The Experiment in Aphid Control Continues

Aphids have an unfair advantage. I've just read the life cycle of aphids and discovered that if the food source dwindles, they can grow wings and fly off to find new sources. Furthermore, they can reproduce by parthnogenesis and give live birth to a smaller version of themselves. I think I have to take them more seriously!

So I sprayed one aphid infested plant with Green Light Home and Garden Insect Spray and indeed there are less aphids on the plant. Definitely a partial success. But now I'm thinking I have to do all the kale and the broccoli to keep the aphids from migrating to new plants. Freezing weather does not seem to be a problem for them.

Check it out - it will make you weep.

At Green Light Organic Bioganic Home & Garden Insect Contol Spray - 24 oz Spray #80224

Green Light Organic Home & Garden Insect Contol Spray is tested on aphids

This time of year, aphids attack the kale and broccoli which I have left in the ground to overwinter. The Russian Kale plants let me know they are suffering by curling over. Sure enough when I inspect, they are covered with grey aphids. Now I love this kale. It is one of the sweetest kales, and I can harvest it all winter so it's upsetting to loose plants to aphids now. I have pulled plants that seemed totally infested, but decided to try Light Green Organic Insect Spray on a few plants and see if it did the job. I sprayed today. I like the fact that this spray can be used up to the day of harvest. I'll report back in a few days to see if the spray worked.

At Green Light Organic Bioganic Home & Garden Insect Contol Spray - 24 oz Spray #80224

Sleek Stainless-Steel Composter Keeper looks good on the countertop

Here's a good looking container to keep your compost odor free until you take it outside. It's stainless steel and very sleek so it can sit on the counter top or slide nicely under the sink. The lid fits tightly and it has a filter and three replacement filters to eliminate odors. The satin finish cleans easily with soapy water.

At Norpro GRIP-EZ Stainless-Steel Composter Keeper with 2-pc. Replacement Filter Set

VermipostPro Red Wigglers for Organic Gardening and Composting

One thing that will keep growing all winter are earthworms in your compost pile. If you give them enough water and food scraps, newspaper or even cardboard, they will double every 90 days. In the spring, you'll be ready to add them to the garden to keep the soil friable and fertile. They can also be used indoors with houseplants.

At VermipostPro Red Wigglers for Organic Gardening and Composting

Compost Innoculant keeps your compost cooking in the winter

If you are having trouble getting compost to heat up and decompose into humus, consider using a compost innoculant. Peaceful Valley Farms has this inoculant which contains 30 strains of aerobic bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, and other beneficial microbes. It will decompose straw, food, manures and other green matter. Sawdust, needles and hardwood will take more innoculant, otherwise one ounce should do well in a compost bin.

At Compost Innoculant

Havahart Trap catches Squirrels and chipmunk size pests

Recently, I had a ground squirrel problem in the garden. The little sucker was digging under plants and killing them. I don't use poison as it gets in the food chain so I used a Havahart trap which is a handy device for any gardener. Not knowing what bait to use, I used cheese, taping it down on the spring, and voila! two days later, I had my culprit. I then drove about five miles away and let the critter loose in the woods where he or she would not hurt anything. Problem solved! These traps are great tools and come in various sizes depending on the problem animal.

At Havahart 1025 Two Door Cage Trap for Squirrels 17.5 x 5.25 x 7.25

National Pollinator's Week A Time to Help Our Helpers

The National Wildlife Federation has some tips for helping out pollinators, reminding us that "every third bite of food" comes from their help. They have some tips to make life a little easier for butterflies, bees, and birds.

1. Hang a hummingbird feeder
2. Build a bee house
3, Plant a butterfly garden

You can check out their tips for keeping our planet healthy. All things you can do in your back yard.

Green Light Organic Neem II - A Safe Insecticide

Neem Oil with Pyrethrin, which is made from chrysanthemums, can be safely used in vegetable gardens, fruit & nut trees & ornamentals. It provides immediate control of ants, aphids, mealy bugs, spider mites, and those pesky cucumber beetles who wreck my melons and cuke plants.

At Green Light Organic Neem II - 24 oz Spray #07824

7 Million Live Beneficial Nematodes-Kills over 230 Harmful Bugs

If your plants start to droop and wilt but have plenty of water, these beneficial nematodes may be the answer. They work on soil dwelling and wood boring insects which are hard to see.

• These microscopic insects will seek out and destroy over 230 kinds of harmful insects, including cutworms, armyworms, rootworms, weevils, grubs, fungus gnat larvae, and many more.


• They are completely safe for people, pets, and the environment, and are compatible with other beneficial insects.


• Beneficial nematodes are shipped live in the box


• They are completely compatible with beneficial insects such as ladybugs, lacewings, and praying mantids and do not harm earthworms.


• They are completely safe for people, pets, and the environment

At 7 Million Live Beneficial Nematodes-Kills over 230 Bugs

Orange Guard Water Based Indoor/Outdoor Home Pest Control - Safe and Made from Oranges

• Orange Guard kills insects fast on contact
• Kills and repels ants, roaches, silverfish, fleas and other insect pests for weeks.
• You can even spray it on kitchen counters and on pets' bedding
• For use around Food, Humans, and Pets
• OMRI Certified

Orange Guard is a water based indoor/outdoor insecticide that may be used around food, humans and pets. Made from d-Limonene (orange peel extract) and inert ingredients, Orange Guard is EPA-registered and now available to consumers. Works naturally on ants, fire ants, roaches, fleas, silverfish, aphids, spider mites, leaf hoppers, scale insects, and other insect pests. I'm going to try it on the cucumbers and melon plants in the garden to protect them from the striped cucumber beetle which has hammered my plants the last two years. Hhhhmmmm. Might also try it on the dog's bed.

At Orange Guard Water Based Indoor/Outdoor Home Pest Control - 32 oz Spray #103

Mantis Tiller - chop up those hornworm cocoons this fall!

As we were gathering the last of the tomatoes for canning, we went at it with gusto, confident that all the worms, bugs and caterpillars had taken wing in their new forms and gone on to greener pastures. But, soon enough, we were rubbing shoulders (no horns - I checked both ends) with this one.

Could be a late season hornworm since there can be two generations of them in a single year. And, there must be more than one in the GardenSnob garden because many tomatoes had that characteristic, quarter-sized bite shaved off of them. This one is a purple/brown/grey color, though, not the typical green, so we'll keep searching for its proper identity. We decided to leave this little guy on the tomato so it can mature into a moth. We have enough tomatoes and it would be really cool to see the giant 5-6" moth.

One way to stave off next year's hornworms is to till your garden this fall, keeping an eye out for the cocoons which are reddish brown. Make sure you crush, destroy, pulverize them. The Mantis tiller might be just the thing for this job. It's light and maneuverable and uses a dependable Honda engine.

I've only heard good things about them and am tempted to get one myself. Although it's more expensive, I recommend the one with the 4-cycle engine because it's easier to start and a lot quieter. On sale at Amazon for $448.82.

And now for the fun stuff. How could we mention something as disgusting as a tobacco worm without giving a visual? Here's a really gross video for all the worm lovers but especially my 7 & 8 year old nephews. It shows a pretty girl eating a large tobacco hornworm on a dare. This is as gross as it gets! Don't say I didn't warn you.

Hot Chick Eating Juicy Tomato Worm - The most popular videos are here

The hornworm has taken quite a beating this season so let's see it in its hummingbird moth form. Looks graceful enough and the flower sure is pretty.

(Photo courtesy of Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota)

Asian longhorned beetle

Alright, first it was the Mexican beetle, now it's one from China. Will everyone just keep their beetles to themselves? Maybe we have one that we can send abroad to visit. Here's an article about this relatively new invader from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:

A tree-destroying beetle that was discovered in Worcester early this month may have been in the city at least five years earlier than federal officials estimated.

A local pest control owner, Geoff Ford, says a sample of the Asian longhorned beetle has been in his insect collection since 1997, when someone brought it to him to identify.

Federal officials estimated the beetle was in Worcester since 2002 after a scientist examined what appeared to be the most infested tree.

For more information and more pictures of the life cycle of this pest, visit the website of UVM's entomology research laboratory.

Suit accuses restaurant of giving man big tapeworm

To conclude our week of worms, bugs and other gross things, here's a story to read after eating dinner.

A man claims a restaurant served him a tapeworm in his food.

Franz's lawsuit seeks $100,000 from Shaw's and its parent company, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, contending the restaurant's staff was negligent in serving him improperly cooked fish.

But Carrol Symank, vice president of food safety for Lettuce Entertain You, said the tapeworm didn't come from Shaw's. "We have done a thorough investigation and we're confident the restaurant is not the source," he said.

According to the Web site mayoclinic.com, tapeworms can measure up to 50 feet long. (article from Associated Press)

So, what does a tapeworm look like?

According to www.MedFriendly.com, "adult tapeworms have hooks, spiny structures, or suckers on their head, which allow them to attach to the wall of the intestine. The rest of the tapeworm is made up of a chain of flat segments. In the human digestive system, tapeworms develop into an adult form with one or more sexual organs that are capable of producing eggs. Adult tapeworms can be 20 to 30 feet in length!"

Full read at AP

Praying Mantis Poster, Live Insects & Video

Now this is one cool looking insect. No stomach upset here. And they are beneficial for the garden by eating all the other bugs that eat your plants.

Here's a poster print by Pete Oxford. The 40 x 30 print is available at Amazon for $69.99.

But the real thing is even better. Buy 4 praying mantises or an egg out of which 500 baby mantises could emerge from www.livemantis.com.

But, wait, there's more. Check out this clip of a female eating a male after mating.