A WEED GROWS IN QUEENS
Back with my weekly update of all things green in that botanical hotspot, Astoria, NY. (I realize I didn't post last week, rendering the Weekly Update not quite so weekly, but I'm guessing you survived.)
Aphidphobia. My wife has turned into an Agent, relentlessly tracking down & slaying all aphids attempting to dwell among her vegetables. Not so much as a nit, an egg, or any wriggling creature survives her tracking & eliminating. Opinion seems mixed among the green thumbs of the world as to when a normal-but-annoying aphid population becomes an infestation, although conventional wisdom looks to be of the leave well enough alone variety. She opts for the liberal definition of infestation.
Anyway, the aphids seem fairly under control, though they'll surely remain all summer, stealing soap & towels, making a general nuisance of themselves. I just hope my wife can step back from her Terminator duties and smell the roses.
The various annuals look great. Based on my limited years of experiece in the world of backyard gardening, I sense that in this Gardening Zone, anyone who doesn't affirmatively mangle or destroy his own plants will enjoy fine-looking annuals between, say, mid-May & July 4th. Incidentally, those years of limited experience are "Last" & "This." So I'm really talkin out of my ass on the Fourth of July part, but that's my theory & I'm sticking to it.
At least til this July 4. And for those of you asking what Zone I'm in . . . uhhh, Zone 3? Zone 10? I really have no idea. New York City. It's on the Zone map.
Finally, arugula, marigolds, coleus and silver dust continuing to grow from seed. I hope to start planting them soon.
Back next week (or not) with another update.
Aphidphobia. My wife has turned into an Agent, relentlessly tracking down & slaying all aphids attempting to dwell among her vegetables. Not so much as a nit, an egg, or any wriggling creature survives her tracking & eliminating. Opinion seems mixed among the green thumbs of the world as to when a normal-but-annoying aphid population becomes an infestation, although conventional wisdom looks to be of the leave well enough alone variety. She opts for the liberal definition of infestation.
Anyway, the aphids seem fairly under control, though they'll surely remain all summer, stealing soap & towels, making a general nuisance of themselves. I just hope my wife can step back from her Terminator duties and smell the roses.
The various annuals look great. Based on my limited years of experiece in the world of backyard gardening, I sense that in this Gardening Zone, anyone who doesn't affirmatively mangle or destroy his own plants will enjoy fine-looking annuals between, say, mid-May & July 4th. Incidentally, those years of limited experience are "Last" & "This." So I'm really talkin out of my ass on the Fourth of July part, but that's my theory & I'm sticking to it.
At least til this July 4. And for those of you asking what Zone I'm in . . . uhhh, Zone 3? Zone 10? I really have no idea. New York City. It's on the Zone map.
Finally, arugula, marigolds, coleus and silver dust continuing to grow from seed. I hope to start planting them soon.
Back next week (or not) with another update.
posted by Mike at 8:19 AM
11 Comments:
Ladybugs. Your wife needs an army of ladybugs. They savagely attack and devour aphids. I've seen the nature videos. I don't know if they sell the eggs in stores. They probably don't. I don't know if there are any plants that you can stick in your yard that will attract them either. But, it's worth looking up.
She was pretty psyched yesterday to see one, now that you mention it.
I never knew lady bugs could savagely attack anything, but I guess everyone has his brutish side.
Don't kill the baby ladybugs. They are voracious aphid eaters also.
Pics here:
http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/KKhp/1insects/ladybug.html
It appears to be problematic inserting a URL.
Trying again.
http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/KKhp/1insects/ladybug.html
http://tinyurl.com/lgruo
Mike,
I spent my 3 day memorial day weekend double-digging an 8'x10' bed...16" of solid clay. Added all sorts of goodies usch as peat, gypsum, etc. Now there is 16 inches below the surface level and another 16" on top. I think I'll still have to till the top as it is quite unmixed. Ah, but the yield someday!
Jim, that post comes right into the "not quite two years of experience" part of what I was talking about.
I'm gonna assume that what you did was hard work, but an important step in creating a serious garden.
Is this correct?
I put down mulch for the first time this weekend!
Over the weekend, I got the last of my onions harvested.
I planted some winter squash, more beans and two rows of okra.
My artichokes already have flower heads on them. The literature said that they may or may not produce flowers the first year. I'm psyched. :)
We had a thunderstorm come through on Memorial Day, right after I was done gardening. The timing was perfect. We had heavy rain and hail. The hail was only marble size and didn't cause any damage, but it was weird to see it go on for an hour. The storm system was traveling North and we happened to be right ont he edge until it passed.
We had ourselves a whaling, summer t-storm ourselves yesterday as afternoon shifted into evening.
Good soaking after the first hot weekend of the year.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=live+ladybugs&btnG=Google+Search
Hey, man, something for everybody, and everything for no one. Or is it, nothing for someone, and something for everyone else?
Or was it that thing Lincoln said about fooling all the people sometime, but not everyone all of the time.
Hell! Who can keep this shit straight?
I'm sure a post to your liking will show up any time now. An-ny time!
Patience, Grasshopper, is a virtue.
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