Tomato Horn Worms and the disturbingly gross way they die

I recently had some things come up in my life where I needed a small mental health break which started as one week but then turned into a bit over two months due to my own self-sabotaging, stubborn personality. But even with everything crazy I was processing during that time I never stopped trying to get out into my garden and make sure my plant babies were well cared for. It was during my recent clean up for my winter garden that I accidentally touched one of the biggest most creepy and gross tomato worms I have ever seen. Now I have seen tomato horn worms before, but they were only about an inch long and normally just come right off the branch or vine and are easily squashed or tossed in the garbage can. The ones that I have seen as of late have been three inches or longer and carrying around these big white egg sacs all over their bodies. Something like this picture here:

 

Super gross right?! If you are trypophobic I apologize, but I needed to share my trauma of seeing this thing in my yard...merrily eating my food. Or at least so I had thought till I did some research on why the heck it looked like this. I found out that little guys like this, covered in these gross egg sacs are in fact dying slow horrible deaths. The eggs come from a small native wasp species which eats these bad insects in the garden. What happens is once these wasp lay there eggs on the backs of the horn worm, the eggs slowly dig into its skin. Once the wasp larvae hatch, they burrow into the worm and devour its insides while it is alive. The worm then after some days or weeks dies and the freshly matured wasp go on to continue the cycle. Nature can be gross, but this nasty looking situation is actually a really really good thing. This is as organic of pest control as you can get but truly a testimony to how savage Mother Nature can be. 

If you have a gross looking pest in your garden that tops this share it with me in the comments and if you like this Blog add your email to the subscriber list. I feel about 80% back to normal so I think I will be back to doing my normal end of week posts. Happy October!

Best ways to Eliminate or Avoid Squash bugs

Every year millions of at home gardeners and farmers are plagued with the menace known as the squash bug. The breed faster than rabbits, smell like rancid milk and vinegar, are huge and eat EVERYTHING! Contrary to the name they do not just like to attack your summer squash they will take advantage of anything you leave a little less cared for. If you could not tell, I absolutely hate these little beast! But I have quickly learned a few secrets that have allowed my to keep my plants healthy and productive and today I wanted to share my top observations on how to handle these pesky little beetles.  They aren't the most traditional routes you could go, but they are very simple and you will probably have access to get this stuff if you don't own it already.

• Dish Soap works amazingly as insecticide not just for the squash bug, but for a whole host of hostile bugs which you can find crawling over your plants. All you need to do is add about a half teaspoon of it to a water filled spray bottle, spray any it directly on the bug and it will die in a matter of minutes. (Word of caution, this can burn your plants so if you accidently spray it on a large area rinse it off as soon as your sure the bug is dead.)
• Use a green house or garden tent to increase the temperature around your plant. This one I found out unintentionally while experimenting with a new greenhouse set up. In the southern area which I live, the temperature normally gets above 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, but my greenhouse goes well over 100 even with the door open. The high heat levels are actually really being loved by my cucumber and squash plant and the heat seems to be keeping away the major pesks which would have already invaded by this time last year. I think its a win-win and I'll definitely do this in the years to come.

If you try these, let me know how they work out for you in the comments below and if you want to keep up with this blog subscribe with your email, its free!

The Farmer's Review: Juliet Tomatoes

When I pick plants at the beginning of the year, often times I will watch videos and read about a dozen catalogs before I narrow down what I'm putting in the ground for the year. This year though I had an early war with my neighbors cat, who decided all of my boxes, plots, and containers would be his bathroom. Thanks to the cat, who I swear is an evil genius trapped in a cute fuzzy body I actually didn't get to have the garden I initially wanted. I had wanted Roma tomatoes this year for making some delicious salsa, but the store was sold out of seedlings and by the time I won my cat war it was too late to plant seed. So rather then Roma this year I ended up with Juliet, and I am actually much happier with the variety then I had thought I would be. So since it worked out, I wanted to give a quick review on the variety and its pros and cons.

Juliet Tomatoes

The Juliet Tomato is a red indeterminate variety of tomatoes. They are a hybrid variety which is a cross between the Roma tomato and Grape Tomato varieties. In my experience with them this year, the Juliet grows tomatoes maxing about 2 inches in length and 1 inch across. They are not a sweet variety, so I was able to make some salsa with them.





Pros:

• Highly Production, you will get so many tomatoes off of this plant. It isn't even half way thru the season and I already have harvested 4 lbs of tomatoes just from my one plant and it is still flowering and producing fruit. 
•  Seems very pest resistant, I haven't noticed a lot bugs eating at it.
• Minimal maintenance, the plant has been extraordinarily healthy. I give it a little trim once every two weeks to give it some shape. It also seems to do pretty well in the high heat.  
• Good flavor, not watery but not sweet either. 
• Very versatile, the Juliet is a perfect variety for salads and sauces.

Cons:

• Needs regular harvesting to maintain fruit size, this is not a variety to allow vine ripening. The plant produces so much so quickly that if I leave them on the vine to go fully red, it will actually cause premature ripening on the smaller tomatoes. If you want to maintain good size fruit, pull them off when they just barely turn orange-yellow in color.
• A bit small, for me it makes them difficult to cut because of hand pains and spasms.
• Its a hybrid, so no seed-saving.

Overall I give this variety 8.5/10 stars, I'd give them another shot. If you grew this variety either this year or in a past year let me know how you like them in the comments below and if you liked this review feel free to set up an email subscription for notifications on new posts, its free.

Back-Pain Free Garden plots/boxes

I really like growing fruits and veggies these days. It is a really peaceful outlet that I can do on my own, but there was a span of a few years where I had to give it up on my favorite pass time. It was getting super painful to bend over and squat down to maintain the plants. In order to not permanently loose my one actually productive hobby, I started to think of alternative ways which I could plant and maintain my mini-field. On day it suddenly hit me when I was watching a YouTube video on indoor hydroponics. The farm where the video was being filmed was actually growing vertically all the way up to the ceiling. Needless to say, when I can afford a home of my own (or rather if I can? ), I am going to get into some hydroponics. Before that though, I am building myself the perfect raised bed to practice outside for a few years. I say practice, because I have can't say I have had the best track record of keeping my plants alive since I've been sick. I also have a lot to learn about getting the most productivity out of my garden too. This time I want to start with baby steps, simple and slowly to absorb all the information at my new pace.  If you want to join me and try my new styled raised plot here are the instructions and a little doodle for reference:

Materials:

• 1 strong, kind friend or parent (or several days of time, I got a helper for this but if I did it alone I'd probably be laying no more then 3 blocks a day)
• 42 thin cinder block bricks with or without holes or 4 long boards (I am doing cinder blocks to make it more permanent, if you use wood be sure to hassle the store people to cut it for you they do it for free, and that means less work for you)
• 4 48 inch long wooden stakes (Wood version only)
• 4 tubes of a Cement sealer/ glue or if you are using wood pick up nails, hammer and wooden stakes.
• 1/2 a gallon of paint or stain in your favorite color and paint (optional)
• A shovel with a rectangular shape
• 8-12 bags of potting soil (I used a mix or yard dirt that my helper dug up while grading and cheap dirt to fill in the lowest levels of the plot and good dirt on the last 8 inches).
• Your least favorite or only gardening gloves

Instructions:

•  Pick your location and remove any grass/level the spot for the size bed you want. The materials list above makes a bed that is roughly 8' by  3' in size.

       For blocks:

• Once your location is mostly level and clear, start laying your first tier of bricks you'll want to use 5 bricks each long side and 2 blocks for the short sides, put your cement glue or sealer on the sides of the bricks in even squiggles and make sure to push them together tightly. For the next row, do the same and also add glue to the bottom of your brick, if any glue comes out smooth it back into the crack with your gloved hands. Repeat for the last layer.
•  Paint and fill with your choice of dirt and plants

      For wood:

• In the store request each board except one cut in half (these are the long sides), have the last board cut so that you have 6 pieces which are 2 1/2 ft long(these are for the short sides).
• Once your location is mostly level and clear, take your long wooden stakes and hammer into ground till the stand roughly 36-40 inches tall.
• Now that the stakes are in, nail the planks into the stakes for the short sides, then the long ones. Be sure to line the planks as close together as possible. 
• Paint and fill with your choice of dirt and plants.

I am no expert in building, but so far mine is looking like it will hold steady. Let me know how I can improve this or if you have any questions in the comments below. Shameless plug, if you want to keep tabs with this blog and my journey for inspiration, gardening ideas, or tips on how to live decently with fibromyalgia subscribe with your email today. I don't get any of your info, but you get a little notification whenever I post win-win right!?