Thursday, September 18, 2014

Life and Death in the Garden

WARNING:  Images may not be suitable for the weak of heart.

Lots going on in the garden as preparations for fall/winter are in full swing.  All the raised beds have been planted.  Two beds are full of mustard to produce green manure for soil nourishment.  The other two now have a variety of lettuce, beets, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and peas.  The garlic just arrived in the mail today; so that will get planted soon.


My first pests in the garden are the mourning doves.  Those turkeys eat the seed, make filthy nests, and breed like rabbits.  As the sun rose this morning, I discovered the warm remains of one of those pests right in the middle of my young mustard.  Yeeeek!  I don't have garden kitties anymore; so what did the butchering?  Perhaps a bird of prey swooped in before sunset.  An owl?  We have those in the neighborhood.  Hawks hang out here too.  As I looked for clues, fresh kitty poop (warm like the dove bits) was discovered barely covered by the path gravel.  Filthy beast.


Bagrada bug was harmed in the production of this blog post.
Other pests have been discovered in the raised beds.  The University of California Cooperative Extension in Davis (The internet is a wonderful thing.) identified this wee beastie as a Bagrada bug and it doesn't have any predators (besides me).  Oh yes.  This bug thrives on mustard, broccoli, and cauliflower.  Great.  Just great.  This afternoon, there was a Bagrada bug orgy going on in the garden.  If they win, I may be kicking back this winter and buying expensive produce that doesn't taste as great as fresh from the garden.  Until then, I will remain vigilant/vigilante.

2 comments:

David said...

Maybelline, having a garden is a never ending battle against nature, isn't it. This year it was the weather here. As I've said before my bug issues are taken care of by wild turkeys. Now if I could just get something to scare away those greedy raccoons, I might get some sweet corn. This year has been so wet in the garden I didn't get much fence building completed. I still have hopes to get more done before the freezing weather keeps me from working in the garden. Some things were completed this year but most will not be completed but the good news is they will still be there in the Spring. :-)

Have a great fall gardening day.

Steve said...

Yes, it has been a strange summer here in the Central Valley.