We are friends!

   Since my days are back to being boring due to a torn muscle, it is pertinent that I find ways to entertain myself.  There is nothing worse than trying to confine a normally active person.  For the life of me, I cannot sit on the sofa and do absolutely nothing.  Sitting and I are not good at working together.  That said, I head to the gardens.  In the Small Gardens, there are any number of things that can hold the attention for a while.  While I cannot do much as far as tilling the soil or pulling the spent plants, I can, at least, pick the tomatoes. 

  It was when I was in the tomato patch that one of my friendly garden helpers caught my eye.  Most folks would claim that this little one is more of a pest but I do not see it that way.  Even though carpenter bees can drill holes in anything made of wood...the fence, the gates...even the Little Bayou House...their ability of pollinating tomato plants makes up for the negatives.  It is a fact that carpenter bees pollinate as well as bumblebees which puts them right behind honeybees in line of importance to a gardener.  

  The bee this morning was just lounging about on one of the boards that line the pathway through the vegetable plot.  It was soaking up a bit of sunshine before starting its day.  Well, if the bee needed a few moments to get its act together, I may as well join it.  Plop!  I sat down next to the little cutie and started conversing (one sided, of course) with it.  The bee leisurely crawled about on the board then up on my hand.  Sweet!  The two of us sat there...alone in the world (or at least the garden).  

  It is nice to be able to share a bit of "quality time" with the critters I find in the gardens.  Not many folks make it down to the Little Bayou House to visit so I tend to pour out my troubles, share my ideas or make small talk with whatever critter happens to linger long enough.  We are friends...those critters and I...we are friends.

"Red Bird Pest Control"

  To my way of thinking, the best pest control is free pest control.  In the past, I used all sorts of sprays.  I admit it.  It was terrible but I did it because that was what I was told to do.  How do you get rid of caterpillars in the garden?  "You spray them."  It was ridiculous, expensive and probably killing a lot more than caterpillars...me included.  So...I quit.  Then I went the whole routine of companion planting, herbal sprays and soap.  None really accomplished what I wanted.  I wanted the caterpillars to stop eating my plants not be clean, smell like garlic and live in a flowery world.  I wanted them gone!

  

  Today as I was planting squash seeds, I heard a fluttering of wings.  Just a few feet from where I was working, a male cardinal flew to a tomato plant.  I knew there were some caterpillars already munching the leaves so was elated to see the bird there.  Yep, that fellow snatched a caterpillar and flew off to the east.  I figure there is a nest of little ones somewhere near the greenhouse.  Within a few minutes, the bird was back!  Oh, this was great!

  All in all, the bird made about a dozen trips to the tomato plants.  Each time, he flew back eastward so I think he was successful in finding food for his offspring.  This...THIS...is the type of pest control that I have been wanting!  Effective, free and pretty!  My goodness, it cannot get any better!

Those tomatoes, though!

   Just a week ago, I was lamenting the fact that the winter garden had mostly quit producing and had to be discarded.  There are a few cabbages left, an occasional beet and perhaps one more picking of the green peas but, other than that, the garden had given up the ghost.  In fact, yesterday, the wheelbarrow was loaded with discards as I cleaned the rows to plant the summer garden. 

  A couple of weeks ago, an experiment took place under the spent cauliflower plants.  About a dozen seedling tomatoes were set in the same row as the cauliflower.  The large leaves of the old plant would serve as a "tent" for the tiny plants.  Perhaps this would give me a jumpstart on the season!  I figured that the tomato plants would have shelter from the frosty nights that we were still having.  It boiled down to either giving the plants a longer growing season or killing off a handful of seedlings.  

  I am happy to say that the plot agreed with the plants!  Those tomato crates are already brimming over with greenery and, lo and behold, BABY TOMATOES!  Yep, today, I found dozens of marble sized tomatoes.  My experiment worked out grandly.  Since it was storming today, the garden chores were put on hold but tomorrow will find me setting out the remaining 30 tomato plants and planting squash and green beans.  With the way prices are rising, the garden may be a sure necessity.  

Let The Worm Turn

   Yeah, I know the title does not exactly fit the story but, if you really think about it, the worm is turning...or in this case, a caterpillar so maybe it does.  I went to the vegetable section of the Small Gardens this morning to do a bit more clearing of the spent plants.  As I went to pull a ragged tomato plant from the ground, something caught my eye.  Oops.  Can't pull that one!  Right on the tip top of the tallest stalk was a tobacco horn worm.  Yes, I do usually pull the worms off of the plants and get rid of them but, this time, it was different.  The season is gone.  There are no more tiny tomatoes on the plants so why not let the critter have its fill of the last few leaves?  The worm can then change into a moth that will help pollinate plants.  Yes, I know that this caterpillar will change to a moth that will then lay eggs and make more caterpillars....that eat my plants!  Still, that "live and let live" motto started buzzing about the head. Go for it, caterpillar!

  That said, the garden will have to wait a bit before being fully cleared and prepared for a fall planting. One caterpillar just changed the whole plan for the day.  One caterpillar postponed a chore.  One caterpillar will probably come back to haunt me by laying a billion eggs that will eat next year's tomato plants!  One caterpillar...oh, well.  It is what it is.  Chow down in peace, little one.

Ladybug Diner

  This afternoon, I headed out to pick the figs.  This is a twice daily chore as I try to "beat the birds".  No, I do not wallop the thrashers stealing the figs but I try hard to out race them to the ripe ones.  There are only a few more days that this comedy will take place as there are few figs left on the trees.   Between the birds and me, we have picked the trees clean.  After finishing this chore, it is my habit to walk through the garden to check for any remnant veggies.  It was there that a small red dot caught my eye and made me while away a good half hour.

  One of the garden boxes has a mishmash of plants. One volunteer tomato plant, six marigolds, one chrysanthemum, two mints, a few chives, a couple of purple basils and one struggling rose cutting are all growing there.  In the midst of all those leaves, a red dot scampered.  Aha!  A ladybug had found the mother lode of aphids and was a happy camper!  I watched as the ladybug raced around the leaves in search of aphids.  It would then chow down on its prey before starting anew.  The race was on!

  On closer inspection, there were many ants on the same plants.  At first, I assumed the ladybug was merely trying to outrun the ants but it kept coming back to run atop them again and again.  Then I realized that the symbiotic relationship between the ants and aphids was how the ladybug found its meal.  Ants literally "farm" aphids.  As the aphids suck the juices out of my plants, they excrete "honeydew" which the ants love.  The nectar rich resource is food for the ants.  In return, the ants protect the aphids.  (There have been cases known where ants will tote aphids with them if they have to move their nests.)  The ladybug, on the other hand, dines upon the aphids, themselves.  

  Usually, the ants and ladybugs tolerate each other and pretty much ignore one another.  Neither are predators to the other.  They both happen to be interested in the third insect..the aphid.  Personally, I would rather have the ladybugs than either the ants or aphids!  Chow down, Ladybug!

Another Little Frustration

  Back during the winter (or as I call it "lack of winter"), Son needed to use the table saw that was in the back yard by the shed.  Since he had been using it every day or so, he would not move it back into the shed but, rather, would cover it well.  When he went to remove the cover, there were hundreds of leaf-footed bugs hiding beneath the cover.  They were a bit surprised that their overwintering spot had been discovered and scattered about the place before I could douse them with bug spray.  I hate those things!  They ruin more tomatoes than any other critter.  Well, almost.  This year, the squirrels have hauled off about half of my tomatoes but, still, the leaf-footed bugs do their damage, as well.

  This year, I have been fortunate as to not see nearly as many of the bugs as in the past.  Today was the first day that I spied four or five on the tomato plants.  Well, whoopee-doo!  The tomatoes are all gone for the moment so the bugs may be a tad discouraged.  These bugs have piercing, sucking mouth parts that would blotch each tomato before it ripened.  Hopefully, they will be so downhearted that they will move elsewhere!

  The leaf-footed bugs are true bugs.  They are distant kin to those nasty stinkbugs and, like them, do emit a foul odor when squished.  This afternoon, I smacked three of them and the stench was pretty bad.  At least, I managed to get rid of those!  If you look closely at the above photograph, you can see why the bugs are named as such.  They have a flared growth on their hind legs which gives them a leaf-footed appearance.  While I am pleased that I have not seen too many this year, I really could do without them altogether!  Go away, bug!!

Don't fence me in!

  This is the first year in several that the garden has done well.  If things keep going like they are, the pantry shelves should be restocked by midsummer.  I am happiest about the tomatoes.  There are a dozen plants that are in the ground and probably that many in pots.  I had no ground space left so, in desperation, I am trying to grow them in cheap pots.  So far, those are doing well but it is those "in ground" plants that are surprising me. 

  When I put the plants in the ground, a large tomato crate was placed over each one.  Normally, the crates do a grand job of supporting the plants but this year, the plants outgrew the crates.  For the past two weeks, I have been thinking that the plants would stop growing.  They have not.  These goofy things now tower above my head and are loaded with tomatoes from the ground up!  This is fine and dandy except that the south wind has been rather brisk and the plants were bending over the crate top.  Since they are loaded with tomatoes, some stalks were beginning to break.  That would never do!  I cannot lose my tomatoes!  I have big plans for those things!

  Today, Son went back to the canebrake and cut a bundle of canes.  The bamboo was pushed into the ground and he then started to string each together with some jute twine.  It was my job to gently lift those plants (heavy with tomatoes) and hold them in place while he wrapped the twine.  He wove a nice "fence" for the plants.  Hopefully, this will hold them until the tomatoes ripen.  I imagine that another few wraps of twine will have to be added later if the plants keep getting taller but for now, they look a lot happier.  Their new "fence" was working nicely against the evening breezes.  Now, what am I going to do with those in the pots if they grow this large??

Color in the Garden!

  Have you priced flower pots recently?  My goodness!  All I wanted was some of the cheap, nursery quality black pots so I could plant a few tomatoes and peppers.  It did not matter the style or appearance.  I just needed some one gallon and some two gallon pots.  Cheap pots are not something that stores around here carry.  Mark and I started searching and most places wanted at least $5 a pot!  Nope.  That was not happening!  I would go broke buying flower pots to get enough tomatoes to make sauce!  So...the search was on to find some affordable, one time use flower pots.

  It was early afternoon when an idea struck me!  Why buy flower pots???  If I just wanted something to contain my tomato plants, did it matter if it was a bucket?  I checked bucket prices.  Well, that was some better.  You could buy a bucket for a mere $3.50.   Still at that price, I would be sinking more money than I wanted.  More searching was in order.  Trash cans!  Yeah!....No...$4.63.  Then another brilliant idea!  Ok...a plug here for a business but I have to give a big shout out to Dollar Tree!

  Mark and I headed to the local Dollar Tree and racked up on pots!  One gallon, two gallon and three gallon wonderful pots...uhhh...storage containers were filling the shelves and then our basket!  Mark is one of those shoppers that clears a shelf when he finds what he needs.  I came home with 59 lovely planters for $1 a piece! All that is needed is to drill some small drainage holes and I will be in business planting!  With this many pots, I have enough to, not only grow tomatoes and peppers but lots of flowers!  The assorted colors will add a bit of brightness to even the darkest corners of the garden.  Yep!  Mark came to my rescue and Dollar Tree had just what I needed!  Win!!

Connecticut, would you kindly take these bugs?

  As far as I can tell, there is only one downside to this "organic" gardening. Growing fruit and veggies that are bug-free is hard work! Don't get me wrong, I always have gardened this way and always will but, still, sometimes things get a bit frustrating.  While I am used to going out and handpicking tomato worms, I draw the line at doing the same to stinkbugs.  Those things are just foul!  I must find an easier, more nose-friendly method of eliminating these critters from my tomato plants.  

  Late this evening, I went out with Ms. Ez.  The old dog needed a bit of attention so a walk was in order.  My good intentions were waylaid by critters.   The tomato plants were literally covered with the Leaf-footed Bugs.  These are large insects that belong to that smelly group of stinkbugs.  They climb around on the plants ruining any fruit that dares look delightfully edible.  The bug sticks its long proboscis in through the tender flesh and sucks portions of it dry.  After getting its fill, the critter moves on to another tomato but the damage to the first one is not finished. Hard knots form around the point of proboscis entry rendering the fruit just about unusable.  The unsightly blemishes make for one unappetizing tomato.

  I counted over two dozen of the Leaf-footed Bugs on one plant.  They were all grouped together in wads so at least that part was easy. Smash! I killed dozens upon dozens of the varmints!  Poor Ms. Ez was in no way pleased with our shortened walk.  Strange thing is, I now find that some misguided folks in Connecticut are advising people to "gently grasp the insects and move them to a more suitable location". (And they are talking about the same bug here!) Right!  Let me know how that is working for you, Kind, Gentle Folks of Connecticut!  I hate to tell you but these things will come right back to haunt you if you let them! I do believe that most folks in Connecticut, just like here on the Bayou, realize that sometimes it is better to get rid of bugs instead of inviting them to be house-guests. Come this winter, those who refuse to eradicate them, will find them as squatters in their homes. The bugs will (and really do.) love to invade the closet and snuggle down in warm clothes to overwinter.  Moving them to a "more suitable" location is out of the question for me.....unless!  Unless, I can move them right on up to a more suitable location in Connecticut!  That should keep them off my tomatoes!

I've got a monster on my hands!

  For months I bemoaned the fact that my tomato plants looked a tad wimpy.  They were green enough but had thin stalks and no blooms.  My brother informed me that I needed to "hill" them and then they would grow.  Hill them, I did.  Grow, they did.  Now that the tomato plants decided to have this massive growth spurt, there is no room in the garden for anything else.  The squash were the first to go.  The tomato plants literally shaded the squash plants so much that they soon died from lack of sunshine.  Ok, so I can do without squash, I thought. I can always plant more squash in early fall.  I was just happy to see the tomato plants growing and finally setting tomatoes.  A couple of weeks later, the green beans were totally engulfed in the wayward tomato bushes.  By now, the goofy things had outgrown their cages, flopped to the ground and then kept going.  If I was to stand one as tall as it would reach, it most likely would be well over ten feet tall!  AND the plants are still growing.....and growing.  

  Today when I went to the garden, a new disaster!  My bell peppers were missing and the cucumber arch was not covered with cucumber vines! Where are my plants?  First, I investigated the cucumber arch.  This is something that my son, Michael, had devised to raise the plants up off of the ground. Since I am gardening in a tiny space, we thought it necessary to go vertical with some plants.  He rigged some rabbit wire into an archway that spanned the path.  Just this past week, I had remarked about how well the cucumbers were covering the arch!  In my mind, I had already pictured myself picking cucumbers from above my head! Nope...they are gone. Kaput!  Out of here!  In place of the once thriving cucumber vines....you guessed it, tomatoes.  Grrr...this was beginning to be slightly aggravating!  On to the pepper patch.  This is the first year that I planted peppers in containers.  The homemade cedar boxes really impressed me!  Plants were doing so well.  My peppers had nice thick stalks and were dark green in color.  Blossoms were covering the plants. Ok, now where are my pepper plants?  I tugged on an overhanging tomato and soon discovered that the pepper plants were being housed beneath the massive tomato plants.  They still had blooms and looked determined to survive!  Hopefully they will!

  At least one good thing is coming from the boundlessness of tomato growth.  I have been able to make and can a good many jars of sauce for the coming winter. The shelves are being replenished with all sorts of tomato goodness!  Pint after pint, quart after quart of sauce is being canned!  Where I had planned on having a variety of things in jars, the shelves are looking like they might just hold sauce...lots and lots of sauce!  
 

A cup of coffee or a tomato sandwich?

   Cutworms seem to love my baby tomato plants along with every other tiny plant that sprouts in the garden.  After losing a dozen or so, I decided that something had to be done about the nightly disappearance of my plants.  Since there was no way that I was going to dump a bunch of chemical insecticides on my heirloom tomato plants, the critters were just going to have to leave!  The use of insecticides sort of defeats the purpose of saving my own seeds, if you ask me!  So, I sat and pondered the problem as I drank my first mug of coffee. Hmmm...coffee?  Well, that seemed to be the answer! No, I was not going to invite the cutworms in for a sip of caffeine nor was I going to douse the garden with the stuff! I had a different idea! Mark bought some really nice disposable coffee cups this past month. Personally, I cannot stand to use anything but my favorite mug so to me, those things were readily available for use in the garden.  I cut the bottoms out of a couple dozen of the cups and made little fences for the newest tomato seedlings that were to be set in the garden.  I figured if I made the plant a bit difficult to reach, perhaps the cutworms would find an easier source of food.

  After setting out about twenty tomato plants into the garden, a bottomless cup was pressed into the soil over the plant.  Now each had its own little fence!  Of course, anyone visiting the garden might find it a tad strange that there are coffee cups in the tomato cages but, hey, it is well worth a try.  My Aunt Marie and Uncle Alfred used opened milk cartons in their garden to not only protect the tomato plants from late freezes but also keep bugs at bay.  With the lack of milk cartons, paper coffee cups would have to suffice in my garden!

  In due time, my plants might just provide me with a nice, plump tomato or two for my lunch!  If this works, tomorrow, I will set out another thirty to forty plants and cover them all with bottomless coffee cups. Since these are the waxed cups, I should be able to wash, dry and store the cups for future use.  There is no use in just tossing anything that can be recycled!  Ahhh, yep, a good cup of coffee always makes me think a bit clearer!  Coffee cup fences...who would have thought?

Winter Garden?

Son and I spent the morning digging out a section of ground to use as our winter garden.  We have decided to move the winter crops into the Rose Garden for safe keeping.  The hillside has more than its share of rabbits and now a nice number of deer that would love to have a late-night snack of spinach or cabbage.  The Rose Garden is fenced so it is unlikely that the rabbits or the deer will feel comfortable invading the area.  Ms. Ez has easy access to this plot so she does a nifty job keeping it critter free.  By "digging out", I mean literally digging out..we lifted all of the soil from an area about two feet by thirty feet, placed a black liner down, refilled with dirt then fertilizer.  This was all done as an attempt to keep the voles from attacking the root systems of the plants.  Their tunneling ruined about all of the roses so some method of blocking them was needed.  We did this under the herb garden and it thrived!  The voles did not tunnel through the plastic to the roots.  Hopefully, the cabbages, carrots, beets, spinach and assorted other greens will fare as well.

While we were working up a sweat with the shovels and hoes, I made an offhand remark to him about getting the hotbed ready for early spring.  To that, Michael replied that the "hotbed was already planted".  Sure enough, there was a quite healthy tomato plant and two pepper plants already taking up residence in the hotbed.  Hmmmm...Thanksgiving tomatoes seem to be on the menu for next week!  The one plant has a dozen or more nice sized green tomatoes almost ready to ripen!  Along side of the tomato were two smaller Habanero pepper plants that were laden with little orange blobs!  The peppers did not surprise me at all but that tomato was amazing!  I have had the peppers overwinter in the garden and have managed to pull a few tomatoes through while in the greenhouse but never just right out in the open.  With winter setting in a mite early this year, the plant should have died weeks ago or at least been damaged beyond hope.  But, no, this one was not giving up its job of producing some delightfully plump tomatoes!

With this plant still producing, the preparation of the hotbed will have to wait.  I am in no hurry to start seedlings yet anyway as this needs to be done in February.  By then, I am quite sure that the tomato plant will have met its demise and the plot will be free and clear.  In the meantime, I suppose I really should concentrate more on this winter garden!  The cabbages are in the ground and the other seeds will be planted in the morning.  Michael has one more area to dig and vole-proof.  Then..Ms. Ez can keep her guard over the plants!  Hopefully, we shall dine on fresh veggies throughout the cold months ahead!

Everything is Peachy Keen!

Peaches! Tons and tons of peaches..well..maybe not tons but a lot of peaches! Son and I chopped what seemed like an endless amount of the fruit today. I had to use the canner pot to cook the chopped peaches. It was filled to capacity even though it is almost a twenty-two quart pot! Oh my! The house smelled delicious while this was cooking! It took us several hours, two cut thumbs and a pot of coffee to make our way through this mass of peaches but we finally have it all in the jars! What was twenty pounds of peaches has now been turned into four gallons of peach jam! I am tired to say the least! And to think..we have to pick more peaches in the morning..the process will start all over again!

After spending all day inside the kitchen, I needed to escape to the garden. I slipped on my shoes and headed out the back door just in time to hear Ezzy barking at something near the marsh edge. After killing one snake at the back door yesterday, I was concerned that she might have found another. So..to the Bayou I headed. I was thoroughly armed with my camera and nothing else but I was more interested in pulling the dog back from the marsh than killing a snake that was where it should be. As I made my way through the tomato garden, I realized that Ezzy was barking up a tree and not at the ground. Now there have been instances where I have seen snakes in the trees but something just struck me as being a bit odd with this situation. Ezzy does have a habit of treeing animals so I was assuming that a squirrel was sitting on a low limb just aggravating her. She was excited to see that I was investigating her dilemma. I peered into the bushes and finally located what she had treed. There about eight feet from the ground in a small bush was a raccoon. A nice, fat raccoon..she had treed what I assume was a very pregnant critter. I called her back and let the animal clamber out of the bush and hurry on its way. No use in disturbing a lady that was "in the family way". Ezzy was extremely proud of her treeing abilities and immediately raced to a nearby hickory tree as if to say.."I might have something up this one, too!" Sadly to say, there was nary a critter in that tree..but she was just as excited to sit and stare at the tree for the next hour anyway! Silly dog!

Speaking of the tomato garden, I noticed when I hurried through earlier, that the bushes are loaded with tiny fruit. I can only hope that this year, we actually get a few tomatoes that are of a larger size. Last year, every plant in the garden turned out to be of the cherry size. That made for a lot of picking. Still, I managed to put up quite a few jars of sauce, salsa and ketchup! It pleases me to know that the plants are still doing as well as they are considering the extreme drought that we are enduring here on the Bayou. I try to water the plants but sometimes I wonder if I am just prolonging the inevitable. Hopefully..the plants will hold on a bit longer and the rains will come again.

And the Beat Goes On..

Ahh, the sound of thunder in the distance! This sounds promising! A nice soaking rain is much needed on the tomato plants that were just set out in the garden. With limited space for gardens, I doubled up on the plants by putting two in each hole. This will make good use of the wire tomato cages and still leave plenty of growing room. Picking any ripe tomatoes might be a tad difficult however since the twenty hills are literally only inches apart. Not a lot of leg room! These tomatoes had long outgrown the hotbed forcing me to remove the window glasses several weeks ago. It is just a happy thing that the weather has been warm as there is no way of protecting the several hundred plants still residing in the hotbed nor the forty that are in the garden already. Still, the ground is dry and the impending storm makes me happy!

The downside of a storm? The rains and predicted high winds will invariably knock all of the Wisteria blossoms to the ground. For the past few days, there has been a constant shower of lavender petals. Under the arbor, the pathway is carpeted with purple! I almost hate to see them disappear as I will so miss the aroma as well as the beauty that the three vines brought to the yard. I was telling Son the other day, if anyone could ever truly "bottle" the scent of Wisteria, they would be millionaires! Not only as the perfume but because the smell is such a symbol of the approaching Springtime! If you are in the Deep South and you smell one of four things you know Winter is over..Wisteria, in its purple glory..Orange blossoms, the Honeybees' bloom of choice..Confederate Jasmine, conjuring thoughts of warm, muggy nights and porch swings..and Magnolias..the epitome of all things Southern.

That said..my house has a wonderful aroma, too! Strange as it seems, whenever the weather turns a bit stormy, I always seem to want to bake! So.. bake I did! My one jug of sourdough starter has now multiplied so much that it had to be divided and divided again. I have four gallon jugs of the stuff and if someone does not request some soon, it will soon need to be five. I pulled out one jug and started baking! A delightful cranberry/ chocolate filled bread was the first of many loaves. Next.. cinnamon/ raisin/walnut braids came from the oven! Then a request! Son asked for a cheese filled loaf. Not satisfied with making one loaf, I made three Crusty-topped Cheese-filled Sourdough loaves! Now keep in mind that at the moment, only he and I are at home. That is a lot of bread! And the storms are predicted to continue through the day tomorrow.. more baking!

Finally, I will end on a "What's it?" that was found during the cleaning of the sewing room! I am not sure just what this was originally nor am I sure why it was saved and stashed in this room! I do believe it is a part of some type motor or something and possibly was stuck in the out-of-the-way place during a mad-dash cleaning day. Perhaps I found it on the coffee table (since that is usually where things have a way of appearing) and tossed it in the sewing room because of an unannounced visit from one very persnickety aunt. I don't have a clue..but I do think it might be garbage!