Thoughts and opinions on the life and culture we have and need.
With COVID-19 making it’s way around the world, those of us with time and health are able to spend a whole lot of time in our gardens. Let’s hope the commercial greenhouses and nurseries (and everyone, for-that-matter) can survive this. I think it’s about time I wrote of our garden. It’s been a long time... Continue Reading →
Fruit Tree Pest Control Pests in trees usually come and go. Seldom will a tree die from regular pest pressure. When they do, there is a reason: An introduced pest with no natural enemies, or a stressed tree suffering from something else. In fact, when someone has shown me a tree dying of a normal... Continue Reading →
Eupeodes americanus is a hoverfly species with a range from Alaska to Mexico - and maybe beyond and even in Europe. Hoverflies are often mistook for bees - or so I hear. They do have yellow/black or white/black markings, but unlike wasps or bees, they have short antenna, enormous fly-eyes, and only one pair... Continue Reading →
The winterized garden: November, 2019. The rains have come. It was actually a wet September, which for us, is unusual. For the trees and my garden, it was welcomed - besides splitting my tomatoes and abruptly putting an end to the season for some more sensitive crops. October had been relatively nice, and we have... Continue Reading →
Since the popularization of the modern greenhouse in Victorian England, non-chemical, greenhouse pest-control, as we know it, has been practiced. It was before modern chemical pesticides were available, and it was at this same time that Phytoseiulus persimilis (common name: Persimilis) became cosmopolitan and the standard for two spotted spider mite control. Without the sophistication... Continue Reading →
Harvesting early and managing summer pests
In some areas, thrips begin to appear in early spring. Most of us become aware of thrips during a large influx late in the spring and throughout the summer. Thrips don't fly, rather, they tumble and in days of atmospheric convection, they (like many mites) use the electro-static conditions to levitate and travel large distances.... Continue Reading →
A Sample Veggie Garden Rotation It’s time to take a closer look at what is growing, now that the heavy work is out of the way. I’ll walk you through what I am growing in each bed - in the order through which they will rotate. But first, I’ll discuss the reasons I am rotating... Continue Reading →
What to Grow and When Spring-Cleaning is impossible when you’re hands are in the dirt. That has been me (or at least my excuse) for a solid week now. Only a week? (You ask.) Yes, because on the weekend of March 9th I meant to work the soil (after doing a morning seminar at a... Continue Reading →
