Termite Balls and Fig Trees

   For the past couple of years, I have tended to five fig trees that are in large pots.  I just have not had the space to plant them in the yard.  The trees are doing well and even produce figs!  A couple of days ago, I noticed that one of the large trees looked bad.  When I checked, the tree just flopped over!  It was dead! It appeared to have rotted off just below the dirt level.  I tossed it on the burn pile and thought no more about it.

  Today, I needed a large pot for some ginger roots that I had sprouted.  I remembered the dead fig tree and thought that the pot would be perfect!  So...I emptied out the dirt and found...a ball!  Yep, I found what appeared to be a spherical clump of...something.  Alrighty then.  As I am prone to do, I investigated.  Uh, oh!  Not good!  I never dreamed that termites could be the cause of my fig tree's demise!  Yep, that "ball" was a termite nest!  Now what?  

  The ball was placed in a bucket and all of the surrounding dirt was put back in the large flower pot.  I am happy to say that there are no more termites.  I boiled them.  Since the bug spray did not kill the termites, I took a hint from an uncle.  Boiling water poured on ants kills them so I knew it would work on the termites as well.  Plus, the hot water would get rid of any fungus that might have started growing in the dirt.

  Now, my ginger roots are happily in their new termite-free home!  My next job is to repot those other monstrous trees and check them for critters.  This is something I had not planned on doing but is obviously necessary.  Who would think?  Termites killed my fig tree!

Its All About The Birds!

  Obviously, birds are meant to be my friends.  Lately, that has become more apparent than ever.  I think nothing of hand feeding the herons, egrets and pelicans but now I can add wild quail and mockingbirds to the list.  Over the past few years, I have picked up chimney swifts, catbirds, mockingbirds, cardinals, doves, wrens, woodpeckers, blue jays and owls.  Of those, only the cardinal decided to give me a good peck.  The others calmly accepted the fact that I was merely trying to help them.  The cardinal was evidently in pain after being hung up in some wire and, perhaps, I used a bit more force than necessary in freeing the bird.  That said, the newest escapade involved a juvenile eastern bluebird.  No, I did not actually hand feed nor hold the youngster but it seemed to be highly attracted to me, for some odd reason. 

  Early this morning as I was picking the figs, I heard the bluebird family making their way to the birdbath.  Each morning, I have watched as they start their day by splashing in the cool water.  It never occurred to me that I would have a "close encounter" with one of the little ones.  This morning, however, one little rascal decided to take flight before the parent birds gave their directions.  The squirt flew directly for the fig trees and, therefore, directly toward me.  Maybe the little one did not see me but it nearly landed on my hand as I was reaching up to pluck a fat fig.  Can you imagine the poor thing's thought when it realized that it was almost in my clutches (which was never my intention in the first place).  Both parent birds came fussing at their little one to "abort the mission" and retreat!  The little one tried but being a novice at this flying stuff, it simply fluttered to the ground.  There, it sat, bewildered.  Mama and Papa Bluebird came to investigate the safety of their wayward child and, then, came to investigate the person picking figs.  After flitting about the tree for a few moments, they seemed assured that I meant no harm so they gathered their brood and went to search for grasshoppers in the lawn.  Our brief encounter ended on a happy note.

 

They Can Have The Rest

  For the past few weeks, it has been a twice daily chore to pick the figs.  The two large trees outdid themselves and produced buckets full of the fine fruit.  Now the shelves are stocked for the winter with home-canned goodies!  It has been quite the job to, not only pick the figs, but to can them.  Now, however, the job is done!  While there are still several pickings left on the trees, I have no desire to continue.  While the chore is tiring, that is not the reason behind my decision.  This morning's visit to the trees was somewhat unsettling.  With all of the recent rains, it seems that fruit flies have hatched in abundance.  Both trees were literally covered with the critters!  While a good many were seeking refuge under the wide leaves, the remaining figs were being infested!  Nope.  Not happening.  I refuse to bring the fruits into the house as the flies would come as well.  Nope...no way...not happening.

  Fruit flies are nasty little critters.  They can infest a place by the thousands in a matter of days and are a pain to eliminate.  It is best to never let them get started in the first place.  It is a known fact that the flies are attracted to ripening fruit and veggies so the best bet is to keep a good watch on anything you may have in the kitchen.  A couple of fruit flies does not seem like much but when you consider they can lay about 500 eggs (no lie) at a time, it is easy to see how two can turn into a huge problem rather quickly.  

  I do have two good things to tell you about these little buggers.  First...they do not bite! Yay!  At least, they are not like gnats!  Second, they only live about two weeks.  Again, Yay!  Except that is a short lived bit of jubilation as they breed rampantly and the eggs only take about a day to hatch.  Better set some fruit fly traps!

The Key to Happiness!

  With "heat warnings" being blasted over the weather reports, it seemed to be a good idea to spend most of the day indoors.  After my usual morning outdoor chores, I retreated inside to clean a small storage room that was close to exploding.  After four hours of work, I was done.  Nope.  The room is not finished as I need to freshen it with a coat of paint but at least, for the moment, it is clean!  But, as I said, I was done!  Finished!  Worn out!  Ready to escape!  So, I did.

  The old dog and I headed out the front door and to the first shady spot we found.  Before I could even plop down on the cool grass, another chore was spied.  Ok. Mr. PJ, you stay right there until I get my pail.  The figs needed picking and that was one chore that I did not mind doing!  Nigh on two gallons of ripe figs were dangling on the branches and a couple of dozen birds were hoping to make a meal of them.  Nope...not happening!  I ran to get my pail.

   Picking the figs made the brain wobble back in time to the old farm.  There, Pop had fruit trees of all sorts but his fig trees were amazing.  For years after his death, I had a recurring dream about Pop and his fig trees.  In the dream, he is telling me that the "key to my happiness is buried under the largest fig tree."  I so wanted to go dig up that tree but one thing or another got in the way and eventually, the farm was sold.  A subdivision of large homes now sits on the very site.  I often wonder if there really was something under that old fig tree or if it was merely a dream.  I guess I will never know.  Sorry, Pop.  At least, you can be proud that I learned how to grow fig trees and that makes me happy!

Working for the Title!

  Ms. Nycto, the Bayou Princess, is by far the most unsuitable cat to claim the Little Bayou House as her home.  She is definitely NOT a Bayou Cat.  She is a house cat...a big, fluffy lap cat....a spoiled rotten ornament of a pet that just happened to be abandoned at some point by her previous owners.  They dumped her at our place and drove away in haste.  What choice did the throwaway cat have but to come begging at our doorstep? Still, she has endeared herself to us and we took her in as one of our own.  No problems....except that we sort of thought she should act like a cat.  Nope.  Not happening.  She is a still a big ball of fluff that has yet to learn the ins and outs of being a working cat which comes to the problem.  When living on the Bayou, everyone (or everything) has to earn its keep.  We all have our "jobs" and try to complete them with some sort of adequacy.  Ms. Nycto was expected to follow in the footsteps of our other rescued cat, Ms. Put, the Bayou Queen.  She had not.  This sweet cat has yet to catch her first rat, mouse, vole, mole or squirrel.  She has not figured out how to keep birds from the fruit trees or squirrels from the tomato plants.  She has not figured out how to do anything except look pretty....and purr.

  However!  However, today, was a different story! Sort of...maybe...perhaps accidentally.  Ms. Nycto was suffering tremendously by the onslaught of mosquitoes.  The poor baby's ears were being chewed to the point of being bloody.  I bought some (very expensive) medicine to coat her ears.  This was supposed to repel all biting bugs.  I can see why.  This stuff stinks.  It sort of smells like an eucalyptus tree vomited on the poor cat.  But it does indeed work. Somewhat.  That said, Ms. Nycto decided to take things into her own hands...err...paws!  She has now claimed the raised herb/carrot garden as her personal spa/bed.  She spends most of her time snoozing in the corner of the bed letting the highly scented herbs do their job.  Smart cat..or at least smarter cat.  I am happy to see her smashing a few of the basil, carrot and oregano plants.  She is doing an untold service.

  The raised herb garden sits between the two large fig trees.  Prior to the change in the cat's sleeping quarters, every bird within the county was feasting upon the ripe figs.  I was getting very few for my yearly stockpile of fig jam.  The pantry would remain bare at this rate.  That all changed once the cat claimed the raised garden as her favorite spot. The birds are wary of the black blob of fur and the figs remain in tact. So, inadvertantly, the cat has been doing her job!  If only she knew how well she was protecting my fruit, she would be proud as a peacock! Good job, Ms. Nycto!  Keep it up and you just may well earn the title of Bayou Cat!

 

The "Dressing Room"

  It is that time of summer when I have to meander out to pick figs at dawn and then again at dusk.  There is a reason behind this madness and that reason is birds.  While I love my songbirds, they need to stop eating my fruit!  The two large fig trees stand between the garden fence and the greenhouse but even in those close quarters, dozens of assorted birds gather to munch on the ripe figs.  So, if I wish to make any jam for this winter, I have to "be up before the birds" and then do a second picking in the late afternoon. 

  It was during that late afternoon picking that Mark reached up to bend a tall limb down so I could reach the uppermost figs.  As soon as he took hold of the branch, he called my attention to a visitor...or maybe we were the intruders in this case.  An Obscure Bird Grasshopper was perched up among the leaves.  We had interrupted a very important time for this critter.  The grasshopper was still a bit sluggish from shedding its outer layer much like a crab sheds its shell during growth.  The grasshopper had outgrown its outer layer and need to shed into its adult size.  The process is called molting and is the way insects grow.  

  Just yesterday, I had remarked to Son that something was munching the upper leaves of the fig trees.  I now realize that the Bird Grasshopper was trying to "fill up" so it would survive the molt.  Most critters that go through such a molting stage as this, do not eat during the entire process.  Their bodies are too soft to seek out food and because of this softness, they try to stay hidden.  During their soft stage, they are easy targets for any predators even those smaller than themselves.  

  Even though these grasshoppers can do much damage to plants, I decided to let it go on its merry way.  We let the frightened critter ease its way under a thick batch of leaves as we continued picking figs around it.  It was a rather nifty find, though, as seeing both the freshly molted grasshopper and the old shed is a bit unusual.  You just never know what might be lurking in the fig trees!