I Mixed Up a Strong Solution

I mixed up a strong solution of soapy water with the intention of brushing the white flies off the Brussels sprouts leaves and spraying them on the ground around the plant. Lo and behold they were gone. I couldn't believe it. An example of a problem that will get solved if you ignore it. My kind of problem. Your SO will also leave if you ignore them. They like the sound of your voice, so if you value their companionship, it's behoves you to speak often and kindly. They like compliments and don't care about the accuracy so they don't fact check..

Cats will leave if you ignore them too. They will also leave if you pay them attention, unless they fall asleep first. If you find your artichoke plants wilting in the afternoon sun they could probably use a good soaking. They are bushy and respirating vigorously. Your apple and pear trees could use a good soaking this time of year so they don't drop their fruit. Soak your landscape bushes too..

Fall cleanup continues. All the melon mounds are stripped, weeded and composted. Sprinkling your lawn clippings around them will help keep the soil microbes busy until next Spring. Feed the soil so it can feed you. As the garden slowly empties the open spaces look more tidy, encouraging you to catch the sneaky weeds that have been hiding under the vines that grew across the pathways..

My mounds will get another layer of compost mid Winter, because there isn't lots of other things to do then. Raking leaves and trimming the grape vines are the main gardening chores, along with pulling up the Creeping Jenny from along the pathways. I found that fall lettuce goes to waste when I have an abundance of tomatoes. I think six Early Girl plants are on the schedule for spring planting from now on..

The smell of ripening Concord grapes is thick in the garden this time of year, attracting unsuspecting fruit eating birds. They don't seem to know we have lurking cats this year. I'm finding feathers everywhere. Also all of the lizards are tail less this year. They have learned to be quick. The zucchini rebounded well after the squash bugs and I'm picking lots of small ones now. The ones under 8" taste sweeter to me so I'll be on the lookout for those pesky varmints, also called stink bugs, early in the season next year. Oh yeah, and to whoever is burning trash upwind of us, knock it off. Polluting the atmosphere is wrong on so many levels..

It harms people, animals and plants all of which we have a responsibility to protect. Burning fossil fuels is pretty much instinctively wrong now but we do it anyway. Maybe the earth can handle it.... but maybe it can't..

If you're planning on planting onion sets this spring be sure to plant them deep enough that the dried stems don't protrude above the surface. I have Robins pulling mine out of the ground because they think the stem is a worm. I've always planted onions in November so by now green stems are poking up. This year's late start taught me a lesson. You can't always tell where the onion was, so I've started a new plot where I am planting the uprooted sets, with the intention of transplanting them back to fill in the vacant spots..

I also got a wire tunnel covered in shrink wrap and planted a double row of beets. Twenty eight sprouts came up in one row, zero in the other. Nada, nulch, nothing. I'm thinking of brushing out the empty row and pretending like it didn't exist..