Posted on 07/31/2021 6:31:55 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Holy Moly Batgirl that is just beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:)
And that is about right. For many people you work and save until your late 60s and then use the savings for health care the last 2 years of your life!
I see her enjoying the pool hope the Mrs. is doing better! I am glad you are healthy enough to enjoy this time of your life!
Humm. “harsh Almunecar winter :-) “ Yes, I see the smilely emoji—so harsh! (Diana do you have anything to say to Oshk. about his, ahem, “harsh” winter?? :)
**An aside; While you can probably buy figs locally, if you ever wanted to plant a fig tree by your pool, or in a pot by your pool,
they can fruit in as little as 1-2 years and usually (usually!) and do not grow to enormous size! Grows fast so a good growing choice when you are up there in years.
I have a number of trees for that reason! (90+ F heat is not unusually in Kansas! Neither is -15 F.)
(Very nice pictures!)
Augie, you are pretty much straight east of me here in Kansas. (Look at Overland Park or Prairie Village on the Kansas map!)
While it says I am zone 6b, I had at least 4 or 5 days of -20 degree weather this winter which should put me in 5a. (Always plan for the extremes!)
If you have a choice get suckers from early tomatoes like cherry or early girl to root. Give them some shade the first few days after you plant them or they will wilt away. (No point, of course, in trying to grow something like Pineapple tomatoes that take 100 days at this point in the year!)
“Unusual” not “unusually”;
Ah, I have to go buy some goats cheese I guess! Thanks!
Here’s an article on that mysterious songbird illness that has been afflicting several states - I haven’t noticed anything around here ... then again, we don’t have cicadas, either.
Cornell experts not overly alarmed by mysterious songbird sickness
https://www.ithaca.com/news/ithaca/cornell-experts-not-overly-alarmed-by-mysterious-songbird-sickness/article_ae73fa12-efc6-11eb-9a3f-ef82b40e923f.html
This sudden decline lends support to the tentative hypothesis regarding a cause of the outbreak. The most recent working theory is that the outbreak is related to the emergence of the cicadas this year — the geographic distribution and the timing of the undetermined songbird illness directly coincides with the arrival of the cicadas.
The cicadas emerged in Washington, DC and eleven other states: Delaware, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, and Kentucky in mid May. Birds in these states started showing the unusual symptoms about a week later.
“The distribution of states where this spontaneously popped up was an exact match for the cicada emergence map, and it is a very strange distribution of states for this kind of outbreak,” Bunton said. “It was Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and then it moved over to Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana but it completely skipped New York and the rest of New England. That is an exact replica of the cicada map.”
Researchers such as Bunton believe that the ingestion of the cicadas could have had toxic effects on the birds. It is possible that individuals sprayed the cicadas with pesticides, which have chemicals that affect the brains of birds and could have caused the neurological symptoms. Cicadas also carry fungi that can produce toxins when ingested which could have also produced the illness in the birds.
The decline in cases corresponds with the retreat of the cicadas. Although researchers will continue to monitor the situation, Bunton expressed that the outbreak should not be a cause of alarm. The diminishing outbreak does not pose any safety threats to humans, nor does it threaten the stability of the various songbird species.
We have a lady who comes over twice a week to clean. She lives with another lady who works 6 days a week in a restaurant. Like a lot of locals they have been struggling since the pandemic hit. Instead of our normal stay in an all-inclusive resort we have rented a beachfront home with a pool, purchased a ticket for our cleaner (60 Euros for a round trip, last of the big spenders) and invited her roommate to come along. In exchange for the free vacation they will keep the place tidy and run errands. They are ecstatic and it is costing us less than the all-inclusive.
Do you have a method for storing your zucchini noodles, short or long term?
I make them, portion them in ziplocks and then freeze them. One medium zucchini makes one serving, If you have some that have grown really big, you’ll have to cut them into slabs that fit your zoodle-maker, and take out the seeds.
You can also make them and store in the fridge, but use within 3 days or so.
When I want some, I start from frozen, put them in a pan either with water if I’m just going to steam them, or with oil and butter to use then either as a stir fry of sorts, or after warming them through (they don’t need to cook long!) I add them to other veggies with Parmesan cheese, maybe a little Alfredo sauce, etc. for a side dish.
I’ve also seen that people dehydrate them, but I’ve not tried that.
Here’s a pretty complete primer on dehydrating the zoodles or just strips of zucchini:
https://gardenmentors.com/garden-help/eat-drink-preserve/how-to-preserve-zucchini-noodles/
Here’s a bunch of recipes for Zoodles. I trust All Recipes:
https://www.allrecipes.com/gallery/zucchini-noodle-recipes/
‘Chicken Zoodle Soup!’ I love it! :)
Thanks. Good to know. I’ve heard a few Cicadas so far, but supposedly our big hatch is NEXT year. I’ve never seen/heard more than a few at a time as long as I can remember, so I’m hoping they’re wrong!
I hate big bugs. Ick!
We had a large hatch maybe 20 years ago - trying to figure out the time frame & that sounds about right. The sound was enough to drive you crazy - they were in the woods behind our place - a few made it up into the yard.
During that hatch, when I was hiking in the mountains, there were patchy areas with the cicadas & their non-stop, maddening noise .... it was a relief to hike out of those areas & into some quiet, peaceful woods.
Speaking of ‘bugs’, our Japanese beetle problem appears to be over - haven’t seen any for maybe 2 weeks. They were definitely ‘lighter’ this year than last. Last year, they about ate my zinnias up before I figured out what to do without poisoning the blooms .... they ate my mom’s knockout roses down to virtually bare branches. This year, I didn’t spray the rose foliage, just kept an eye out. Used a pyrethrin Japanese beetle spray to ‘spot shot’ them on the zinnias with no harm to any of the pollenators.
I’m getting ready to plant another crop of zinnias for fall blooms - some cactus & candy stripe ones. They should be gorgeous.
Good morning.
I love watching bees collect pollen.
just saved that iris picture to my laptop puzzle program!
Aside from the Zahara Zinnias I grew on purpose, mine are all a mish-mash mix of colors, and mostly the HUGE ones, good for cutting. I used up whatever seed I had on hand.
Mom and a few other relatives are coming over on Wednesday, so I am not harvesting anything until then so they have plenty to choose from if they want to make bouquets. I’m going to have Mom harvest some potatoes which should make her happy and she LOVES picking beans, so I’m going to let her have at that, too, LOL! Still don’t have tomatoes to share, but it’s going to be UGLY when they all ripen on me at once!
Had our FIRST red slicers (three) from the garden today; ‘Grandma’s Favorite.’ We had the first BLTs of the season for supper tonight and this afternoon I made ‘Chicken Zoodle Soup’ from scratch. Both were really good, if I do say so myself. ;)
EAST PEORIA, Ill. (HOI) - A fungus that has devastated pumpkin crops dating back centuries has reared its head in Central Illinois. The fungus, called Phytophthora capsici, is particularly dangerous to pumpkins and other fruits and vegetables. The fungus was detected in Morton, Illinois last month.
The fungus thrives off the environment that has been present in recent weeks, rainfall and very high temperatures across the region have helped it spread, destroying crop roots and growth in places that have not been mitigated.
We reached out to Roth Pumpkin Patch and they told us they have sprayed anti-fungal on their pumpkin crop and have not seen any sign of infection.
We also reached out to Dr. Mohammad Babadoost, Professor of Plant Protection and Pathology for comment on the severity of the fungus in the region and what farmers can do.
"It lives in the soil and whenever the host is there, and the conditions are conducive, it starts infecting the plant. Very aggressive pathogen and the crop will be gone." Said Dr. Babadoost. He went on to say that there are ways to manage the disease in pumpkins to where little crop loss occurs.
This fungus attacks the fruit and leaves of pumpkins and other guards, rather than the soil which is where it attacks peppers. If left unmanaged, the repercussions could be felt nationwide.
"Considering that we are number one state in pumpkin production in the nation… if we get an infection and lose the crop, then there will be a big problem at Thanksgiving."
Diana Here: If you don't grow your own Pumpkins, you may want to stock up on some canned as soon as possible, just in case! Nobody should be without a Pumpkin Pie in the Fall, IMHO!
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