The Detergent Soap and Water Spray Worked

Thumbnail image of Bob Bauer
Bob Bauer
August 06, 2017 (Last Updated: ) | Reading Time: 2 minutes

August 06, 2017

The detergent soap and water spray worked exceptionally well on the squash bugs. I went down to the garden for another "game" and couldn't find any to shoot. I don't know why we are told to hand pick them and drop them in a bucket of soapy water when you can just spray them with soapy water. I'm an insect lover but hand picking squash bugs grosses me out. There were a few aphid on the Brussels sprouts that I got to spray, but they just sit there instead of running around like crazy..

Not as much fun. I also found some aphids on the artichoke leaves that are coming up after I cut the stalks down. They were protected by ants that didn't like the soap spray, so they ran around a lot too..

August 07, 2017

I got the entire strawberry patch weeded today in 95° heat thanks to my new shade cloth and tomato towers contraption. I don't know how I've managed to garden in the summer without movable shade. I take my hat off when I'm under it and every slight breeze cools my head. Tomato towers push into the ground easily and are sturdy supports. I may just cut off the handle of my hula hoe and spend the rest of the summer on my knee pads crawling around in the shade. The cauliflower transplants needed shade an hour after they were moved..

I soaked the ground where they were, and where they were going. I gently dug a 3" cone around them and tenderly, placed them in their new holes. The friction on the microscopic root hairs was enough to damage them. I've pretty much concluded that a health, organicly rich soil has enough air pockets in it that transplanting will always require some shade..

August 08, 2017

I got a bond brand bypass pruner for Fathers day that I just got around to using today. I gotta say Wow. I had forgotten how sharp hand pruners felt. My old ones are 20 years old and have never been sharpened. These slice through without any hand pressure at all, you just close them..

I must say though that my right hand grip is stronger than it would have been using sharpened trimmers. The bond pruner is smaller, lighter and very much hand friendly. It slips into my back pocket effortlessly, and is light enough to not pul my pants down, so I carried it all day. I got most of the blackberry vines that have been slowly encroaching because I didn't have to "go get" the clippers, they were already there..

More from Efundies