A Garden Mystery

Something has been eating my broccoli and cauliflower plants leaves.  Nibbling down to the stems and stripping all the leaves off.  ~grrr~

I first thought I was dealing with a caterpillar but couldn't find them, but I sprayed with BT anyways.  Nope, still more damage.

Then I put on row covers.  Whatever it is tried to chew through the row covers to the plants.  Did more of a gumming like a baby teething than any real damage.

I thought I had won at this point, but nope.  The critter (I now think it's a critter and not an insect) figured out how to get under the row cover!  ~bleah~

Tightened row covers up.  Success?  Nope.  Now it's after my lettuce.  ~ugh!~

So, today I covered the lettuce with a row cover.

This weekend I need to do some cleaning in the garden area.  In the area there is a corner where there are lots of bushes and great places for a critter to hide.  When cleaning I wouldn't be surprised if I flush something out.

I hope it's not cute.  It's hard to maim and kill something when it's cute. 

I'll let you know how it goes.

Pet Cockroaches

Yes, my son now has pet cockroaches.  Three of them to be precise.  Ewwww!!

Favored son is really cute with them.  He talks to them and makes them a cute bed at night.  It's actually sweet to hear him playing with them.

Luckily they are plastic fake ones or I would have had to break a little boy's heart and smashed the $#@%^ out of them!

How did son get his plastic fake pet cockroaches you ask?  Because of the nice pest service that had a booth at the Orlando Home Show.

If I see that nice gentleman again, I'm going to give his kids a toy that is very LOUD and ANNOYING.  To show my gratitude of course.  :)

PS - I think I might need to cut back on some of the cartoons he is watching.  One of them is about a planet where the insects talk and have super powers...  That might be the source of his friendliness with pests.  I hope thats the reason....

Gardening Humor...

This struck my funny bone.  :)

An old Italian gent lived alone in New Jersey .

He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

* Dear Vincent, I am feeling pretty sad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days. Love, Papa *

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

* Dear Papa, Don’t dig up that garden. That’s where the bodies are buried. Love, Vinnie *

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. 

That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

* Dear Papa, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances. Love you, Vinnie*

Source - Urban Survival

Gardening update...

Aarrrggghhhh!!  The seedlings got SCORCHED!!  Okay, now that I've gotten that out...

Finally the weather truly has cooled off.  I'm going to replant half of my earthboxes with cool weather seeds and for the other half I'm going to buy plants from Home Depot.  This way I have veggies soon to satisfy my craving for fresh garden veggies and yet keep developing true gardening skills.

On a postive note, I found out that Winter Garden Feed and Seed carries onion bulbs, garlic bulbs and potatoes (November).  The onion and garlic bulbs were planted over the weekend.  I'm thinking for the potatoes this year I'm going to try the barrel method.  Depends on my mood when the time comes.

As for the garlic and onions I can't wait to see how that turns out!  Yummmm!

To end on a not yummy note, I was patrolling the garden for buggies (I have cucumbers and squash growing from seed) and it was time to "man up" and squish caterpillars.

I truly hate the "bug squishing" part of gardening.

Gardening is not for wimps!

Part Hillbilly & Part Injun

My mother's birth name is Leila Mae.  My father's family name is Locklear and he's from North Carolina.  The Locklear name typically has it's origins in the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

I've always joked that I'm part hillbilly and part injun - one part of me makes moonshine and the other part can't drink it!  LOL

Before anyone gets huffy, the joke is on me and about me, so chill.  ;)

Looking at my adorable little boy I have to laugh.  Husband is part Irish and English.  I'm part hillbilly and Lumbee Indian.

Son, I'm truly glad you have a great sense of humor.  You're going to need it!!  :)