What did you do in the garden today?

[1FlewOver]

Well, today I am weeding the tomato and pepper bed and then mulching.  Hopefully this will cut down on the amount of time I spend weeding (which is ridiculous, by the way!). 

We also have a wasp problem in our back entry/attached greenhouse.  We keep our new chicks out there (currently housing 11 Icelandics less than a week old).  Anyone have any good wasp killing remedies that will not harm the chicks?  I hate to go out and buy something toxic and then have to move the brooder, but that may end up happening. 

If you're talking about paper wasps.....yes...I do!

I was skeptical when I heard this....but it works....take about a third cup of dishwashing soap and put it in a 32 oz. tumbler and fill it 2/3rds full with water....stir well....get close to the nest and splash it with an upward thrust.....

Every wasp on it will die instantaneously and drop like rocks....I used to do it with gasoline....but this works just as well....

 

[A-K-A]

Nice batch of Jalepenos.

 

[jerryse]

I had my first of the season fried squash last night . Tried pulling weeds in the evening but the mosquitos are terrible .

 

[Arielle]

As for mosquitos, I sure miss the zillions of bats we used to have. Great mosquito killers!!! had them by the dozens, and now mostly gone because of that white nose disease. I was h appy last summer to see the numbers up to about 13 after several years of only 5-6 bats. Dragonflies are soon to be here to eat up the mosquitos in the day time . .. . not soon enough!! lol

Kids have been trialing listerine as a mosquito repelant; tried siluted vanilla last year. So far each works for a little while, then it seems to stop working. Maybe it works on only certain types of mosquitos????? Just guessing.

Rains arrived last evening, seems to be a long gentle rain. Was supposed to end this afternoon but looks like the forecasters have it extended into all of Monday too.

Yeah rain!!

So no planting until the rain stop.

 

[1FlewOver]

As for mosquitos, I sure miss the zillions of bats we used to have. Great mosquito killers!!!  had them by the dozens, and now mostly gone because of that white nose disease.  I was h appy last summer to see the numbers up to about 13 after several years of only 5-6 bats. Dragonflies are soon to be here to eat up the mosquitos in the day time . .. . not soon enough!! lol

Kids have been trialing listerine as a mosquito repelant; tried siluted vanilla last year. So far each works for a little while, then it seems to stop working.  Maybe it works on  only certain types of mosquitos????? Just guessing.

Rains arrived last evening, seems to be a long gentle rain. Was supposed to end this afternoon but looks like the forecasters have it extended into all of Monday too.

Yeah rain!! e

So no planting until the rain stop.

Yeah...That rain will help get rid of those pesky mosquitoes.... (oh..the irony)...

But I never get to see bats.... ....I really miss them...

And I was just commenting how I'm not seeing enough dragonflies...but I have 3 or 4 flying around...I also have about a thousand toad tadpoles in my pond...can't wait until they crawl out and become mini mosquito eaters..(besides....I think they are about the cutest little things ever)....and..my pond also serves as a dragonfly hatchery....it's full of mosquito fish..but we had 3 trillion gallons of rain here in Texas in the month of May.....enough to cover the whole state with 6" of water...or supply the entire world population with the recommended amount of daily drinking water for 10,000 days...so....mother nature is playing catch-up....

 

[Bugseye]

Yes, NEChickenNoob, just didn't know how to address you, and now my keyboard wants to embellish your name with extra letters. Huh, got a mind of its own. Anyway, do you start in a greenhouse?

 

[FridayYet]

We've got these long little whip-tail racer lizards all over eating bugs. Go Lizards, go! (LOL) A couple of toads live here as well, and we've seen a few bats.

Nice to have help with the bugs.

 

[nordicacres]

Today I weeded strawberries, onions, cukes, beans, and squash/watermelon/pumpkins. Next year I really need to keep track of not just what I planted, but WHERE it was planted. I can't tell the zukes/winter squash/summer squash/melons apart (at least not yet). The chickens also scratched up some zucchini (???) so I will need to replant later.

. . . and I found two ripe strawberries the birds overlooked. We split them to share with all six of us, and they were delicious! So I'm motivated to get a new strawberry bed with a hoop over it for next Spring. Will strawberries produce their first year? I need to research a little on the best growing method, etc. I really wanted to make strawberry jam this year. Live and learn.

 

[hennible]

Well, today I am weeding the tomato and pepper bed and then mulching.  Hopefully this will cut down on the amount of time I spend weeding (which is ridiculous, by the way!). 

We also have a wasp problem in our back entry/attached greenhouse.  We keep our new chicks out there (currently housing 11 Icelandics less than a week old).  Anyone have any good wasp killing remedies that will not harm the chicks?  I hate to go out and buy something toxic and then have to move the brooder, but that may end up happening. 

we have sprayed nests with break clean, Disel and some other things like that. Break clean sure works on wasps...

 

[1FlewOver]

we have sprayed nests with break clean, Disel and some other things like that. Break clean sure works on wasps...

True....What DOESN'T work???? The "Wasp and Hornet Killer" ....(insert "aggrivator" for "Killer" here...)...."shoots up to 30' away...(or whatever) .....problem is they fly 200' after being doused with the stuff.....

Just for giggles....sometimes I put a butane lighter in front of the brake cleaner.....hee...hee...hah...hah....ho...ho....(wringing hands)....

But seriously, the soap works....(one caveat....I did prescribe the minimum dose, 50/50 is more guaranteed) ....give it a try....too many upsides...(clean your siding instead of peeling the paint off....for one)....also...even if there is sensitive vegetation under the area...you can follow up with a garden hose and it'll be fine....

Now....just to switch gears...I used to wonder just what on God's green earth these
things were good for....and they sure can be pesky when you go to harvest dried pink-eyed purple hull peas when dried....as they want something off those dried up plants as well....

But....one day I was watching one....and those little guys are caterpillar killers!!!!

So....as long as their nests are away from areas I need to frequent....I now leave them alone....I spend a lot of time around them in the garden...(they also like to drink out of the pond).... and have never gotten stung....they really only get Kamikaze when you are close to their nests....

One other thing...even if you don't smoke....you might consider bumming a smoke off someone and keeping it in a first aid kit...or nearby where you might encounter these little guys....nothing relieves the pain faster than a wet cigarette placed on the sting site....(make sure the stinger is removed first...if it leaves one)

EDIT: While I'm rambling....when I was 6 or 7 years old...I used to take a dixie cup and sneak up on honey bees and trap them by closing the cup with my hand....I would then pretend I was shaving with the dixie cup....I must have done this a hundred times before one stung me...(funny....I can't recall doing 101 times....lol....

Anyway....another useless piece of information....I've been stung twice in my house....once by a honey bee that hitched a ride in on my back as I went to sit down....and once by a paper wasp in my sleep...it somehow got in the house and I must have brushed it in my sleep....