Battle of the Microscopic Plant Killers

 Ugh.  I've been infested with white flies and what I believe are scale insects.  How does this happen?

The scale insects hitched a ride home with my baby bay leaf tree.  Sure, it was purchased at a reputable nursery, but that doesn't mean these places don't suffer from the same pests we do at home.  For the last year and a half I've been giving the bay tree bi-monthly rubbing alcohol wipe downs.  This has slowed the damage of the scale insects, but not stopped it.  Worse, they seem to have spread to other plants.  My celery plant is now covered with them.

 Yuck!  I cut the worst infested leaves and stems and soaked the plants with an insecticidal spray soap.  If you ever need to do that, pure Castile soap is fine; Dr. Bronner's sells liquid soap in varying sizes.  

Some of these pests are difficult to notice, but many of them secrete "honeydew", a sticky byproduct of their feasting.  Thankfully, that's easy to spot; it almost looks like water sprayed on the leaves.

 

I did the same treatment for the white flies.  These little turds look like minuscule grains of rice, and can usually be found underneath plant leaves.  I, however, found them in massive quantities on top of the soil in my seedlings.  Ew.  I've never seen anything like that, and I can't figure out where they came from.  The only thing I can think of is they were in the potting soil, much like the fungus gnats that hatch constantly.  Again, top shelf potting soil, which is disappointing.  I've read that to be certain there are no creepy crawlies in the soil, your best bet is to bake it in your oven before using.  To me, that sounds like something the companies producing the soil could probably do on a large scale so that each bag is pest free, but that unfortunately isn't going to happen.  So to war with flies I go. 

These are my over wintered Gerbera daisies.  They were really getting hammered on, so my first order of business was to prune them.  I used the same method one would use on ornamental shrubs or trees; take out the dead or diseased bits first, then remove any sections that are crossing/rubbing against each other, and open up the center for better air flow.

 

The plant on the left is pre-trimming, the plant on the right is post-trim. Once they were pruned, I sprayed the tops and undersides of the remaining leaves and the soil for good measure.  Kill 'em all.

 Outside, winter keeps trying to creep back in.  We'll have a few warm, classic spring days then BAM!  Snow, sleet, and freezing rain.  I'm not going to complain too loudly, because despite the snow and rain the last few months, we're still in a moderate drought.  

I just got my wheeled string trimmer back from the repair dude, so I can't wait for decent enough weather to start using it again.  I have the forest garden area to finish, and the bittersweet has already started coming back in spades along the unfinished fence line.  I did manage to turn and spread the manure I've been hauling to the bank garden.  I really want to get the back yard fenced in so I can let Calypso outside.  After about a week of not really being herself without Bizzy, she's started acting like the crazy cat she is again.  The last four or five months, Bizzy pretty much just slept all the time.  Before that, she and Calypso used to have their nightly Cat Olympics throughout the house, racing around and knocking things over, meowing at each other loudly and making skidding noises as they tried to race across the vinyl flooring.  Calypso has started doing that again, but alone it's not as much fun.  I don't think I'm ready to adopt another cat, but I know Calypso loves being outdoors.  I used to have to drag her back into the house when we lived at our last place.  So that's another goal for this summer.  I think that would make her very happy.

I'm starting to get antsy for planting season.  My leeks that I started from seed are about 10" tall, and I may plant them out under a cloche next week.  A lot of my seedlings need planting on into bigger pots, so that's another chore I can do to assuage the yearning.  If the weather gods ever smile upon us and stop sending sleet and snow our way, I can get the new cover on the little poly tunnel.  I've been getting extra chiropractic adjustments and keeping up with my acupuncture sessions, so hopefully my back will hold up better this year.  I've been getting my steps in, but I'm only averaging about 12,000+/- per day.  Hopefully when the weather breaks I'll be putting that number to shame!  

In the meantime, here are some of my favorite photos from the winter season.  Mostly birds because honestly, it's easy to photograph them from the window instead of actually venturing out into the weather.

 

the hardest thing

 I wanted to write a blog post about my heart cat, Bizarro Kitty (Bizzy).  Everytime I try to start it, I begin crying all over again.  Just when I think I'm ok with her passing, something else triggers a memory followed by a flood of sadness.  I know it won't always be this way, but right now, it just hurts.  I'll let the photos do the talking.  From an emaciated stray cat to a fierce barn cat to the Grande Dame of the House, she led an adventure filled life.  She's with Macy, her canine bestie, and Calypso and I are working through our loss.  It's never an easy thing.  To the 'Anonymous Person' who paid her final expenses, words are not enough to express my thanks.  I know you understood the bond I had with this little cat.  To the people who have reached out to express sympathy, send flowers, or call to check on me...thank you.  It's wonderful to know that so many share the joys and heartbreaks of our animal companions.

 2007 ~ 2025

 

 

 

First day home, 2007

with Macy ~ they were inseparable

tolerating Calypso, when she was new

"No one can truly understand the bond we form with the cats we love until they experience the loss of one."

It Feels Springish

 And just as quickly as the switch was flipped to cold, it's been flipped to hey, it's above freezing!  Not exactly beach weather, but boy howdy, snow is melting.  Though it's going to be a while yet before I can get into the hillside garden.

 

I'm happy to see the two small dogwood trees are still in good shape; they're those sticks poking through the snow just to the left of the bottom of the hay ring.  These are free range Pagoda Dogwoods, which are native to New England and are abundant on our property.  These two were found as four inch seedlings and transferred to pots to grow on. It's not a great idea to leave them like that in our climate; if the pots freeze solid, there's a chance the roots will get killed.  I generally try to bury pots in the ground over winter to insulate them, but these are extra large buckets and the thought of digging a hole for them was too much.  Hopefully the snow is enough insulation.

In the house, things are popping up like crazy.  The seeds I sowed on February 18th are doing well despite the mold issues.

 Only the globe thistle seeds that I pulled from someone's garden didn't germinate, so overall I feel like this is a win.

The gaura seeds were the worst affected by mold and the ones I gave a diluted bleach bath.  There were supposed to be 100 seeds in the package and I think I'll be lucky if I get a dozen to plant out.

 On February 23rd I sowed some aster and petunia seeds.  I used the new trays and also sowed 3 kinds of hot peppers, sweet peppers, and three kinds of tomato.  The asters and tomatoes popped right up, but the peppers are just barely breaking through the soil and the petunias are so tiny, I can barely see them.

tomatoes

aster

petunia

A word of caution...I've noticed the last few years that I've been seed starting in the house that there's a particularly sour odor that permeates the air.  My house smells really stale right now, and slightly like there's a soiled diaper lurking in a corner.  I think it's a combination of the damp soils and general lack of fresh air.  I'd start these all downstairs in the mudroom, but I love checking them every day and fussing over them, so that's not going to happen.  I recommend a clothespin to the nose if visiting.

And lastly, the strangest thing is happening with the barn roof snow.  With the warmer temperatures and the melting, the snow slides down the roof as usual, but when it hits the snow stoppers it acts like a bolt of cloth being unrolled, and begins to fold up on itself.  It's so bizarre!

(how cute are those mules, though?)

 

I don't know how much will bank up behind the stops before it melts off, but I'm hoping it all goes before the next cold snap.  As an old Yankee used to say to me, it's not melting, it's just making room for more snow.

Be Careful What You Wish For

 Well now.  February blew in with some snow.  How much?  So far this month, it's this much.

 

That's my old bathtub under all that mess!

The nice thing has been that each storm was fairly manageable; between 3 - 6 inches of snow, and most of the time very light, fluffy stuff.  That's because it's been freaking FREEZING this winter.  The last storm could have been worse; they were calling for 6-8 inches of snow followed by sleet and freezing rain.  Luckily, we avoided the freezing rain and ended up with about 2 inches of granular sleet on top of about 8 inches of snow, packing it down to about 6 inches of dense mess.  Unluckily, the storm left us with 40-60 MPH wind gusts, which made cleanup...interesting.

While my brush cutting project has been waylaid, I have been hauling manure to the mound surrounding the wildflower meadow.  Now I'm committed to that project because I don't want a stinky layer of manure outside my back door all summer.   Planting the corn out back frees up the cinder block bed for something different, and I'm thinking of planting my onions and carrots there this year, as these are companion plants.  Companion planting the right plants together can help deter pests and boost growth; in some cases the plants each rely on a different nutrient that the other produces or doesn't leech from the soil.  Mixing in certain herbs or flowers with vegetables can work as well as mixing different crops together.  

Inside, I've started some leeks from seeds I harvested from the plants that went over last year.  I had about a 50% germination rate, so I'm happy!  We don't use a lot of leeks, so growing just a dozen or more plants will give us the small harvest we want, and will free up one or two beds.  

The mescluns and arugula continue to grow, but not by leaps and bounds as it would outside.

 The lower container of spicy mesclun mix was already harvested once, so that's regrowth.

I also pulled the 60 day stratified seeds out of the fridge to sow.  To my dismay, most of my packages had begun to develop mold.  A quick trip down an internet rabbit hole has convinced me to not use the paper towel plastic bag method next year.  Apparently mold is all too common.  Some people have noted they've planted the moldy seeds and had decent germination, and others recommended a quick bath in watered down bleach (10:1), which is what I did for the worst affected. I sowed most of the seeds in the flimsy black plastic seed starting trays I normally use...you know, the ones that break apart when you try to remove the seedlings.

 I was too impatient to wait for the newer models I'd ordered. 

I'm excited to try these - they're hard plastic top and bottom, with a flexible silicone center.  In theory you should be able to push on the hard bottom and pop the seedlings out without damaging the tray.  These are also dishwasher safe, so no excuses for not sterilizing them!  I bought them on Amazon, of course, and they come in a package of six trays that fit perfectly into a standard bottom tray.  These are the smallest version, and I'm thinking if they work as well as advertised, I may invest in some larger squared ones for potting up when seedlings are ready.

 And what method do I think I'll try next year instead of the paper towel/bag?  Outdoor winter sowing.  I just need to find someone who drinks milk to give me the plastic jugs!