Archive for January, 2012

Getting ready for spring I am in management mode. I lost quite a few trees to pine beetles last year and three Junipers that I was unable to diagnose correctly.  So in my research for Spring pest management I found myself reminded that not all bugs are bad for the landscape. I pulled out my list of good bugs to remind me who not to eliminate as culprits. In fact, here a list of a few of the “good bugs” that I do not want to get rid of.

Praying Mantis: They have a voracious appetite and are best known for chowing down on mosquitoes, nocturnal moths, bees, beetles, small lizards and even small frogs. I am very happy if they want to munch on my mosquitoes, moths and lizards. I have been overridden with all three.

Praying Mantis

Ground Beetle: Not to be confused with the nasty Japanese beetle that took down my pines. As nocturnal eaters they munch on slugs, snails, cutworms, and root maggots. I have no problem letting these little guys help me out.

Ground Beetle

Green Lacewing: What a gentle looking fellow with such a big job! Known to control aphids, thrips, red mites, small caterpillars and mealybugs that like to munch away on foliage in the landscape! And as with any meal they like to finish off with a drink. They have a nice drink of nectar collected from flowers like Angelica and Sweet Alyssum.

Green Lacewing

Spined Soldier Bug: Ah, that infamous stink bug known for the foul odor it emits when disturbed. But alas, this little guy too, is a friend of the neighborhood garden. It will destroy for you Mexican bean beetles, Colorado potato beetles, hornworms, cabbage loopers and cabbage worms. Easily one of the vegetable gardener’s favorite workers.

Spidered Soldier Bug

Ladybug: I have always loved Ladybugs ever since my childhood. But it wasn’t until I got older that I realized what a friend to the garden they are. They control aphids, mites, and mealybugs. Known as aphid wolves because they feed on small orange-spotted black grubs. What would I do without them!

Ladybug

Braconid Wasp: Sounds like something right out of the dinosaur age but they too, are helpful to the home gardener. They have a stinger that is intimidating to humans. No worries, they are more interested in munching on caterpillars and sawfly larvae thangoing after people. And if you are growing tomatoes thank these guys for keeping horn worms at bay.

Braconid Wasp

Bumblebee: Who hasn’t seen the bumblebee lighting on a dandelion or an azalea blossom. They flit here and there in the flower heads pollinating away. They would rather be busy at their job than stinging humans. So if you get stung it is because they feel threatened in their territory not because they were are you. I love bumblebees because they are reminder that someone is helping me with pollination.

Bumblebee

Beneficial Nematodes: I must confess that I have heard of these little guys forever and yet never took the time to really learn their job. They live in our soil. And they go after those destructive grubs in the lawn as well as the fleas that want to torture your dog. But what I like most about them is that Japanese beetles are susceptible to being destroyed by beneficial nematodes. Lucky for me, they are turned off to the taste of earthworms and ladybug larvae.

Beneficial Nematodes

Tachinid Fly: Another insect that has a name that sounds like it came out of the dinosaur age. They get after caterpillars, gypsy moth larvae and cutworms.

Tachinid Fly

Earthworm: Last but certainly not least is the earthworm. When I see earthworms I know those little mini composters are fast at work. They create the kind of well aerated soil that I like to call black gold.

Earthworm

There are other landscape friends like butterflies, bats and some birds but for now I am going to be on the watch for these insects and encourage them all to come on into the yard and stay awhile.

Note: All pictures have been chosen from outside sources.

During the late fall and winter months it is time to use dormant spray on fruit trees. I can tell you from experience there is nothing worse than seeing my tree full of fruit only to look closer to find infestation or disease.

So what is dormant spray and why use it? First I would like to mentioned I am not writing about commercially grown fruit trees. I am focusing on the fruit trees that we have in our landscape. Dormant spray is basically a spray that is is applied while the trees are dormant. If applied correctly it will kill fungus and diseases along with killing off any bad pests that are lying dormant during the cold season.

A note here, not all insects are bad. Bees for example are our friends. If we spray too late in the season, say, when the leaves are beginning to bud, we may create a problem for the bees. There will be no pollination therefore leaving us with another problem.

There are several chemicals you can use. Dormant spray can be purchased at your local garden center.

As always, read the labels carefully, more is not good for the trees. There is a organic spray you can use as well for those who like to garden organically. The recipe is:

For one gallon of water:

5 Tablespoons of Hydrogen peroxide

2 Tablespoons of Baking Soda

2 Tablespoons of a Castile soap

Okay, we know why we spray and what we can spray on our trees but, now we need to know when to spray the trees. As I said before when the leaves have fallen off in late fall the first spraying can be done. This can be done late fall around Thanksgiving. If you live in the South, as I do, then closer to Christmas might be better. Always spray on a clear, windless day when there is no threat of rain or snow within the next couple of days.

Do a second spraying midwinter, this is less critical and for those of us who live in harsher climates skipping it altogether may be a real need. Then do a third spraying around Valentine’s Day unless your leaves are budding, as can happen in the southern States. Budding is too late as it will not allow for the bees to visit and pollinate!

If you have found that it is too late to spray not to fret you can do it again next year. For more information on sources see below.

Sources:

http://www.jlgardencenter.com/uploads/handouts/DormantSpray.pdf

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/emon/dormspray/dormant_fact.pdf

http://www.mcshanesnursery.com/uploads/upload/help_Fruit_Trees.pdf

Skip's Breakfast Frittata

Skip’s Breakfast Frittata

½ cup mushrooms, saute before adding

½ cup precooked sausage, crumbled

½ cup precooked ham, diced

½ cup diced green onions sauteed

1 cup cheese, shredded

1 Tbsp. Tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

5 eggs, scrambled, whipped smooth

½ cup tomatoes, diced

Directions:

Beat or whisk eggs until very smooth.

Saute onions and mushrooms together and put aside.

Chop, or break up sausage, chop up the ham.

Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter to a medium hot in a oven proof skillet or frittata pan.

Saute sausage and ham mixture unit well browned.

Add onions and mushrooms, then add eggs.

As egg mixture begins to set, add chopped tomatoes and shredded cheese.

If you have a frittata pan, pre-heat the top skillet, and add a pat of butter, then cover the larger skillet and invert. Cook for an additional 10 minutes. If you do not have a frittata pan, place skillet in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until eggs are well set and cheese is bubbly and brown.

Remove from oven, let set for 5 minutes.

Serve with picante, sour cream or avocado.

Serves 4-8.

Enjoy!

It has been cold the last few days so we have been building a fire in the evening. Last night my hubby and I were talking about roasting marshmallows which led to a discussion about what is our roasting preferences. We noted that while I like a well done steak and my hubby loves a medium rare it is quite the opposite with marshmallows. I love mine just turned to a golden brown and he likes a good old fashion “Joan of Arc” marshmallow (see how to roast a marshmallow below).

Marshmallows have been around for quite some time in the modern market. I did discover that the use of marshmallow to make a candy dates back to ancient Egypt. I never thought about that before, even though the mass marketing of marshmallows that I buy are commercially packaged under the Kraft brand. You can even find a recipe for making marshmallows online but after reading it I decided it was more hassle than just buying the packaged plumes of white balls. Interestingly, the recipe calls for gelatin which is a animal product so generally they are considered not to be kosher or halal unless it can be proven that the animal was kosher or halal. There is even a vegetarian alternative which may be very good reasons to make your own recipe. I was not sure about marshmallow crème products but I read that general use is egg whites instead. So there was much to learn about the marshmallow and if you are concerned about kosher, halal or you are a vegetation the link for the recipe is below.

Roasting is an art. It includes the actual roasting, the ambiance of a cook campfire and sometimes added goodies to make smores. A good campfire with marshmallows requires a few stories and a few songs. So first the marshmallow are important, then dive in with a song or two.

Campfire Poem

Campfire’s burning, campfire’s burning

Draw nearer, draw nearer

In the gloaming, in the gloaming

Come sing and be merry

~Thanks to Rebecca Maltese Girl Guides

I have done one on a stick or loaded a couple on. How do we like our marshmallow at our house? Like I said, I like mine turned to a lovely golden brown. My hubby? He can’t wait to make a Joan of Arc, which is leaving it on the fire until a flame gently turns it to a crisp on the outside.

Marshmallow recipe: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/5838

How to roast a marshmallow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5QvvnETZ7c

No matter what I do I can’t keep my shoes from untying. I have tried a million ways to figure it out. Now I find I am destined to double tying them. Well, that was before I learned a thing or two about tying shoes.

First problem I run into is that $#@*! aglet. If I cut off the shoe string to fit the shoe how do I keep it from fraying? That is the aglet’s job right? That little aglet has been around a few centuries. The little tiny piece at the end of the shoe lace we normally recognize as a plastic covering makes it easy to lace shoes. But aglets did not start out as those plastic thingie ma-jobbers.

Aglets started being used in the 1790s. A small thing we use every day suddenly it becomes important. But this guy, Harvey Kennedy, is the one that legend says came up with the idea of making the metal ones.

Before we used plastic we used these, many shoe repair shops kept them for sale.

And it wasn’t long after that they were mass produced. Mostly they looked the ones we see in the picture but someone got the hot idea to decorate them.

I found some on eBay that were kind of like the old ones in the 1700s shown here. Today most of our use to the plastic aglet that is cheaper and easier to produce.

Fancy aglets that possibly royalty might use.

And I found out you can make your own aglet in a pinch. Just wrap scotch tape around the end of your shoe lace and cover with clear glue and viola! Instant aglet.

But after I got sidetracked about aglets I realized that didn’t answer the question of tying the shoe and keeping it tied. Until I found out there is a proper way to tie a shoe. I have been tying my shoes incorrectly my whole life. Every time I tie them if I do not double tie them they come undone. Now I do not need to spend money buying new laces, cutting them down or throwing them out. I have a plan now. Plan one is to tie them right. Plan two is if the aglet falls off I know a quick repair job of scotch tape and clear glue!

Here is a quick video of how to tie your shoes:

Just simple little tips….how on earth did we ever make it without the internet!