No huge changes this week. I was finally able to get all of my squash and cucumbers planted, and I’m hoping they pop up pretty quickly since the soil has been much warmer. The peas have shot up over the past week – probably a few more weeks still until we have anything to harvest. No beans yet, though I’m expecting them to peek out any day. And I suppose that if I’m looking to transplant the rest of my seedlings next weekend, I should probably start hardening them off. I don’t know what accepted practice is, but I usually only start putting them out about a week before I plant. The only problem now will be finding some sun to expose them to.
I also saw some more little signs of those hoofed fiends. They seem to be sticking with tiny nibbles here and there, and then they’re going to try to catch me off guard and destroy something. At which point I’ll storm into the house threatening to kill them, with my bare hands if necessary, and almost mean it. I haven’t put any kind of deterrents out yet, but it looks like it’s about that time; I’ll need to dig into my arsenal and see if I can turn the tables a bit and keep them on their toes.
Yesterday I did some spraying for poison ivy. I hate poison ivy almost as much as deer and mosquitoes, and my ambition is to eradicate all three. I sprayed some last spring before we started building and did a decent job of cutting it back. But, there are still a few good patches scattered throughout the woods, so I’m continuing my crusade against it this year. My strategy has been to pick off the stragglers around the edges of each patch, and work my way to the middle, where it’s more heavily concentrated. I’m hoping that by the end of the summer, I can have it fairly well contained. Since I can’t control it on the lots surrounding me, I know it will always be trying to creep across the border, but if I’m vigilant, I should be able to knock it out before it gets a solid foothold.
What kind of pests do you deal with? What’s your favorite method for the dealing?
Leave a Reply