Grandchildren are visiting. They are lot’s of fun especially in the garden. Yesterday they wanted to help pick. We started with the figs. They are small enough to duck under the branches and pick the low hanging fruit. Little Caitlin enjoyed pointing out the high ones and then she got the idea to climb the tree to pick them She and I picked one tree, my son and Samantha picked the other.
The okra was out of Caitlin’s reach and of course one can’t climb an okra plant.
She did a good job of finding the okra pod’s though. It was the same with the tomatoes except I had to lift her to pick the tomatoes. When we cut grass she stepped on a fire ant nest, so we had to stop and take care of the wounds. Then we started murdering fire ant hills. We dug them with the hoe, sprinkled them with mound destroyer and Caitlin sprayed them with the hose. When she ran out of fire ant nests she decided to spray me. I retaliated of course, so we had to go inside and the rest of the day’s projects just didn’t happen.
I went to Renfrow’s yesterday for the fall seeds. I was told that the bugs would get all the cucumbers if I replanted; but a pack of seeds was 89 cents. One cucumber costs that, so I got them anyway. They will hopefully be planted today if there are not too many distractions.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label Fire Ants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fire Ants. Show all posts
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Kale Yeah!!
That is what my friend Burgess says when I offer him kale. He made a big hit with his family making kale soup on the day after thanksgiving. I have persuaded him to share his recipe, which is actually his grandmother’s recipe. This is a 2 day process.
The first day starts with boiling raw linguica and couric sausage (these are Portuguese sausages) . After the sausage is fully cooked pull it out and refrigerate the sausage. Skim the goo off of the top of the water. This will form the stock for the soup.
On day 2, cook carrots and potatoes in the cold stock from the sausage and water. Cabbage is optional. Sauté some onions and celery. When the onions and celery are ready add them and the fresh kale to the pot. Simmer until the kale is cooked. That is all there is to it. Burgess promised to bring me some leftover to try. I will give my report when I have tasted it.
Incidentally the fire ants are gone. I think the grits or the corn meal finished them off. Ray Moore also sent me a method of fire ant eradication using club soda. I hope I will not get to try that until next year.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
The first day starts with boiling raw linguica and couric sausage (these are Portuguese sausages) . After the sausage is fully cooked pull it out and refrigerate the sausage. Skim the goo off of the top of the water. This will form the stock for the soup.
On day 2, cook carrots and potatoes in the cold stock from the sausage and water. Cabbage is optional. Sauté some onions and celery. When the onions and celery are ready add them and the fresh kale to the pot. Simmer until the kale is cooked. That is all there is to it. Burgess promised to bring me some leftover to try. I will give my report when I have tasted it.
Incidentally the fire ants are gone. I think the grits or the corn meal finished them off. Ray Moore also sent me a method of fire ant eradication using club soda. I hope I will not get to try that until next year.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Hard to Beat the Fire Ants
Perhaps the nest is just too big. There are still fire ants in the compost. There seem to be less and less of them though. The mound destroyer has been applied several times. The ants seem to be reduced to a small pocket in one bed. Maybe they will be gone when I get home today.
Almost everything in the greenhouse has germinated. A different watering regime is in place from last year. Last year the tray was kept wet. This year the tray is kept wet until germination. After germination the tray is filled to a level of about ¼ “and allowed to dry. It is left for one day and refilled. Three tomato plants in the raised bed are doing well. They are about 6” high now. Cucumber will be started in pots this week. As soon as they have true leaves, the bottom of the pots will be cut out and they will be transplanted. My luck with transplanted cucurbits has been poor; but they may not germinate without bottom heat.
Everything planted in the raised beds is doing well. The PH meter bit the dust; so a new one was purchased. This is a critical element in a good garden. All the beds I tested seemed to be close to 7 (neutral) last night. Lime has not been added for at least 4 years. This PH level seems suspicious. Some soil will be sent off to the Dept. of Agriculture for testing. Renfrow Hardware has free kits to send the soil samples off.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Almost everything in the greenhouse has germinated. A different watering regime is in place from last year. Last year the tray was kept wet. This year the tray is kept wet until germination. After germination the tray is filled to a level of about ¼ “and allowed to dry. It is left for one day and refilled. Three tomato plants in the raised bed are doing well. They are about 6” high now. Cucumber will be started in pots this week. As soon as they have true leaves, the bottom of the pots will be cut out and they will be transplanted. My luck with transplanted cucurbits has been poor; but they may not germinate without bottom heat.
Everything planted in the raised beds is doing well. The PH meter bit the dust; so a new one was purchased. This is a critical element in a good garden. All the beds I tested seemed to be close to 7 (neutral) last night. Lime has not been added for at least 4 years. This PH level seems suspicious. Some soil will be sent off to the Dept. of Agriculture for testing. Renfrow Hardware has free kits to send the soil samples off.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Too Big to Fail
All of the small to medium fire ant hills treated with Spectracide Fire Ant Mound Destroyer have been destroyed. The one in the compost bin must have been “too big to fail”. Two days elapsed between the treatment and the next turning. The fire ants were working like maggots when I turned the first forkful of compost. The pile was retreated. (I retreated too.) Yesterday the ants appeared to be gone.
The things planted in the greenhouse are coming up pretty well. Out of 5 flats planted to date, 3 are completely sprouted. 4 more were planted yesterday. The first planting (other than tomatoes for the indoor bed) was the test for the spaghetti squash seeds. Something green is growing in those cups; but it is not recognizable as a squash plant yet. It is important to make sure the seeds are viable before giving them away and having people risk a planting on bad seed.
The raised beds are coming along pretty well too. There is not enough lumber in the right sizes to build any more beds. The things that are planted are doing well though. The spinach is finally sprouting and growing and the cress is sprouting well. This is the 4th time to plant Cress (creasy greens) and the first time it has even germinated. Onions from seed were planted for the first time and they seem to have all sprouted. The onions from sets planted at the same time are much larger; but size is not important at this stage of the game.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
The things planted in the greenhouse are coming up pretty well. Out of 5 flats planted to date, 3 are completely sprouted. 4 more were planted yesterday. The first planting (other than tomatoes for the indoor bed) was the test for the spaghetti squash seeds. Something green is growing in those cups; but it is not recognizable as a squash plant yet. It is important to make sure the seeds are viable before giving them away and having people risk a planting on bad seed.
The raised beds are coming along pretty well too. There is not enough lumber in the right sizes to build any more beds. The things that are planted are doing well though. The spinach is finally sprouting and growing and the cress is sprouting well. This is the 4th time to plant Cress (creasy greens) and the first time it has even germinated. Onions from seed were planted for the first time and they seem to have all sprouted. The onions from sets planted at the same time are much larger; but size is not important at this stage of the game.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Monday, November 16, 2009
Revenge is Sweet. Pain is Bitter
My weekend compost turning activities turned sour when I realized I was covered with fire ants. It seems the second compost bin is one huge fire ant nest. There was a bite or two going from bin three to bin four. When I got half way through going from bin three to bin two, the pain began. My clothes were scattered all over the back yard, I was wearing my birthday suit by the time I got to the back door. The shower washed the ants off; but the pain remained.
All the clothes were sprayed with ant & roach spray and left in the garage. Even lotion did not stop the burning and itching. Fortunately the shed contains some Spectracide Fire Ant Mound Destroyer. Every bin was treated and two other mounds that were in the backyard. The fire ants died (I hope). The pain remained all day.
The good news is that I have so much compostable material that I had to set up a temporary bin. If the fire ants are dead, the bins will be turned and the material in the temporary bin will go into the accumulation bin. Do you suppose the poison will hurt the plants in the garden? Most of the compost in process now will be put into raised beds that will not be planted until spring.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
All the clothes were sprayed with ant & roach spray and left in the garage. Even lotion did not stop the burning and itching. Fortunately the shed contains some Spectracide Fire Ant Mound Destroyer. Every bin was treated and two other mounds that were in the backyard. The fire ants died (I hope). The pain remained all day.
The good news is that I have so much compostable material that I had to set up a temporary bin. If the fire ants are dead, the bins will be turned and the material in the temporary bin will go into the accumulation bin. Do you suppose the poison will hurt the plants in the garden? Most of the compost in process now will be put into raised beds that will not be planted until spring.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Fire Ants
Fire Ants
All the rain has loosened the soil. Yesterday was a perfect time to weed the new flowerbed area. I put the gloves on for thorns and poison ivy. I sprayed the exposed skin for mosquitoes. Then I stepped in a fire ant nest. It really didn’t bother me for a while. What are those little prickers on my legs? Then I saw the ants.
There are quite a few fire ant hills in my yard. I am a live and let live type of person. I don’t bother them until they bite. They bit. I did too. I have some “Fire Ant Mound Destroyer”. I sprinkled that on the mound and around a stump where they had a large presence. I hate to use poisons and other noxious chemicals but sometimes there is not much choice. One year when I had ants coming into the garden area, I planted a border of peppermint. I will plant some peppermint where the anthill is (was). The other noxious chemical I use is “deit”. I spray myself for mosquitoes. The mosquitoes are worse than the poison.
There is another partial solution for mosquitoes. I put mosquito dunks in the birdbath and in the rain barrels. It has bacillus thuringienses. It is like killing Indians with smallpox infected blankets. This is a deadly disease for bugs. Biological warfare if you will. I don’t approve of this against people; but is genocide against mosquitoes all bad? Actually it is. Mosquitoes are to land what shrimp are to the ocean. They are at the bottom of the food chain. They are also at the top of the food chain. They close the circle of life.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
All the rain has loosened the soil. Yesterday was a perfect time to weed the new flowerbed area. I put the gloves on for thorns and poison ivy. I sprayed the exposed skin for mosquitoes. Then I stepped in a fire ant nest. It really didn’t bother me for a while. What are those little prickers on my legs? Then I saw the ants.
There are quite a few fire ant hills in my yard. I am a live and let live type of person. I don’t bother them until they bite. They bit. I did too. I have some “Fire Ant Mound Destroyer”. I sprinkled that on the mound and around a stump where they had a large presence. I hate to use poisons and other noxious chemicals but sometimes there is not much choice. One year when I had ants coming into the garden area, I planted a border of peppermint. I will plant some peppermint where the anthill is (was). The other noxious chemical I use is “deit”. I spray myself for mosquitoes. The mosquitoes are worse than the poison.
There is another partial solution for mosquitoes. I put mosquito dunks in the birdbath and in the rain barrels. It has bacillus thuringienses. It is like killing Indians with smallpox infected blankets. This is a deadly disease for bugs. Biological warfare if you will. I don’t approve of this against people; but is genocide against mosquitoes all bad? Actually it is. Mosquitoes are to land what shrimp are to the ocean. They are at the bottom of the food chain. They are also at the top of the food chain. They close the circle of life.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
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