Stink Bugs

They are congregating around my west windows. I have caught very few with my Rescue traps. Probably because they are no longer interested in mating since the traps are pheramone based, but survival at this point with nighttime temps dropping. I am drowning every single one I can find in soapy water or squashing them! I even took a stick to them around the windows. This is insane! I don't think any of the predatory insects are getting any of them or enough of them to keep them under control!

The Joy of Gardening

Even though I am trying to downsize a bit it's a bit hard to choose what to keep and what to get rid of. My plants are like my children and I love them all. I can't tell you the joy I get from caring for them. There are no words to describe it. It makes me happy to water them and watch them flourish. The rewards are amazing! Beautiful flowers, fruit, and the pride I get when others ooh and ahh over them :) It's too bad I can't make money off of them because I would truly enjoy what I do then!

Looks like what I thought was a cantaloupe is going to be acorn squash!

Look how big the vine is! It's growing up the fence, through between the peonies and the grill, through the peonies and down the alley between the two houses!

Stink Bug Wars

I've declared war on the stink bugs this year. They aren't getting my peppers or tomatoes! Well...at least not as many, I hope! I got tired of fighting them for my ripening fruits. One day a brilliant idea came to mind. I had a bolt of tulle in my attic and I have fruit to protect! Viola! I got busy cutting up the bolt of tulle into 12"x12" squares and pieces of twine. When I ran out of twine I used the plastic ties you can buy in a roll. I enveloped each fruit in a puff of tulle in hopes that those mouth parts on the stink bug aren't quite long enough to penetrate the tulle and still let them ripen on the vine with plenty of air circulation. There are areas where I am not able to protect unfortunately so there are some married fruits.

Tonight though, I found a bunch of them gathered on one of my tulle covered peppers. How convenient! I quickly grabbed the yogurt cup I keep filled with soapy water and ran over to where this congregation was and gave the plant a good TAP! TA DA! They all jumped ship....right into the soapy water! YEAH! Call me sadistic, but I love watching the little suckers drown! Take that for eating my crop!

Normally I am more than happy to share with the wildlife, but these stink bugs don't know how to share. For that, they get death. It's not really that they consume a lot, but when they bite into the fruit they introduce bacteria and what eventually kills the crop is a bacterial infection. Sorry to anyone who thinks I ought to let them live. Don't come over if you can't watch it. :)