Baby Acer - Foliage Close-up 4, Day 4 from planting, 25.9.12

momamamo The traps must be working -- I have seen only two cucumber beetles this year. But hundreds of squash bugs, which I HATE and have found no organic way to kill them! vgkg I used both clove oil and the tayuya powder as the bait and put out five bottles each of the poison stew on their sides, thought I'd cover all bases. I tuck the open end of the bottles under large leaves and keep a general lookout for deteriorating leaves and move them if necessary. From what I could tell of the posts last year, both baits work equally well, and my use of both of them limits any conclusion I personally might make about the best one. But I do know they're working for me. I have cukes in one place, melons way down at the end of that trellised row, and squash two rows over from them. They don't seem to bother my beans, though I know they can be a host plant for these pests. Here's a full list: Vegetable crops damaged include cucumber, squash, beet, bean, pea, sweet potato, okra, corn, lettuce, onion, and various cabbages. Bean and soybean are especially favored (Chittenden 1912, Saba 1970). Except for nematodes, the natural enemies of banded cucumber beetle are poorly known. The mermithid nematode Filipjevimermis leipsandra affects this species, and natural infection levels in South Carolina were reported to be in the range of 20 to 40 percent from May through October. Ants have been shown to be important egg predators in the tropics, and likely are important elsewhere. http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/veg/bean/banded_cucumber_beetle.htm I didn't know ants might be egg-predators until I read the link above, so I suppose that's good reason not to destroy them. Do try the clove oil and Sevin to see if the beetle numbers go down. This is usually the heaviest infestation time, and I think it's impossible to keep their numbers small by hand-killing them. If it doesn't work for you, you can always mix the clove oil with a little olive oil and use it for toothaches or to un-itch mosquito bites, as well as in cooking! It's anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antifungal!

Hello everyone, i have been so busy have not had time to write. I finally finished the second bed,and spent the weekend looking for different types of compost. I only found three,all the rest are basically the same in Florida at least around here. I did find one Blueberry bush ,YEAH ,seems healthy... I changed the soil and transplanted to a bigger pot I have it in the morning sun and afternoon shade we will see. I planted some watermelon in 2 of the block cells as an experiment they are growing quick and seem happy.. I planted some tomatoes in containers and have them next to the blueberries.I also planted an herb garden in 2 containers i had for awhile they contain, Rosemary,basil,parsley,thyme,oregano,also some spearmint and peppermint. Within 2 days the Bugs have located and began thier attack,whiteflies and mites i belive..... i have been holding them off with palmolive and water. A friend told me ivory soap 2 tblespoons mixed in 1 quart warm water or liquid castile soap same mix,works well I'll try it.... I have to get the soil in the beds this weekend and finish mulching around the beds...I kickin around with idea of micro sprinkler sytem on a timer.They are fairly inexpensive and would work well with my goofy schedule. I have not recieved my worms yet but the compost pile seems to be doing well.Guess i'll have to call uncle Jim's and see what the delay is.. Almost forgot i ordered my muscadine grapes they will be here in Oct,along time to wait but i need to prepare the soil anyway so it worrks out well.. Glad i got the time to share and be part of your gardens Good luck to all and Happy Gardening...

Tricia, I'm so sorry about the list that disappeared! I hate it when that happens! One of the things I love about Firefox is that those things are sometimes recoverable. (Either following the back arrow, or closing and reloading.) The MAGMA cookware is interesting. Same kind of thought as the Cristel that KitchenDetective mentioned. Seems to have good variety, too. So I've been trimming my list and I think I have it down all the way. I thought I'd share. No wok required, but it could hand half into the window, next to the dishwasher. :) It's still a really long list, but I think everything actually fits, and pretty easily. More so than the people! When four people sit down to dinner in my shipping container, the table and chairs are big enough for the people, but there's no real room to maneuver and everyone has to move if someone needs to get up. :) So, for cookware storage I have a set of 24" drawers, for the dishes I have a shelf, and between the studs storage for glasses and mugs. There's also a little storage above the fridge and oven, but I don't want to use it for cookware other than the 20" wood carving board. The "pantry" is three wire baskets in a moveable cart with drop leaves that tucks away between the side of the cooktop cabinet and the washer door. I kind of cheated and used my own 24" self imported induction cooktop. After reading Johnliu's list, I just couldn't deal with the single element Miele 15" or the other, wimpy dominoes. The paper towels would go in a basket in the cart, which pulls out and becomes an island with the drop leaves up. The foil, parchment and plastic bags can go in the between the studs storage, along with small bottles and jars, or in the cart drawer with the tea towels and pot holders. There's room for cleaning supplies, including: telescoping broom and mop compact mop bucket cleaning supply caddy with nesting bucket collapsible 13 gallon lidded trash can--a frame which holds the bag, then flattens to 2.6" Sponge holder suctions to sink side. Press-with-back-of-hand soap dispenser sits on counter. Clothes iron hides behind a sliding cover on the shelves folding Ironing board and Drying rack hang on bathroom door. Side of shelving case is reinforced and has hooks to hold the four chairs, when folded, 6" thick, total. Top drawer has a compact flatware organizer which can hold the four settings of seven pieces and five hostess pieces: tea spoons soup spoons salad forks dinner fork table knives appetizer spoons appetizer forks serving fork serving spoon slotted serving spoon sugar spoon butter knife Utensils: Infrared/themocouple thermometer Shun Classic Hollow-ground 8" chef's knife with edge guard Shun Classic honing steel (I decided the cook could take the knife out for proper sharpening rather than making room for a stone set) Normann Copenhagen nut cracker Rachael Ray peeler with attached vegetable brush Norpro stamped steel church key for...