double handfuls!
We harvested three of the SUNFLOWER heads which were huge and quite heavily laden. Also was harvesting some late smallish TOMATOES - about 3 so far, but several are green on the vine yet.
We were tickled to have the EGYPTIAN WALKING ONION order arrive today! Darlin and I plan to do some dirt prep before planting them, but I am so stoked!
We did some minimal fertilization of our PECAN trees last spring, and it seemed to do some good. The ones we have picked to test are heavy and fat. We are excited about that and glad we learned that pecans need zinc sulphate in addition to the other nutrients required in conventional fertilizers.
We learned about a special class being held in January and February in our state called “Master Gardener’s Boot Camp,” which was described to us as a general overview of the state’s perennials, annuals, trees, landscaping, soil, bugs, etc. We are seriously considering participating in that but will have to see how our schedules shake out.
So there you have it, hope everyone else is doing well!
Lots of info there. Thanks for the links. That boot camp sounds interesting. I’ll have to check our extension center and see if they have anything like it.
I know we have a master gardener course, but I didn’t think I could manage the time it would have required, plus they want you to do a lot of volunteer stuff when finished. My volunteer stuff already takes as much time as a full time job-so I thought it best not to do it this year.LOL
Those garden boxes are pretty cool, thanks; I can’t find the dimensions, though...
so you were killing the ladybug Larvae? The ones I have remind me of little alligators..the shape..obviously, the orange and black color is all wrong for a mini micro alligator.
Is the Boot Camp sort of a prep for the extensions’ Master Gardener cert? I know what you mean—baby ladybugs are scary-looking.