I ran across some tips for pests while reviewing some notes and articles:
WEED KILLER - 1 Gallon of Vinegar, 2 Cups Epsom Salts, 1/4 cup Dish Washing Liquid - Kills everything-Spray in the AM, and dead by nightfall
PEST strategies: Parasitic-non-stinging Wasps, toads, floating row covers, sticky traps, salt spray, and Neem oil.
Salt Spray-Use Himilayan Salt-2TBLS/gallon, Do not drench -leaves only
Neem Oil- 1/2oz oil, 1/2 tsp organic soap, 2 qts. water, use quickly-looses effectiveness with time.
REPELLENTS to fight Zika Mosquitoes: In addition to Deet products, Consumer Reports tested other types including plantlike ingredients.
Most effective: Sawyer Fisherman's Formula Picaridin and Natrapel 8 hr. Repel Lemon Eucalyptus was effective for 7 hrs.
Also, Victoria's Secret Perfume, and Avon's Skin so Soft worked to keep mosquitoes away.
Hope everyone is doing well. Prayers up for all. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Going to Cleveland’s Chinatown tomorrow for seeds. Will get Bok Choiy, Shanghai Bok Choy, and Daikon. Daikon is wonderful for snacking, and with a master broth, makes a great soup!
Pinging the list.
Skin So Soft is AWESOME for keeping Skeeters away. Some years they are so bad that you need to tie down small dogs and toddlers, LOL!
I am enjoying my ‘new’ smaller garden this season. I know once Beau is retired this August additional beds will be going in, so I’m loving this small garden while I plan the bigger one.
I have planted lettuces, spinach, beets (lots!) and radishes so far. It’s raining today, and then is going to get clear and COLD tonight (36-ish) so I’ll be covering some potted herbs and Geraniums on the porch.
Birding has been phenomenal this Spring season. There were FIVE Male Grosbeak and 3 females duking it out at the feeder a while ago, and lots of Orioles. The Indigo Bunting has come and gone.
Rhubarb is AWESOME this season - plentiful and VERY red, so this week I will be making sauce and pie and freezing more for later pies, breads and muffins.
Asparagus (at my old house) is producing nicely - picked 44 spears today, alone. We’ve moved some to the new farm and it’s taking off well.
Chilly this upcoming week, but then warmer and continuing warmth by this weekend - which is GREAT because I’m having my big Estate Sale May 19-20-21. Everything must go!
It’s supposed to get down to 35 degrees tonight here in NW Iowa.
Sure glad it isn’t getting any lower. I’d lose an acre or so of the best potato patch I’ve ever had going. Along with about 300 tomato plants, 200 pepper plants....not to speak of the five acres of sweet corn and other goodies.
Avon skin so soft is great but
old fashioned lavender water is really good for keeping mosquitos and other bugs off you too. I love it for keeping the gnats away.
3 ingredients to make it
lavender essential oil
vodka
water
How to make Lavender Water with lavender oil
http://www.marthastewart.com/911041/how-make-lavender-water-lavendar-oil
My tomatoes are stunning. Beautiful! Thriving wonderfully.
I have to plant some my backup okra seedlings as our very cool spring has killed 1/4 of my plants.
Shishito peppers and Korean peppers are blooming. Happy!!
I pulled a Monika cuke yesterday. The jury is out as to this variety being a keeper. (I’m going to HD tomorrow to start some hybrid cukes for bread-n-butter pickles this year - I still have some 50 quarts of kosher dills from last year - ha)
Put my veggies in ground today; raised beds; had to wrap them in black plastic mesh to keep out deer...I live in Cincy city limits, too. My sling shot works great.
Of all the plants, my seeds yielded yellow squash, zucchini, basil...my others, didn’t spout so I bought the small plants at a local plant place. I did buy bhut jalokia..the ghost pepper. Should be fun. 2 tomatos, 4 peppers (2 sweet, 2 hot); zucchuni, eggplant, spaghetti squash, yellow squash.
Thanks, greeneyes!
We opened our trailer this week. Before we left, I added a second brooder box to each of our bee hives. Both colonies are busily drawing out combs and there is evidence of empty brooder cells, indicating new bees.
Our bog filter seems to be working, as the duck pond water appears to be clearing.
We have a single, young female wild turkey hanging around our fowl pen.
All of our raised beds are ready and the drip system is operational. Next week, I will prepare the soil in my part of thegarden, plant asparagus and ruhbarb and the rest of my crops.
aaaaauuuuuggggghhhhh, I have potato beetles - hundreds of them!
just when the potato plants were looking so good, too.
Does anyone here on our thread have a solution for carpenter ants?
The exterminator wants thousands of dollars.
There has got to be a better DIY way to do this.
I have a big backyard, part grass, part weeds. I am so hesitant to use any weed killer/fertilizer chemicals because my dog plays in the yard,lays on the grass, sometimes digs.
My questions with your marvelous homemade weed killer:
1) will it kill the grass?..should I just limit it to the weed areas?
2) will it be safe for my dog (the epsom salt?). Do you just spray it on?
Also, is there any fertilizer I could use..that won’t hurt doggie?
Yes, it has been wet this week in Central Missouri. Not really what I need right at the moment.
I finished setting out tomato plants in the long row Wednesday evening. Thursday evening we had a monsoon with some wind and hail. There was some minor damage to some of the tomato plants, but I don’t think any of them are killed.
I was hoping to get drip tape and weed cloth down on the cucumber row after work today, but it was raining again so I wasn’t able to get that done.
Tomorrow I’m going to a farm auction in High Point with hopes of buying a manure spreader. With any good luck the sun will be shining and all of the local Mennonite farmers will be out working their fields.
Weather warmed up enough in Delaware to finally start planting. So far, green beans, cucumbers, pickle and tomatoes are in the ground. The second garden bed is cleared but waiting for mushroom soil.
Transplanted fig, “Japanese plum”, olive and lemon trees into bigger pots. Seems like squirrels like Myers lemon tree and olive, but not fig. Trying cayenne pepper to keep the rascals away. Will see.
Skin So Soft is great for sand fleas, too. My mom used to get bitten a lot when we went to the beach - a little Skin So Soft around her ankles and no problem.
I have a huge problem with some kind of weedy grass that’s growing around the roses. I need to dig it out and was thinking of putting mulch down again. I’ve read reviews of Scott’s, Preen Mulch with Weed Killer (more expensive) and rubber - much more expensive. Quite a few of the reviews weren’t great (everything from color fading to limited weed control to mold, etc. in the mulch, except for the rubber, which will be fairly costly. A local store has Magic Mountain mulch on sale and last day is today - 4/$12 (normally $4.99/bag).
I’d appreciate any advice anyone has to offer on mulch. I also need some around the Rhodies as the horsetails (weeds) are difficult keep under control.
Thanks in advance!
Best,
SC
Thanks for your helpful hints. I especially like that there are non-chemical alternatives. Garden is growing well. Waiting to see if tomato seeds will sprout. Lilies will be blooming soon.