I am frustrated, slightly depressed and extremely annoyed..........but will eventually come to just go with the flow of gardening life.
This was to be the year of the food garden. Last year was so bad for tomatoes so I had these big plans for a new garden. Tomatoes on new ground should be disease free since the diseases reside in the soil, another reason why they should be rotated in gardens. So I had DH break new ground, worked like the dickens to get it tilled and planted. So far, it looks good.
But alas, in the yard and backyard garden we have been hit with a plague of Japanese Beetles. I have never seen anything like it. University of Ky. suggests not using traps which I used last year and trapped 5 gallons. I have been spraying the fruit trees regularly and they have been bug free until this morning. The little plum tree was so covered I couldn't believe it. I should have taken a picture disgusting though it was but I didn't. The remaining cherries are covered; I found a few on the pole beans and they found the black berries.
We quit everything and picked 1.5 gallons. At least they won't get those! They are not on the peach trees. I did see a few on the corn. Tonight I will drench the garden with Sevin. There is a very short waiting period before harvest with Sevin and if you spray in the late afternoon, bees are not visiting. There is nothing blooming to be sprayed anyway. I try not to spray flowers because of bees and butterflies.
I hoed the row of sweet potatoes and checked everything in that garden. Something had been eating on the OP corn, not JB. I will spray them too.
We installed the 6 panels for the tomatoes in the new plot and I got bread made....that was it on my list.
We decided late in the afternoon to make an errand run into town. We needed cat and dog food and I wanted to get the beetle traps. We bought 4 and I put them together and went out back to hang them. This is what greeted me.
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| From insects |
They were swarming the west end of the backyard garden and on the old apple tree. I didn't go inside the garden to see if the Sevin had kept them off the plum tree...will check this morning.
I was afraid to open my mouth fearing one would fly inside.
Now because of the drought here, I am fearing grasshoppers..........
Oh my lord, Glenda. I've never seen such a mass of JBs like that! It's practically plague-like. Your hard work, your beautiful gardens. :-( My heart aches for you. Hopefully you'll get some rain so you won't have to worry about grasshoppers to boot.
ReplyDeleteGardening has great rewards, but the disappointments can be just as great. Sometimes it's just out of our hands. These big setbacks knock us down, but we don't stay down. We get back up and remember our mantra: Next year, next year, next year... Take care. And good luck with the beetle traps.
Oh Glenda ~ I am so sorry you are having to deal with this. It's like a nightmare, and if grasshoppers decide to visit too, it really will be one.
ReplyDeleteHoping for rain for you, and the end of the Japanese beetles.
Hugs ~ FlowerLady
that is horrible - i have never seen that many japanese beetles at one time! isn't that always how it goes ... you're minding your own business and pow! something you would never expect happens. i say get a tennis racket and an old pair of tennis shoes and stomp those boogers out of existance. good luck!
ReplyDeleteWe were in Salem Monday to visit a daylily garden and that was the scene there too. Bob would knock them off of plants and they would just fall or fly away. They have riddled his apple trees and knockout roses. He may be going to spray with Sevin. Stopped at my brothers in Licking on the way home and they had to spray as well. I checked this morning and so far so good but know how quickly things can change. So sorry for I know how hard you work on your gardens.
ReplyDeleteThat's a real bummer, Glenda! Dang it all, anyway....
ReplyDeleteWe've had two big rains that you didn't get, but I'm losing my peach tree, probably before the peaches can get to any size, the zucchini stems have had to be operated on and wrapped, and I don't know how that's going to turn out, and the beans I was told were Lazy Housewife have turned out to be some kind of dry bean that goes right to bean. After all the work I went to starting broccoli in the house during the winter, I planted it too close together and 80% of them didn't even make anything. Some days are diamonds, some days are stones. Hugs anyway.
Thanks for the sympathy; I always hate to whine and moan because such is the life of gardeners and farmers. This year has just had an awful lot....first fireblight, then no rain and now Japanese Beetles!
ReplyDeleteI will survive to garden yet another year.