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One reason I love taking pictures in the garden is that it teaches me to see things I would ordinarily miss, and to see them in new ways. I had a lovely time watching these bees and taking pictures of them. The sunflower is the result of the bird feeders that I have hanging above off the end of our patio.
The bee on the top of the flower appeared to be taking a little nap, while the bottom bee was working its little bee-butt off (and occasionally bumping into the top bee to get it to move out of its way). I even took a video of the bees with my camera (the first time I’ve tried doing that), and it worked surprisingly well, even though I was a little shaky.
It has been a while since I’ve written a post about a bug and my sometimes-gruesome attempts to protect my crops from them. Well, if you have been lamenting the absence of such a post, today is your lucky day! If not, you might want to check back on another day when I talk about a recipe or post a photograph of a flower.
Actually, there is nothing too gross here. Just a few pictures of my latest foe, the harlequin bug.
I noticed them a while ago, but couldn’t actually figure out what they were up to. I suspected they might be doing something inappropriate to my broccoli florets, but I couldn’t figure out what. And when questioned about it, they strenuously denied any wrongdoing. So, I took this picture and did a background check. Good thing I did. Read the rest of this entry »
I knew it was just a matter of time.
Each year I am inundated by thousands, perhaps even gazillions, of squash bugs. And each year, sometime in late summer, Chris finds me in the garden crazily stamping on squash bugs and yelling at them to go away. Sometimes he has to forcibly remove me from the garden. Sure, I know what you are thinking. I’ve gone on and on about the slugs, the flea beetles, the deer, the cabbage worms, the japanese beetles, etc., but this is different. It was the dreaded squash bug that killed my beloved zephyr squash last summer.
Parents who go out of town and leave their teens behind should expect that unsavory things (from the parents’ perspective) are likely to transpire in their absence. We have no children, never mind teens, and therefore were shocked to come home to an orgy. A japanese beetle orgy. Sure, there were a few meandering about when we left, but they seemed innocent enough. How stupidly naive!
There is not much that can be done to combat this pest, given that there are no natural predators in the US. Except to grab them with your fingers and crush the life out of them.
I know what you are thinking. The poor beetles! What a severe sentence! She’s an overzealous prosecutor! This isn’t fair! But I will not bow to the political pressure from the right. I will not pardon them. Nor will I commute the sentence (and then sneak in an inevitable pardon later). No, guilt is guilt. The sentence stands.
Some might say this was entrapment. It is true, borage can be used as a “trap plant” to attract japanese beetles so that you can collectively do away with them. Too bad, I say. They still chose to eat in my garden, and now they have to pay for it. Even if they are rich (which of course they aren’t), and even if they have a friend who lives in a white house (which they might). Justice may be obstructed in Washington, but not in my back yard.
Technorati Tags: eggplant, garden, gardening, insects, kitchen garden
The cabbage war is continuing. I was ready to declare victory, as I seemed to have the cabbage whites under control (or maybe they have been lulling me into a false sense of security before they completely obliterate my cabbage, it is hard to know). The new enemy is the striped flea beetle (a different variety of flea beetle than I have on my eggplant). Above is a photo of my cabbage when it was happy and healthy.
Below you can see the striped flea beetles and the damage that has been done already. I had no idea that so many bugs would be trying to eat my cabbage. I don’t even like cabbage all that much, but now that they are being attacked, I feel deeply, deeply attached to them. Mess with me if you want, but don’t mess with my plants!
The bees seemed to arrive late this year. The lavender had been blooming for a couple of weeks when finally they arrived. They love my borage, which is one of those great herb/flowers that keeps seeding itself relentlessly. Besides attracting bees to the garden, borage is good for using the flowers in salads. I know the leaves are edible too, but they are quite hairy and rough, which I don’t like (although the flavor is nice, kind of cucumbery).
This is my first time growing cabbage, and until last weekend they looked perfect. How quickly things change! Every day I look for cabbage worms, but they have already wreaked havoc.
My gardening book says to put pots of mint in between the plants. Does anyone know if this will work? I also see that bt is supposed to help. If you have any advice, I’d love to hear it!
I keep finding most of the bugs in my garden on my eggplant. First, the flea beetles arrived. But, I was ready for them, and sprayed a bit of neem oil on the leaves. Then it was the colorado potato beetle that chomped out some big pieces of eggplant leaves (but didn’t live to tell about it). And then I found the aphids quietly hiding on the underside of the leaves. Oh, and there were also some small green worms. But, there were also armies of ants marching around (it looked like they were doing something important), and also a few lady bugs hanging out, taking it all in.
I have become a bit obsessed with my eggplant. I have even developed a new morning ritual. I inspect the leaves of each eggplant, and crush the few stray bad guys (mostly flea beetles) that remain.
But, I still have questions. What are the ants doing? I learned from watching a documentary on insects that ants will herd aphids. They “milk” the aphids by collecting a substance (called “honeydew”) that the aphids excrete. I wonder if the ants on my eggplant were responsible for bringing the aphids? If so, they must be pretty upset with me.
This year I am resolved to note and identify the insects I find in the garden. My neighbor tells me that this caterpillar, found on my dill, is destined to become a monarch butterfly.
I have an enormous debt of gratitude to my friend the braconid wasp, who last year rendered the evil tomato fruitworm ineffective and allowed my tomato crop to thrive. I hope to post picture of a fruitworm this summer that has wasp cocoons along its back. I also found this colorado potato beetle (bottom, left) on my eggplant. I “eliminated” it, along with some slugs I found. I feel a bit bad about having to do that, but then I don’t like having my crops eaten before I have a chance to eat them myself.
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