Mexican Bean Beetles

For some reason I thought all lady bugs were good bugs. Unfortunately, there are a few lady bugs that are very destructive to plants. One of them is the Mexican Bean Beetle.  The adult is a yellow to copper color and has 16 black spots on it.  In the garden right now I have found the larva feeding on leaves but not the adult or the eggs even though I know they are there since I've found the larva. So here are two links to show what those forms look like.

This links shows the adult, larva and pupa stages of Mexican Bean Beetles. This link shows eggs through adult stages of development for the Mexican Bean Beetle.

Good lady bug larva
     You really DO want larva that looks like this in your bed! They look mean and fierce but they are not harmful to humans, only other insects. This lady bug larva is a very beneficial predator since it eats aphids and other bad bugs. You need to be careful not to spray pesticides on them because you don't want to kill them.

Good lady bug larva

Bad lady bug larva ie Mexican Bean Beetle
When the leaves of your beans start getting spots that are skeletonized, look on the undersides of the leaves for what is eating them. Just as with the squash bugs, you need to look on the undersides of all the leaves to find and remove the the bad critters.

Bean leaves that have been eaten

 

More than likely you will find a larval form that looks like this (see picture below). They don't sting which means you can just pick them off by hand if you don't have too many. Be sure and take them home and throw them in the trash at home. Or if you enjoy squishing them, do it on a hard surface.

Just as an FYI.....squishing bugs in loose mulch doesn't always kill them. There is too much give in the mulch. You really need a solid hard surface like a rock or a piece of wood.

Mexican bean beetle larva

If you have a bad infestation you need to be very diligent about spraying insecticidal soap, Azamax or Neem oil on them. Be sure to get the undersides of every leaf and spray way down into the plant so every surface is coated. Even then you will have to pay close attention to keep them under control because it is very hard to get an entire stand of beans sprayed properly.

Water Spigots, Leaks and Pressure Problems

This past week we had a water leak which made the ground around one of the spigots very wet.  The problem was caused by a spigot handle that had become loose.  We were afraid it was about to break off like it did once before and cause a flood.  This time the fix was easy.  The county came out this morning to double check everything and they went over a few tips on handling the spigots.

 



Grasp the faucet with both hands

Lever fully extended correctly

The spigot needs to be turned on in a way that does not push or pull the water pipe. The proper way is to grab the lever with one hand and hold the spigot with the other.  This way the pressure will be even and you will not be pulling or pushing the pipe.  

 

Also, the lever needs to be pulled up until it is completely extended for the water to be on.  If you only pull it up half way, the water with not be on at all or not on fully. 

Lever half way up



Once you have extended the lever fully and the water is flowing, you can always bring the lever partially down to slow the pressure if needed.



Lever at right angle to the hose is
in the closed position

We have put ball valve controls on all of the hoses.  These allow you to turn the water fully on at the spigot and, with the ball valve in closed position, you will not have the water flowing from the hose.  You can then easily get the hose back to your bed before switching the ball valve control to open.

Lever in straight line with hose is in the
open or water flow position



Most of you already know all of these things but I thought it would be worth going over just in case there might be a gardener that is not familiar with the spigots and valves. If anyone notices water leaking or has any kind of problem, please be sure to let us know so we can get the county involved when necessary.  

Thanks, Carol

 

Pollinators in the Garden

To celebrate National Pollinator week, I spent quite a bit of time chasing bees, beetles, wasps and flies in the garden trying to take their pictures.  It was interesting how few honeybees I actually saw in the garden doing their job. They aren't missing, they just prefer the clover that is blooming in the grass. But don't worry, we do have lots of pollinators working in the garden! 

Most vegetables need something to pollinate their flowers
to form fruit. This tomato obviously has had a visitor or two.

One of the hardest working insects in the garden are the
 bumblebees. Sunday I found them pollinating squash,
 cucumber, tomato, pepper, artichoke and okra flowers.

Notice the pollen sacs on the legs of this bee! It has already visited quite a few flowers
to gather this much pollen. Can you find the tiny little pollinator in this picture? 



Pollen is dusted over the entire body of this bumblebee! It was fun
 watching it circle around and around the artichoke flower and crawl
through the flower gathering as much nectar and pollen as it could.

 

A lady bug (also known as a lady beetle) was busy
inside a cucumber flower.

This sunflower had quite a few different species of native
 bees and wasps busily working away on it. .

Passion vines provide nectar for butterflies and are also a host plant for Gulf Fritillary caterpillars.
Look at the far left of the picture and you can see a  caterpillar  hard at work eating the leaves of the plant.

Two native bees flying in to visit the onion flowers. It really is amazing how many insects
 utilize the them. Next year I'm going to plant onions in the pollinator border just so
 they will flower and attract more pollinators to the garden.

Harvests from the Garden

The first of the summer vegetables are coming in -  Thanks to everyone who sent in pictures of some of their recent harvests. I know of other pictures out there...some wonderful onion harvests, carrots galore, tons of lettuce.

Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchinis, beans, okra, potatoes, radishes, peas and carrots are starting to come in.

These two pictures are just some of what Mike and Sue have been harvesting recently.

Vann's grandson was very proud of the white carrot they pulled the other day. He was also a huge help when we spread mulch last Monday. We had to work very fast to keep up with him.

Alas for the peas, they are history until the fall. But they were very tasty until it got too hot. Mike,  I love the bowl they are in!

Jim already has okra  to go with his peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers!

Mark had two beautiful garlic bulbs. Awesomely huge ones!   John was so excited about his zucchini. He has been fighting the squash bugs to get them and his plant is doing good right now.

                                                                     
                             These are the potatoes Vann grew in her potato bag. They were gorgeous! Even with a late start she had some nice sized potatoes. I was quite envious of her harvest. Maybe next year I'll get an early start on a potato bag and have this many potatoes.

Sue has tons of onions and garlic to use now that they have all been harvested. And lots of room to put additional plants now that they are all out. Decisions, decisions!

Mark and his Gnome buddy have a nice harvest of cucumbers, tomatoes and beans. The beans are really coming along fast.

Squash Bug Life Cycle

Squash bugs unfortunately are one of our biggest pests at the garden. For some reason we have been afflicted with them in great numbers ever since the garden first started. Squash bugs are bad because they spread disease from one squash plant to the other and they also reduce the productivity of the squash plant.

It is easy to see the adults but not so easy to see the nymphs when they hatch out.  You have to really examine all your squash plants (leaves, stalks, base of the plant) on a very regular basis to control them. Usually the eggs are found on the undersides of the leaves however in one bed the eggs were found on top of and underneath the leaves.

Look for the adults and  nymphs down in the base of the plants, along stems and the undersides of leaves. If you hand pick (and kill) every adult you see, you won't have nearly as many eggs to remove. And if you remove the eggs as soon as you see them, you won't have any nymphs to deal with either.

Spraying with Azamax will help but you have to be careful not to spray any beneficial insects and to spray at the correct time of day as well as when it isn't windy.

Here is a very handsome specimen, lurking, waiting to find a mate.

Ah ha....several squash bugs have found significant others and are now mating

 

Squash bug eggs are really gorgeous however every one of these eggs will become a pest. All of these need to be removed. The best way to do it is to just cut off the piece of leaf and then take it home to put in the trash. If you just drop the eggs on the ground, throw it in the compost pile or in the woods, the eggs will STILL hatch out!

These eggs are very close to hatching. Notice they have

 turned very translucent and some are almost white.

 

Baby squash bugs that have just hatched out. Soon

they will be adults looking for mates.

Weekly Calendar Sat June 15 - Fri June 21

June 17 - 23
National Pollinator Week
Watch for a post about why pollinators are beneficial

Monday June 17
Mulch Moving Project
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
We will only be working in the shaded areas! As the shade moves, we'll move.
Mulch moving project Details

Thursday June 20
MG's at the Garden
8:30 am to 9:30 am

Lovely mulch! Wonderful Mulch!

We have two huge piles of mulch to be spread in the garden. Thursday morning Wesley from RPM Tree Care brought us a HUGE truck load of chips. He was nice enough to dump them in two places so we don't have to move quite as much of it a long distance.

So...the bad part is that now that we have mulch, we need to spread the mulch. Monday evening from 6:30 to 8:00 pm we'll work on spreading the mulch. It will be hot but we won't be working in the full sun, only in the shaded areas.

The rule of thumb for spreading the mulch is if you see bare dirt, that area needs a layer of mulch that is 1.5 to 2 inches deep. If it already has some mulch a layer that adds an additional 1 inch will be sufficient. I know, picky picky....but if we put that mulch on thick enough we'll keep the weeds beat back and we won't have to go through what we did earlier this year!

The huge pile in front of the shed needs to be spread into the center aisle and under the pecan tree. Yes, we did just put some mulch under the pecan tree but it was more leaves than chips and won't last long. Another additional inch will help keep the weeds at bay.

The 2nd pile needs to be spread over all the big community paths. The section that goes from the center of the intersection to the gate has had mulch put on it before but needs another inch on top since that section gets so many people walking on it. The other two sections have lots of bare dirt so we need a good 2 inches spread on those sections.

To make moving the mulch easier we've bought another pitchfork and 2 more garden rakes to help spread the mulch. 

Ice Cream Social

We have been thinking. I know - beginners luck.
How about a Green Meadows Ice Cream Social gathering?

When: Saturday, June 29, 2013
Time: 11:30am to 2:00pm

The concept is simple. Bring your ice cream churn to the garden and your favorite recipe. We will happily supply hot dogs, buns, chips and water.

We will have a special guest to sample your churned ice cream and declare the best of the garden. Prizes to be handed out for best ice cream and most unusual ice cream.

If you want, you can churn your ice cream the night before and bring it to the party.

We hope to see all of our fellow Bedbugs that want to have a little garden fun before the holiday.

Also, the bed checkers will be looking at the four quads of the garden and declaring garden beds of the spring/summer. Four Best of show ribbons will be handed out to the garden beds that have the following:  Best looking over all, pest free, and full of garden whimsy.

Cheese Muffin Recipe

The Anniversary Pot Luck Supper was a success.  We had a great turnout and the food was outstanding.  The weather was beautiful as well and that is always a good thing.  There is talk about having another get-together this summer.   Maybe something planned around ‘tomatoes’.   We will keep you posted.   

There were a number of great dishes Saturday night and recipes were asked to be shared.  Below is the recipe for Cheese Muffins.  They are full of calories as they are made with real butter and good cheddar cheese.  Not for anyone watching their diet but definitely for anyone that likes yummy food.

MOLLY’S CHEESE MUFFINS

Servings: about 36 mini-muffins.  I usually end up with about 40-42 mini-muffins.

The recipe as it appeared on Walter Reeves’ website:

His wife's friend Molly Wilson makes the best muffins and brings them to garden club functions.  There are never any left over.

2 sticks (1 cup) very soft butter (it needs to be very soft to mix easily)

1 cup (8 oz.) of sour cream (at room temperature, don't use right out of the fridge)

2 cups self-rising flour

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated (buy it already finely grated at Costco)

        (if you use regular grated cheese it does not melt into the muffin as well,

         but still good)

Add ingredients in order, ‘hand stirring’ after each one, in a big bowl. (I never stir by hand, it’s too hard.  I use a large mixer on low speed with a paddle blade and then switch to a dough hook when I add the cheese.)

Spoon into mini-muffin cups, ¾ full. (I use silicone bake ware, mini-muffin pans—nothing ever sticks—they are worth the extra cost)  Bake at 400 degrees for 18 - 20 minutes or until the tops are beginning to brown. 

Make four times as many muffins as you have guests coming.  Serve warm.  You can also let them cool and then freeze them in zip lock bags.  When ready to use, wrap in foil, put in oven (350º) and heat until hot. They taste as good as if you just baked them.

Serve immediately.  They are best when hot, or at least very warm.  As they cool down, they are not nearly as tasty.  And for goodness sake, don’t ruin these by using fake butter and fake sour cream.  Just make something else!

Carol

Trellising in the Garden

Hey Everyone,

Trellis is made from trimmed
Crape Myrtle branches!

Is our garden not absolutely amazing?  I love walking through and seeing all the different ideas, that everyone is coming up with to trellis their vegetables.  Jim, in beds 34 & 35, has a re-bar and fence material structure that is so far in the ground that he can pretty much guarantee it is not going anywhere.  This structure to the right was erected on Memorial Day in bed 39 for trellising their tomatoes.

For anyone needing inspiration or for those unsure of what they would like to try, Google Images has a wealth of ideas.  Just open the Google search engine, click Images on the black toolbar at the top, and type trellising in the garden.  Press enter and voila!  As if the first page isn't enough, if you click show more results at the bottom, well let us just say a trip to Lowe's or Home Depot may be in order.  I'm sensing a conduit run, grin!

Rita & Elise's creative pot structure!

The creative projects also popping up show a wonderful display of thinking outside the box! From Jane's pitchfork and antique bottles to Rita and Elise's new pot tower, I am inspired to take the time and enjoy the pure beauty of being creative in the garden once again.

For those wishing to explore their creative side, many of the DIY stores have wonderful ideas on their websites.  I love the project found below on the Lowe's site and it will be one of my next attempts at doing something artistic for trellising peas, or should I say Rick's attempt.  Where's that Honey Do List?

http://www.lowes.com/creative-ideas/lawn-and-garden/easy-garden-trellis/project

backyarddiva.ca - located on Pinterest

I ran across this project to the right on Pinterest and for some reason it really catches the eye.  Does anyone have some good ideas for anchoring it down?   I'm thinking if I were to use fiberglass doors for longevity, that while sturdy, it would be rather lightweight for heavy winds.  I would really enjoy some suggestions.

So many ideas,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Weekly Calendar May 31 - June 8

Saturday June 1st
Garden Party to Celebrate our 1st Year
6:00pm - 8:00 pm
Bring a chair and a dish to share!
Enjoy the beautiful garden.

Tuesday June 4
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Gardeners on Duty

Saturday June 8
9:00 am to 11:00 am
Saturday workday
We are almost done but there are a few more things to do to be all set for the summer.

Is this real?

So do you think this dove is real or part of the shepherds hook?

Why have a windsock?

Besides being fun and pretty, our windsock does have a purpose. I don't know about you, but I like to know which way the wind is blowing before  I start to spray Azamax, compost/worm tea, Actinovate, fishy stuff or mist my plants with the hose.

Spraying in a gale force wind means you end up spraying your neighbors plants instead of yours. Now it is easy to stay up wind just by keeping an eye on the windsock!

Way too windy to spray anything! Even watering with the hose
will get you wet.

Starting to get better but still too windy.



Much better! Anything sprayed will
go on the plants now.

Deformed Carrots

These carrots had a very hard life! They are gnarly and full of cracks.

What do you think caused it? I have my ideas but what are yours?
And no...they aren't my carrots.

North Marietta Community Garden

Several of us went and visited the North Marietta Community Garden on Monday. Their garden is really cute! They don't have as many beds as we do but they have lots of great art in their garden. Here are a few pictures from the day.

This is a view of a part of the garden. It backs up to the Head Start
and has lots of space to expand up the hill from this picture.

This is the cutest gnome! But it wouldn't work in our
garden as it is tied to the sign so it won't fall off.

I LOVED the hubcaps!

Close up of the bejeweled hubcaps.

A trellis structure with a hubcap and a pretty
sign personalizing the bed.

Fun paintings on their storage shed.