Blister Beetles

I got a lot of blister beetles from just having my zapper light on. They are alive but can't get out. They keep pushing each other down while trying to get out.

So the tomato has a little hole, take a bite. It won't hurt you. It might give you some protein.

Inside is a little surprise. It's a worm. And you was going to take a bite. How did this worm get into the bucket where my patio tomato plant was growing. It probably was already in the soil. I didn't use potting soil.

Squash

Squash is one of my favorite foods. There is nothing like thinly sliced squash and onions. I found two this morning and can't wait to eat them.

I usually do not have success growing squash due to the squash bugs. This year I haven't seen too many. I had a few eggs on my leaves but haven't found any bugs.

Never be satisfied with trying only a few techniques and methods. Get hold of as many gardening books as you can. Not one method is better than another. It is like playing instruments. The instrument might be different but beautiful music can be played with any instrument by using the right developed skills. Develop all your gardening skills, you never know what might work for any particular year.

Sliced and ready for steaming.

Might as well cook some peppers while waiting for the squash.

Lunch is ready at last. I'm using my brother's avocados he sent me for a delicious sandwich.

Even my dog got in on the good food (Or as they say around here, "my good eatins"). There was plenty of food for everyone.

My dog hasn't heard about the famine in Somalia, she left two pieces of squash on her plate. In my household we eat all of our food unless it's spoiled.

Before I go, take a look at my brother's greens. Everyone should grow some. 

Can you spot fenugreek, radish, and broccoli?If you can't, you better start sprouting until you know your sprouts. Sprouts are healthy and delicious. I especially like them on sandwiches.

When I saw this picture I had tears of joy. I think any kind of blessing that happens even to others is a marvel and a joy to see. Food is a marvelous gift of life.

















  

Do You Know Your Enemy? TEST YOUR SKILL!

I got a bug for you to do some research. It is the my most dreaded bug in Missouri. I'll show you a picture and you can see if you can identify it by its description. Use your search engine like Google. Remember to review the pictures after giving your description in the search engine. Pick out the one bug that looks like the picture below. Let me first copy and paste this little story about the bug.

"I am in Southwest Missouri. I’ve had these bugs in my garden destroying plants and vegetables for about 2 months now. They started with some of the weeds, but when I pulled the weeds to keep the seeds from dropping into the garden, they moved on to the spinach. After destroying all my spinach, they have now moved on to my tomatoes. They were only eating a few over ripe tomatoes, now they are even starting on the green ones! They seem to swarm in an area at a time (there must be several hundred to a thousand when they swarm)

I’ve done all sorts of research and just can’t seem to find a picture or any info online.
They have dark orange heads, black legs, small pinchers and black or dark brown bodies with orange stripes running the length of their wings/bodies."

I can see that with bugs running rampant and eating our gardens why many do not garden. It is not worth the trouble or heartache to see your work destroyed by a bug. I, on the other hand like the challenge. With every new bug there is a new killer machine or toxic substance waiting to be used in our war against the voracious plant eaters.

This picture I took this morning. Notice the crushed head? I did that.

Now go ahead and get to work. See what you come up with. Scroll down and see my answer. Try not to peek.

 Ans. I don't trust you. I'll give you the link: CLICK HERE

I killed thirty of those bugs today. How did I do it? I used my bug zapper on them. The zapper light attracted them to my catch-all container under the zapper. They didn't get zapped but they got caught in my container. They were alive and well,  running endlessly around in the container. 

Their demise was quick and easy. All I had to do was to dump them in a steel can and let the torch have at them. Now they will have a better use in life. They will become food for my plants.

I don't know if it is the solution to killing all of them. But so far, my plants are safe and those bugs are dead.

Pools and Harvesting More Potatoes

I raised my Patio tomato plant off the ground due to thefts.

Kiddie pools are not high enough for the critters that like to eat strawberries and green tomatoes. What is a gardener to do? I'm going to look for some four foot plastic fencing to put around my buckets or raise the pool further off the ground. It doesn't have to be raised much. I don't think it is a kangaroo that's been eating my produce but who knows, " G’day mate! Howz it goin? U wanna tomato?  Ahh, one of me mates is having a Barbie. You wanna go? Were having fried green tomatoes."

I had another bare spot in the yard. It is a good spot to be growing cilantro. I planted a lot of seeds that came from my old plants in my flower garden. The upside down pool is temporary. Heat kills seedlings and the pool makes for some nice shade.

I should be planning for another late fall crop of potatoes but I haven't finished with harvesting the old ones. This is what I found in my garden this morning. They would be like gold for hungry Irish man. But for me, they are a dime a dozen. Literally, I bought some really cheap seed potatoes.

When you see a half ripened tomato you should pick it. Why wait till they fully ripened? Insects love ripe fruit. Steal their joy by picking early.

Harvest Fun

I picked some carrots today (100 percent organic). They were dry even after receiving a nice rain the other evening.

My favorite use of carrots is by cutting some thin slices and adding them to my sandwiches. It makes the sandwich real crunchy.

This is the way I store my carrots in the refrigerator. I leave the tops on like they do at at the supermarkets. They seem to stay fresh longer.

Someone nice in my family bought me a onion for only 39 cents at an Amish stand. It was cheap and she knew I liked onions. She failed to see the harvest of my buckets of Vidalia onions. Bless her heart. I'll just add her onion to my collection.

Somebody took a bite out of my patio tomato. By the look of things, the critter must have liked the center part of the green tomato. Tomato juice is something people like too.

Some more of my harvest for the day. I love peppers. Peppers are great on any sandwich.

A plant for regaining your youth:

For those looking for another superfood try growing goji plants.

  http://www.phoenixtearsnursery.com/anti-aging-breakthrough.html

This melon plant was not planted. Sometimes your best melons come up on their own. When you discard your seeds from your melons think about where you put them. They will probably come up next year and give you another melon.

My tomatillo plant fell over last night from the storms. I was able to straighten it up without breaking the stem. I added a fence post for staking. I hope it survives.

This is my brother's tomato plants from California. Pure organic green that is watered from a drip system. It's loaded with fruit.

 My brother showed me this picture of his run-away pumpkin plant. This is such a cool picture. It makes me want to jump from pedal to pedal. If I was a frog, that's what I would be doing until a bird swooped down and ate me.

This is one of my experimental rootings. It likes this bucket.

Like all straw bale gardens they need stakes. I staked this squash plant growing in a hay bale to keep it upright for a while.

My brother's corn is phenomenal.

Sometimes the key to having great looking tomatoes is to pick them a little green and let them ripen in the house. Otherwise some critter or insect might make holes in them.

Do you see the size of those leaves. Yes, it is my squash plant again. I enjoy seeing it grow because I know that in a matter of time the squash bugs will overwhelm this plant and kill it.

Do You Like Pesticides?

I bought a cauliflower at the my local store  It was the hugest I have ever seen. It only cost 2 dollars.

It's got to be good, right? I would have been proud to have shown you this large cauliflower if it was grown from my garden but it was not. You would have been amazed at all my organic growing skills after seeing its large size.

No, I did not grow it. The cauliflower came from California. I know that store bought produce have been grown on a toxic farm, but they couldn't have used that much pesticides; could they?

http://www.pesticideinfo.org/DS.jsp?sk=13008

I only found 50 pesticides that were used by the cauliflower growers in California. Could it be that's why it grew unblemished from all that pesticide use?

I often wonder if I would have had more success in gardening by wearing a hazmat suit and using pesticides. I could have sprayed pesticides on all my plants and killed all those pesky little bugs that like to chew my plants. I could have even given my garden a new name, "Toxic Dump Hay Bale Gardens." Of course I would have put a sign up declaring,  "Beneficial Bugs Beware." You see I am thoughtful.

Recently I noticed that mosquitoes and ticks have not been biting me. Can they sense that I've been eating a store bought cauliflower? Maybe the toxins have started working in me so that the insects now fear my presence.

Perhaps this is all fear. Maybe the insecticides that were used on the plant were only on the leaves and not on the cauliflower? Or maybe my fear is genuine. Maybe the whole field that grows cauliflower reeks with poisons. This will probably be my last one that I'll buy. However, I think I am going to continue eating this one even though it might cause some hair loss due to its many toxins. After all, I paid 2 bucks for it.

Sevin Dust Anyone?

Organic farmers used no pesticides but I feel that small amounts could be used. For instance, squash bug eggs. A dab of pesticide will kill the eggs without the gardener trying to remove them by scraping. I have put many holes into my squash plants by trying to remove their eggs.

USE: Make a putty out of your insecticidal dust and apply it on your squash bug eggs. Dab it on with a brush. Whatever you do, do not dust it on like you would salt from a shaker. Use small amounts.  

7/23

I was disappointed that my bales easily fell apart when they were removed from my kiddie pool. When you can't remove your bales you are more apt to get mosquitoes. Sometimes it is a good idea to remove your containers or bales and dump the old mosquito larva filled water. Putting your bales in shopping bags are the perfect solution at portability. They would also be ideal for selling since they are easy to move and transport.

After I removed my kiddie pool I found another barren spot great for my last tomatillo plant. I put a whole jar of dead zapper bugs into the hole along with my soil mixture. It was a large transplant and shouldn't take long before it produces.

7/21

It is the one and only Moss Rose that grew in my flower garden. I wish I had more in different colors.

I have plenty of onions. Since it is dry I am going to keep them in the ground until I need them. I think I'll give some away. I don't use that many onions.

I'm officially 60 years of age as of today. I do all my exercises with 35 lbs in each arm. My goal is 40 lbs. The first few months my back started to ache after doing bent over rows. In the morning after exercising which is everyday I would walk hunched over until the pain subsided.  I soon conquered the pain by taking citrulline (in a form of watermelon juice). I did a post on it a while back ago. 

The benefits of watermelon juice is underestimated. Do you have back pain? Citrulline is used for muscle soreness that you get after a workout but I think it does much more than that. My pain went deep into the bone and also caused stiffness. With watermelon juice, I am young again and can handle weights that most older people would only dream of doing. Most seniors would like to exercise but pain gets in their way. If you are in pain, no amount of exercise will help but only aggravate your disability. 

People get addicted to things that make them feel good. Well then, I am addicted to watermelon juice. It is so easy to freeze into cubes. I take two a day. I don't have to take very much juice for pain relief. Try it and see if it works for you. Let me know. I would be interested in hearing how your life has change for the better.

By the way, I haven't reached my plateau yet. In another couple of  months I will be increasing my weights on my dumbbells. The only reason I increase the weights is that when the reps get to be around 13, exercise gets boring and takes longer. Right now I am doing about 3 sets and 5-8 reps on each exercise.  

Shared Sites

http://www.youngagainclub.com/

Thomas's books have some very useful information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJRgBuVR4_Q

I am going to start growing in Walmart bags. I want large corn. By adding straw around the growing medium, my bag plants ought to do great in the kiddie pools.

 Some of my onions are getting large. The only problem, I don't eat that much onions.

I grew some squash in my rabbit protection bales. I added bark to the soil before planting the seeds. The plants are staying quite moist. These are the same bales that I showed how to make a planting hole for growing.

I had to show the same picture of my squash from the other day. Today it looked so green and perky. The squash bugs haven't found it yet. This plant I dug a hole the size of a barrel and added hay around the growing medium. It is planted like I do my pots.

Bugs like tomatoes. I have to check them daily.

Seed Saving

Use different sifters. It helps separating the seeds. Tape the foil closed and label the seeds.