Is it possible that the “beneficial nematodes” WORKED?
Two years running, I bought (rather expensively) packages of “beneficial nematodes” that are imagined by their sellers to attack the root-munching grubs of the hated palo verde beetle. These I applied several times during the fall and winter of successive years. And two years running, well over a dozen giant beetle escape holes appeared in the following summers — indicating a heavy infestation that sooner or later will kill the spectacular Desert Museum hybrid palo verde tree that shelters the west side of the house from the scorching afternoon sun.
This year I’ve found about a half-dozen holes so far — and it’s getting fairly late in the season. The mature monster bugs start to dig their way out at the start of the monsoon season, along about the end of June. By now, mid-way through July, there should be lots more escape holes.
So. I wonder it it takes several years of treatment with these little worms that so harry the offspring of the massive and tank-like palo verde beetle? They live underground for about four years, hatching and eating and growing and maturing. I wonder if the nematodes work to best effect on the youngest grubs? Possibly those that are already a couple of years old are strong enough to resist infection by these tiny creatures. Hm.
This morning I found one, just (1) more hole, way over by the orange tree that I believe to be besieged by these damn beasts. When I was spreading nematodes, the citrus infestation wasn’t yet evident. So I didn’t sprinkle any of the little guys over there. Hmmm…
Therefore…
Should I diddle away some more money on beneficial nematodes this fall?
In the low desert, the summer heat is too hot for the little guys, at least so saith the Arizona-based dealer in the critters. On the other hand, though, I’ve really been pouring the water to the west side, having discovered that what ailed the climbing roses was drought, not old age or disease.
Note to self: call the Arbico lady and discuss.
Am I crazy to diddle away money on gardening at all?
Probably. Back and forth with JestJack over the cost of food and the frugal benefits of vegetable gardening reminded me that I really, really miss the Israeli composter my friend La Bethulia gave me some years ago. It was ruined by a jackass who said he was a beekeeper who could remove what appeared to be a hive a-growing in the thing and who, when he discovered only a horde of bees attracted by some honey on some bread I’d tossed into the composter, dumped a ton of nasty powdered insecticide in there before I could stop him.
The compost is what DOES make your garden grow in a place where the ground is mostly caliche.
This thing is bar none, THE best composter ever designed. There’s no assembly — you just set the rolling tub in its cradle, open the door, and toss in the stuff you want to compost. As the stuff turns into magical mystery dirt inside it, the moisture it collects drains into the cradle thingie, providing you with compost “tea” that you can pour on your potted plants, making them very, very happy. The composter itself can be rolled over and over on the cradle, tossing its contents and speeding the composting process nicely.
And yes. I just ordered up a new one from Amazon. Am I crazy?
Why do dogs eat sticks?
Ruby (taking the morning air beneath the shady orange tree): [crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch…]
Human: What are you doing?
Ruby: Crunching. [crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch…]
Human: You threw up this morning! Might this not be the cause, oh worthy hare-brained dog?
Ruby: Feed me, human. Feed me! [crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch…]
Am I crazy to think my clothes get cleaner when I wash them by hand?
This discovery was made when I took to soaking jeans and other colored clothing in a pail, with a dollop of original Dawn detergent, and then running them through the hated Samsung washer’s “rinse” cycle. This, to opt out of the “braid” effect — and because the rinse cycle runs all of 21 minutes, where as a cycle that uses enough water to actually get everything in a washload wet takes an hour and ten minutes, for godsake.
You don’t even have to rinse the detergent out of the clothing. Just dump out the pail of water, let the water mostly drain out of the clothes, and toss them into the machine. The extra weight caused by the wet load triggers the stupid washer to dispense enough water to rinse the clothes effectively.
It turns out that when you let a load of laundry soak for a few minutes in dish detergent, then make the ridiculous “energy-efficient” washer rinse them and ONLY rinse them, everything comes out brighter and distinctly cleaner-looking than what you get after upwards of an hour of shloshing and tangling around in an ineffective amount of water with ineffective “HE” laundry detergent.
Everything that’s white comes out…you know, white. And without stains.
And you get the job done with a fraction of the power usage and a fraction of the wasted time.
WHY can’t I ever, ever, EVER post one of these squibs without finding a mistake after it’s published?
Old age? Innate incompetence? Freudian issues with computers?
What is the answer?
Earth to humans: Unknown.
Kuddos on the composter….BUT MAN $169…..I feel faint… But a 5 year warranty is pretty good!! You won’t be disappointed with a “tumbling composter”, it really speeds up the decomposing process especially where you live with the extreme heat. I’m getting ready to apply some “compost tea” as the tomatoes have set fruit as have the “volunteer lopes”. It seems when I apply this “tea” it gives the plants a little kick when they need it most…when bearing fruit. Aaaand your trash will drop big time. Seriously between composting and recycling we have little or no trash…
The price IS painful! I should’ve made the jerk who misrepresented himself pay for a new one, but I didn’t realize I wouldn’t be able to get the powdery stuff out of it until after he was long gone. He turned the thing into its own toxic waste site!
The old one had been out in the yard for year after year, with no visible deterioration from sun or rain. Five years is a short time in the life of one of these contraptions. And it made great compost. The plants loved it.
Hmmmmm……My composter is getting a little “long of tooth”. Actually it’s in pretty bad shape. I acquired this off Craigslist for free….actually “less than free. A young professional couple bought it and 5 bags of “compost starter” when they were in a “green mood”. Well it never happened, they put it on Craigslist and they wanted it out of their yard…pronto. So after I load the composter in my truck the guy asked if I could take the bags of starter as well. And being the “solid citizen” that I am…I agreed to take the 5 bags as well. One really doesn’t need starter….so on the way home I returned the starter to Home Depot and received right around $25 in store credit AND a basically new compost tumbler for the trouble. BUT that was about 3 years ago…the crank handle has broken and the hatch is broken as well. I bungie cord it shut and spin it by what is left of the handle. Though crippled this thing still does a great job. During the Summer it will take the food scraps and in about 2 weeks turn them into unrecognizable “goop” that is perfect for “tea”. The smell is contained within the vessel BUT when you open it ….the odor would “knock a buzzard off a trash truck”. It truly amazes me how little of the odor escapes around the composter and the amazing results on plants.
With your new acquisition, you got me thinking of “upgrading”….. Have to keep my eye out for a bargain….
That’s interestng! LoL! What a great story!
I’ve never used a “starter” — there seem to be plenty of microbes around here to get organic stuff to compost. Never had a problem with odor, either — matter of fact, the finished compost smells kind of good, like rich, foresty-smelling soil. But the hard gets a lot of dry leaves from the trees, which may be creating that effect.
In the past — in a different yard — I’ve made a compost pile. It’s very simple and cheap: Get some chicken wire and stand it on edge to form a circular fence. Toss in a mound of grass clippings to get started. Then proceed as usual with kitchen discards, leaves, plant clippings, whativer. You can even add shredded paper, though I was never comfortable about putting something that had ink on it around plants I planned to eat. Use a pitchfork to toss it every couple of weeks. Pitchfork is much easier than a shovel.
If you don’t like it above ground, you can dig a hole in the ground and use that to contain compost. Problem here is the caliche is too hard to dig through — you’d need a jackhammer to dig a big enough hole to hold a compost heap. 😀
Not feeling the “compost pile”….We tried this before the tumbler and it attracted every “varment” within a 5 mile radius….This included but was not limited to “rats big as cats” and “raccoons the size of beaver”….And we did get a bit of an odor despite it being aways from the house. You’re gonna love the “new toy”…(composter)….Aaaand aside note, had the first bit of bounty from our gardening efforts. Picked leaf lettuce from the oblong pots for dinner last night….It was excellent and I figure last night I recovered my 10 cent seed “investment”…..and there is still plenty to come….
Hm…that would be annoying. We have both roof rats and raccoons in these parts. Ratty I can live with, as long as she stays outdoors. Raccoons, however, can make quite the mess! That’s not a critter you want to have dwelling around the house.
Haven’t seen any sign of Ratty this summer. Could the be dogs have chased her off. Or more likely, one of the neighbors pizzened her.
Seriously, tho’… I really do think a rotating composter is worth the cost. It makes composting easy. Lets the compost bugs in and keeps the mammalian set out. And fresh lettuce is THE business!
SDXB got some real potatoes to grow from the eyes of grocery-store potatoes, BTW. I thought they irradiated those things and that made them sterile, but apparently not. He actually got a few edible taters to grow in pots!
SDXB is the MAN….I’ve had some luck with planting red potato eyes BUT the squirrels for some reason think the little potatoes are for them. Seriously I find little marble size potatoes all over the place. DD2 is somewhat “thrifty” and actually grows celery from stalks purchased at the grocery store in a glass of water….It’s crazy….she buys celery like once a year. Maybe all this gardening input will save you BIG $!! Please keep us up to date on your “budget battle”…..