We will start our workday at 8am tomorrow.  And what a glorious day it looks to be with highs only in the low-mid 70’s.  But don’t let those low temps fool you; the sun is still strong, so bring your water and sunscreen!

 

We have potato bugs to pluck, beds to mulch, weeds to pull, beds to prep and seeds to plant.  The potato beetles are nasty little creatures.  Take a look at http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/leaf/potato_beetles.htm for pictures of the beetle in all forms (eggs, larva, adults) so that you’ll know what we’re looking for.  Even though they’re called potato beetles, they will move on to other members of the nightshade family (including my most loved tomatoes!), so we try our best to control them.  We spray neem oil on the plants; neem is approved for organic use.  But plucking bugs and scraping off eggs is the most effective (if tedious) organic control method. If you’re up for beetle-plucking tomorrow, bring a water bottle with the top cut off (or some other container) to hold soapy water to drop them in.  And gloves.  I highly recommend gloves.  Scraping eggs with bare fingers is really not something you want to do! 

 

So are you totally grossed out now at the thought of plucking off bugs and scraping insect eggs?  Or are you ready to do battle?  🙂  If you’re free tomorrow, I hope you can join us!

 

Sandra