Insects: Friends or Foe, take the quiz!

I hang out at night in the garden, and lay my eggs while you sleep. Then my eggs hatch and feast on your plants. I am FOE. Any dark moth in the garden is bad. Could be adult iris borer, adult squash vine borer (also has red on the body). Nothing good results from moths. But unless you disturb them sleeping on your plants, you will rarely see them.

Above is the Spotted Cucumber beetle, relative of the Striped Cucumber beetle. Can be devastaing to vine crops, melons, squash, pumpkins etc. They carry disease in their mouth parts that are spread as they chew on the plant. By the time you see adults, they have likely laid eggs in the soil near the plant roots. The eggs hatch into larvae that feed on the roots, so more damage is happening than what you see. Dusting helps a lot. But remember, once is not enough, as new larvae will turn into beetles in a couple of weeks. Don't wait until your plant is near dead to dust it, as it will be too late, attack back as soon as you see these guys. Definately FOE.

This is your BBF above the soil line. The juvenille (teenage) lady bug. They consume huge numbers of soft bodied insects and eggs. They often will have longer tails than the one above.

When it morphs into the 'beetle' it will look like the below photo. I have seen then transform before, with my own eyes, takes about 30 minutes from the time it starts, very cool.

If you see these clinging to your plants, leave, only good will come of this. Juvenille morphing into adult.

Who is this guy? Friend or Foe? Friend, in fact your BFF again. It is a lady bug! There are over 400 kinds of Lady bugs, even black w/red spots! This one is chowing down on a aphid, you go girl! More bugs later! Makes you feel kinda itchy?
and....the hated Asian Lady Beetle is also beneficial. It clings to our houses because it is looking for a warm spot, and their descendents would have clung to the sides of cliffs, which could be perceived the same by a ladybug. I mean how BIG can their brain be?

Enough Rain!

How is it that 60 degrees is SO WARM in March but SO COLD in June? How is that? Brrr.
Froze soakin' wet all morning at the Farmers' Market. At the market I seen and a childhood friend I hadn't seen in 30 yrs., then another childhood and current friend pulled up....there we were....3 troublemakers back together again!!! ha.

Open tomorrow in the field from 11-4 Some of our 'handful' bouquets leftover and on special Sunday at the field. Also, get our Bodacious Armload Bouquets at the St. Peter Food Co-op.

We made the 'Rural' section of this week St. Peter Herald. After you read my interesting story, penned by my good friend and Marketing Pro Jackie Hilgert, bring me your copy if you didn't wear it out. =) please.

For Saturday

Open at the field from 11-4. Stop by for some of our great perennial plants. Also, picking pea pods, sugar snaps, (while they last) lettuce, spinch, mesclun mix & broccoli. Our grean beans have been flowering for a week now, and so have the potatoes. I think I taste potato salad for the July 4th with spuds from the garden!
We are at the Farmers Market in Mankato from 8-12, in addition to our Bodacious Armload Bouquets, we have a Handfull Bouquet for those w/o a gynormous vase. =)
We have beets & broccoli in our cooler!

Todays posting....

Click on the Festival Link on the right hand column. Added to the wrong blog, can't seem to move it, and no time to re-do it all, but.........gives you a chance to also look at the festival info if you have not yet.

The Battle is ON!!!

With.......the BUGS.
Thought now would be a good time to review some of our unwanted garden visitors. First up the Cutworm. There is a huge number of these in my field this year. What is different this year is what they are doing. Normally, the damage is what you see below. But this year they are are eating leaves as well. Cutworms come out at night and do their dirty work. If you're plants are chewed off, but laying there, it is likely cutworm. If they are missing entirely it is more likely rabbit. If you suspect a cutworm, dig around in the soil right next to the plant, about 80% of the time I find a cutworm or two. Promptly squish. The same insecticide that you use for lawn grubs will kill cutworms if you have a big problem. When planting stemed plants, like tomato, place a small stick directly next to the plant, parallel with the stem. Then the cutworm can't cut it off, and the stick can get tilled under in the fall. Better than tangling up nails in the tiller or worst yet your sandal!
Below is the Colorado Potato Beetle. Never seen it? Plant potatoes. These beetles are huge, about 1/2 the size of a June Bug or so. When I first spot the adults, I also check the undersides of the leaves where they lay there tiny yellow eggs in big clusters. Remove and smash of course. The beetles are slow so I hand pick them and toss in a used gatorade bottle along with the juvenille bugs. They don't bite, so if I don't have a bottle along I pick a handful then step on them. So much death in my garden.....
Below are the juvenille stages, tiny and big. At this stage they consume huge amounts of leaf tissue, damaging your plants. Not stopped, they can and will strip the plants. The leaves are what make the food for the plant, so w/o leaves your done! BT is about the only product that is really effective, and I going to try Sevin tomorrow. This hand picking is too time consuming.

So gross aren't they? These insects will also feed on tomato, eggplant and peppers. These plants are all from the nightshade family. I'll try to review a variety of our local pests to 'be on the look out for' this week.

added later; Almost forgot another fun story: One year I did not combat the beetles, and by late summer, all I had was stems loaded with beetles. Finally taking matters into my own hands.... the butane torch and I took a stroll to the garden. Sounded like Jiffy Pop over a campfire.

Rain Again??? What the...

So a rain storm on the radar the size of Iowa is headed our way. ENOUGH ALREADY!
I think we have had more rain so far this season than all of last year. Well if it pours again we will likely be closing as our outdoor sales areas gets muddy quickly, especially when it is still muddy from earlier in the week. Off to pick flowers before I can't get to them........=)

What a great time!

Class in the field was a blast tonight, thanks to the great group of folks! Thanks to my mom for the awesome rhubarb cake! And thanks to my trusty assistance Meg, for running after all of my props. Seemed to be lots of interest in a summer class. I think it's a good idea. It was wonderful to meet new garden 'buds' and some of my regular 'buds.' I appreciate your support of my efforts to not just sell plants, but to teach people to garden and grow food!

Class Tonight

Will it finally happen? It is supposed to be beautiful and breezy, but likely still a little muddy by tonight so keep that in mind when picking out your shoes. As soon as you arrive for class, besure to get registered. This class is thru the St. Peter Community Center, so we need everyones name and address. The cost is $6 per person, or $8 per household (family at the SAME address) Entire evening should last about 2 hrs. Come early to shop the plants or iris. See you tonight!

Tuesday Night

Well, I went out to the field before 6, and it seems everyone got the message as no one showed up for the cancelled class. It was getting quite nice out, and for a brief moment I thought...did I cancel class too soon? But as I stepped out of the truck, and stepped into the mud, I realized that yes, it was the right decision. Sorry for those who will now miss class, hope to have another one later in the summer, I will keep you posted!

Need Rain? Let me plan an event at your place!

So Sorry, but we got dumped on here and still coming down, and by the radar...does not look finished yet! We got 2/10's of rain overnight that had already made it muddy. I will hold the class Wed., tomorrow night. It is supposed to be beautiful, and if I schedule another week out, who knows how much rain that day may bring. It still may be muddy, so wear foot gear you don't care about. Class starts at 6 pm. Sorry if some of you will miss it now, but I may have a late summer class as well, just keep up with my blog, and the info will be there. Again sorry, but the weather controls the life of the farmer.

Todays Weather

I can be as accurate as prediciting the weather as a meteorologist, right? When are they ever right? Checking my doplar radar, it looks like the current band of rain is moving out, and there is a narrow band across South Dakota, assuming nothing builds up in between, we should be fine. SO, unless it really starts to rain, my mom will get the nod to make the rhubarb cakes, I've already got the brownies and mini eclairs. SO, if it pours at the last minute, we will still eat, and I will have some displays set up in the hoophouse. I will post again by 4 p.m. to advise you, for now, plan on class happening tonight. Open today in the field from 10-6 pm. Come to class early and shop around. We will have plants/greens/iris for sale. Dress warmly, it is chilly out there, and usually more breezy in the field than in town.

Class Tuesday Night

Well, chance of rain is 50% for Tues. I hope it doesn't amount to much so we can still have our class. Dress accordingly, it sounds like cooler for Tues. IF it is so bad we have to cancel, then we will hold class the next night on Wednesday from 6-8. Remember it is $6 per person or $8 per household, that means you live in the same house. Please arrive before 6 to register if you were not part of the spring class or did not sign up with the community center. FYI that 'blogger' was down yesterday until some time today. Just when I want to rely on it as my main customer communicator it, it crashes. So in the event it does rain Tues., please call in advance, as I might not be ABLE to post current info.

Open Sunday

We are open today from 9:30 - 4. The last good Sunday for seeing the iris, then next weekend back to 11-4. We have iris for you to order, perennials for you to take home, lettuce for you to toss, and pea pods to munch on (while they last).

This iris is Jennifer Rebecca, a very reliable re-bloomer, bloomed all summer into Sept. Of course the big bloom period is spring for her. She is still available folks!