Month: May 2010

Gardening ChickBlog2010May
24 May 2010
May 24, 2010 0 Comments By nubiangardenchick Uncategorized

Natural Ways to Repel Insects

Monday, 24 May 2010

Natural Ways to Repel Insects

There are other ways to repel insects without having to use insecticidal soap or pesticides.  Here are a few ways to naturally get rid of pests:

  • Plant other plants in your vegetable garden that these insects don’t like, such as mint, borage and nasturtiums (but be careful of mint and other invasive plants that may take over your garden)
  • Plant other plants that attract beneficial insects such as lady bugs, lacewings, some beetles and wasps.  Plants such as mint, dill, parsley, alyssum, and sage attract insects that devour crop eating insects.
  • Use the jet setting of your water hose to blast bugs off your crops.
  • Remove old leaves, sticks and other debris where caterpillars and slugs can burrow and multiply.  Removing leaves also reduces disease, which can make plants more susceptible to pest problems.
  • Grow your seeds indoors.  Bugs love young sprouts so make sure your plants are past their germination stage before putting them outside
  • Plant seeds early.  Aphids begin to show up in Georgia around April.
  • Plant your seeds in March (as well as indoors) so that the plant will already be established.
  • Cover your plants with clotches or clear plastic.  Hot soil kills many types of pests.

To make your own natural pesticide/insecticide, view my blog on Organic insecticides.

18 May 2010
May 18, 2010 0 Comments By nubiangardenchick Uncategorized

Garden Guide

Tuesday, 18 May 2010

iPhone App – Garden Guide

Current Price: $1.99
My grade: 3/5

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This app is a useful little app that allows you to keep a photo journal of your plants/herbs/vegetables as well as look up information about each one.

PROS

  • Easy interface:  The graphics are easy on the eyes
  • Water/light scale:  Lets you know how much water a plant requires, how much light and when the plant blooms
  • Garden builder:  You can save the plants you have in your garden by adding them to your favorites.  You can then sort them by type, location and name
  • Informative:  Contains information about soil preferences, zone hardiness, bloom time and weather preferences for each plant as well as a description and how to care for your plant.  You can learn about pests even if you aren’t experiencing any problems in your garden.

CONS

  • Spelling:  Many grammatical errors when viewing details of each plant
  • Variety:  More plants need to be added.  I found about 5% of the plants in my garden in this app.
  • Pest Information:  The pests area should list some of the plants they are attracted to.
  • Interactivity:  Only has a journal, but could benefit from a todo list for your garden with reminders and deadlines.

Overall the application is good if you want to learn about common pests and if you plan to journal your outdoor activities.

16 May 2010
May 16, 2010 0 Comments By nubiangardenchick Uncategorized

Organic Bug Repellant

 

Found this recipe for homemade bug repellant.  The spray is very effective, but has to be applied often.

  • Water bottle
  • Witch hazel extract
  • Citronella oil
  • Peppermint oil

Fill a spray bottle with witch hazel extract. Add one drop each of the citronella and peppermint essential oil for each fl oz of liquid.

07 May 2010
May 7, 2010 0 Comments By nubiangardenchick Uncategorized

Snails and Slugs

 

My children love slugs and snails (I know gross).  And while I don’t particularly care for them, I have come to terms with the fact that they are going to be a part of my garden.  So…. my children get their bug containers and start an entire slug rescue mission.  WHY?  Because they know that I will rid of them at all costs.  Last year I planted some hostas.  They were sprouting beautifully and then all of a sudden my hostas started to look like Swiss cheese.  This year I decided to prepare myself.  I did a lot of research on these little creatures and have found some interesting facts about slugs.

A slug is a gastropod mollusk and a snail is a gastropod mollusk with a hard outer shell. Slugs for the most part do not have shells or have a very very small internal shell.  There are approximately 40 different species of snails in the U.S. but only half of them are considered pests.  Snails and slugs have soft, slimy bodies which is why they must have a damp areas for hiding and avoiding desiccation (drying out).  This would be why most slugs are out and about after a good rain and why you can usually find them under stones, boards, debris, low branches and weeded areas when its hot and dry.  Their tentacles, which detect light and smell, can break and easily grow back.  As they move, they emit a mucus which helps to protect the body, especially the foot that moves it along.  The mucus also leaves a trail for other slugs to follow and can protect it from predators by making it hard to grasp.  Slugs are also self producing-hermaphrodites.  They have both female and male organs.  In some cases they do mate with other slugs, but because their penises are hooked, they have to chew them off in order to be released from their mate. If it were up to me, I’d just be a party of one!!! 🙂

As far as the environment is concerned, slugs do have some positive roles in the ecosystem.  They eat dead leaves, fungus (mushrooms), and decaying veggies.  Some slugs are carnivores and eat other slugs, snails and worms.  They help cycle organic matter which builds rich soil and they are food to other wildlife such as birds, turtles, toads, snakes, possums, raccoons, geese, chickens and ducks.  While this is ok for regular wildlife and the natural environment, gardeners are faced with a unique set of problem with slugs because slugs love to feast in gardens.  Visit my slug prevention blog post to learn organic ways to rid your garden of these creatures.

03 May 2010
May 3, 2010 0 Comments By nubiangardenchick Uncategorized

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world.  Although they are tiny, they make up for it with speed and excellent eye sight.  Their vision is the equivalent of 8X binoculars which means they can spot a bird feeder from 3/4 mile away and their speed can go from 30 miles per hour to 50 miles per hour.

Some other facts about hummingbirds:

  • Their nests are the size of an English walnut
  • It takes almost 2 weeks for their eggs to hatch
  • They usually have only two babies at a time
  • The oldest baby stays around long enough for the youngest to fly away
  • The female bird does all the work (not surprising):  she builds the nest, lays the eggs, cares for the young
  • Male birds mate with as many females as possible, but the female must choose him
  • Their nests are made with thistle, down of dandelions, and spider webs
  • The size of the eggs are the same size as a black eyed pea
  • Their tongues are forked
  • Their hearts beats at a rate of 250 beats a minute while resting and 1200 beats per minute while feeding
  • They fly at 30 miles per hour at normal speed and 50 miles per hour when being pursued by a predator
  • Their wings flap at 40-80 times a second
  • Their body temperature is 105 – 108 degrees
  • They weigh about 3.1 grams
  • They are approximately 3.5 inches in length
  • Ruby throated hummingbirds migrate across the entire gulf of Mexico two times a year for spring and fall (taking 18 hours to fly)
  • They are solitary animals and do not fly in flocks

Very interesting animals to be so small.  I only saw one last summer 🙁  Can’t wait to see if I can actually take pictures of them this summer.