I Got Back To the Brussels Sprouts

I was transplanting Brussels sprouts yesterday evening and wondered why there were so many. I didn't know. I counted them. Twenty seven plants. What was I thinking. I may have to learn how to blanch after all..

I've got that spreading out on a cookie sheet down, but now I'm going to have to boil water too? That's too much like cooking for me. I haven't been asked to cook anything since I blew up a pan of hard boiled eggs. My generation was taught to stay out of the kitchen. I don't know if it was because the womenfolks wanted their epicurean delights ingredients to remain a mystery, ya know like eye of the newt, toe of the frog, or they just didn't wanting us to find out where they kept the Sherry bottle..

I got back to the Brussels sprouts plant that had aphids on it to spray them, and found a ladybug smack dab in the middle of them. Ladybugs can eat up to 50 aphid a day so I moved on down the row. The rest of the plants were clean so maybe she was working her way up the line. I'll give her a few days and see what happens. Buying and releasing ladybugs in the garden to control aphids is just as effective as spraying with soapy water, because the ladybugs don't stay around for long..

You can release them in the evening, after watering, and within five days most will have flown away. I also found squash bug eggs on my zucchini plant. I can't believe one soft moment of sympathy for a squash bug resulted in it recruiting all it's relatives in the area to come swarm on my honeydew vines and fornicate in my squash patch..

The shade cloth over my cabbage patch is really working well. They are broadening out their leaves like elephant ears and perking up. They are greener and crisper and don't look tortured anymore. It looks like mid summer cabbage is a possibility. The cloth is stretched between four foot tall stakes and looks like it is about 50% transparent. It's nice to be able to see the plants when you walk by so I may never put the hoops back on it..

It shades five times as much area as the tunnel did and let's in lots of ambient light as well. The cauliflower are looking better too. The temperature has dropped from the 90s to the 80s and the heads are getting larger. As the temperature rises so must your waterjng. I've been spraying the crucifers daily now because as you know " a spray a day keeps the aphid away "..

I guess I'm a squash bug enabler. They hide in loose mulch like straw, hay and leaves so it's recommended to remove coarse mulch and cover the area periodically with an inch of fine compost. I don't have that much compost so that's not going to happen. Not planting in the same spot as they were last year is also suggested because the adults overwinter in the ground under the plants. Too late. I didn't know. Hot composting or burning the infected plants can prevent a reemergence of them next year..

Last years zucchini plants went down to the trash pile by the creek for the horses to smorgasbord through. It's less than 50 yards away so I guess I failed that one too. I had to chuckle at the suggestion of taping a mirror onto a hoe and using it to look under the leaves for the squash bugs egg groups. It reminded me of grade school when we were told not to wear highly polished shoes because of the possibility of an upskirt view. They either had better eyesight or better imagination than me because I could never see a thing..