This week in the garden: pests

Posted on June 2, 2014

You know the rhyme that goes, “Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?” If her garden is growing, what does she have to be contrary about? I’ll tell you. Pests. Something has been feasting on our vegetable seedlings. The carrots and radishes are nonexistent, despite the steady rain we’ve had. And take a look at the endive. These endives should be about 12″ in diameter now. They are a measly 3″ across, with browned, chewed ends. Most likely chipmunks. Our spinach is coming up and it looks all right, except for the leaf miner spots. And I’m guessing our broccoli currently resides in the bellies of some happy woodland rodents. It’s enough to make anyone contrary. In some good news, we got…

Categories: Garden News, Pests

The neighbors are abuzz

Posted on August 6, 2013

What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is a wasp nest the size of a football — only you wouldn’t want to play football with this because it is humming with activity. And it’s growing a mere four feet away from my tomato bed. Whenever I prune the tomatoes closest to this thing, wasps buzz around in dismay. What are you doing? Those are OUR tomatoes! I don’t think so, my six-legged friends. But I’m too scared — er, I mean smart — to try to reason with them, and instead I steer clear. The wasps live on the other side of my neighbor’s garden fence, nestled along the edge of his towering weed bed tucked behind the hundreds of cloves of garlic. I’m…

Categories: Pests

Public Enemy No. 1

Posted on July 29, 2013

This. This is what’s causing our bean plants to die a painful death. I have no idea what these are, but they’re eating my leaves down to the veins. Across the garden path, our neighbors plucked a leaf off their own beans and showed us how they spray with a mixture of dishsoap and water. Potato beetles, they said, but I’m not so sure. My frantic Googling suggests a Mexican Bean Beetle. Whatever the case, our neighbors across the way weren’t too concerned. Their bean plants are six and seven feet tall with fat bean pods despite the lacy leaves. I try not to be jealous. Seth, I think, feels it worse than I do. It’s hard not to be envious in a community…