What Did You Do In The Garden?

[ducks4you]

@digitS' , Ya know, IF you can tolerate some weeds, or OVERFILL your vegetable beds with flowers, THEY end up taking a lot of the hit before your vegetables do. You have to monitor the weeds so that they don't go to seed, but you can clip off the tops and they certainly won't die on you. Plus they will spread out roots preventing other weeds from growing there. It just doesn't look that great. I have many weeds, but right now very few nightshade. Don't they have prickers on the stems? I know we have had out threads about not wearing gloves, but I think that is when you are transplanting. Otherwise, I wear Out a pair of gloves every gardening season. My hands would be a mess If I wasn't wearing gloves most of the time.

 

[digitS']

@ducks4you , I believe that there are at least 2 types of nightshade here. It's not the most common annual weed around but arrives early on the scene.

It's fairly easy to see that young nightshade is an early choice for adult potato beetles. Before the tomatoes and eggplant are set out in the garden, before the leaves of the potatoes are available.

Wikipedia cites the University of Kentucky: "Colorado potato beetle females are very prolific and are capable of laying over 500 eggs in a 4- to 5-week period."

They have had their month of temperatures above freezing. The eggs have hatched! The potato plants were growing nicely. Somewhere on the property, where the tractor guy and the birds can spread their seeds, some of the nightshade is unmolested and on its way to maturing. There will be a 2020 crop and with it, the nightshade's resident potato beetle prepared to lay 500 eggs.

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

@ducks4you , I believe that there are at least 2 types of nightshade here. It's not the most common annual weed around but arrives early on the scene.

It's fairly easy to see that young nightshade is an early choice for adult potato beetles. Before the tomatoes and eggplant are set out in the garden, before the leaves of the potatoes are available.

Wikipedia cites the University of Kentucky: "Colorado potato beetle females are very prolific and are capable of laying over 500 eggs in a 4- to 5-week period."

They have had their month of temperatures above freezing. The eggs have hatched! The potato plants were growing nicely. Somewhere on the property, where the tractor guy and the birds can spread their seeds, some of the nightshade is unmolested and on its way to maturing. There will be a 2020 crop and with it, the nightshade's resident potato beetle prepared to lay 500 eggs.

Steve

sounds like you need some ducks! (i have no idea if ducks would eat them... )...

 

[ninnymary]

Did
my daughter’s yard.

 

[ducks4you]

Looks lovely @ninnymary !!

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Good Heavens, my poor sad eggplant don't deserve a bug attack! They have had a difficult enuf time with the weather.

Steve

Sounds like quite the battle.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

View attachment 32177 View attachment 32176 Did
my daughter’s yard.

Very pretty!

 

[thistlebloom]

View attachment 32177 View attachment 32176 Did
my daughter’s yard.

That's a lot of work accomplished. Looks great! You put cardboard under the bark? It should be fairly low maintenance for her.
I hope she appreciates having a gardener-mom!

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I don't have too many bugs yet and sounds like I should be glad I did not plant potatoes this year, but I have bird invasion. This time not the blackbirds, but a gang of crows. I think they are crows and not ravens. They have always been around in yards and trees, but never in my garden. I have heard them in the trees making more noise than usual. One day they actually went after Mister, my cat and was fussing at him, so I thought they had babies flying or a nest but now I think they think they own the neighborhood. I planted out the last row and put sticks in to mark areas and had some old string attacked to the sticks. I think they were fussing with the strings and I have a pile of weeds I piled up and they have been sitting on this pile, but squawing and fussing and when I go out they do not really fly away. They get up on the bean poles and so I left them alone. I thought maybe they had young ones around, but this morning I went out to check on the garden and the gang was there, about 5 of them and they did not fly away, went up on garage next door and bean poles and watched me and then I noticed my kale. I thought wilting or something. Some kind of bent over, some leaves tore off on the ground and some hanging broke. They have little tears. They are pulling the leaves off the kale. I went and got the hose and they took off, so I put the sprinkler out there and when it first comes on it makes horrible noises with the air in line, so I am going to turn it on every time they show up. I put the sprinkler on their little weed pile. I may have to get netting. DS said he turned the sprinkler on yesterday and they seemed to like it, so if the sprinkler does not run them off, I will put the nozzle on and spray them. All quiet at the moment.

 

[flowerbug]

@Gardening with Rabbits the crows here are not tame at all. i rarely see them closer than 100ft. i suspect they get shot at. i don't grow corn or kale so it would not be an issue for me that i know of... some day perhaps we'll see.