Toads in the Garden

Beneficial bugs aren't the only good guys for my garden.  I have had the pleasure of encountering the humble toad quite often.

It may just be me, but I think they are adorable in their own way.  Look at those big, beautiful eyes!

Toads are wonderful helpers in the garden.  According to Mother Earth News, toads can eat 100 insects per night and love to dine on cutworms, which are one of my many arch enemies in the garden.  They need a moist place to live, so it is a good idea to place some saucers in the garden with water and rocks along with some type of cover: a log or broken flower pots will do or you can get fancy and make a toad abode.

Here's my little garden toad all cozy in the dirt, resting after a busy night of defending my garden from all kinds of pests.

Sleep well little guy.  Your hard work is much appreciated!

Turnip Leaf Damage

As I walked the rows of my garden, I noticed that my turnip leaves were looking ragged.  Something has been chewing away on the turnip greens, which is odd.  I’ve never had this problem in the past.  On further investigation, I discovered many insects hanging out in my little turnip patch.  Here I interrogate three turnip eating suspects to determine the guilty pest.

Turnip Eating Suspect #1:  Grasshopper Nymph

Grasshoppers will definitely eat leaves, but this was one small insect so I’m thinking that all the damage wasn’t due to this one tiny grasshopper.

Turnip Eating Suspect #2:   Harlequin Bug

This pretty bug isn’t a gardener’s friend.  Harlequin bugs are sap suckers, so I can’t blame it for all the eaten leaves.  However, these bugs can cause plants to wilt and die due to sap sucking.  Cabbage is one of their favorite plants along with other Brassicas, including turnips.  I found two of these in my turnips, which isn’t a good sign and may cause problems in the future, but they are not the ones eating the turnip leaves.

Turnip Eating Suspect #3: Yellowmargined Leaf Beetle

These little beetles look harmless.  However, there are a ton of them among the turnip leaves.  This is a non-native species from South America that has invaded the southeast of the United States.  They like to eat the leaves of Brassicas and turnips are their favorite crop!  It appears I have found the guilty suspect.   

The next question is what to do about these yellowmargined leaf beetles.  This website from the University of Florida has some helpful information.  For conventional growers, use of insecticides is effective.  For the organic grower, like me, the prognosis isn’t as good.  It is difficult to control their populations without synthetic pesticides.  Some good news is that they are only active during cool weather and become inactive once the temperature is consistently above 80 F.  We’ve had unusually cool weather the last week, but it is warming up, so hopefully they won’t do too much more damage.  

The spined soldier bug is a predator of the yellowmargined leaf beetles.  Unfortunately I did not see any among my turnips, yet.  Maybe reinforcements are on their way!  In the meantime, I will use my tedious pest management technique: a jar of soapy water, my hands and the time to pick off the little bugs.  I know it will be impossible to get every individual, but hopefully if I can put a dent in their population then my turnips can grow and survive.  

Vanishing Leaves and Murdering Dilemmas

During my morning walk through the garden, sipping my tea, I came upon a horrific site.  OK, so maybe only horrific to a gardener and perhaps only an overly sensitive gardener.  Anyway, one of my pepper plants was missing many leaves.  Entire leaves were gone.  Could it be a rabbit?  I've never seen one in the backyard and Domino has a special affinity for chasing bunnies.

Then  I noticed a tomato branch.  A tomato branch with no leaves!  No rabbit was going to eat tomato leaves five feet off the ground.

 

Searching the plants, I found the culprit.

A very large hornworm!!

Normally I consider myself a peaceful and non-violent person.  I don't eat animals and try to not harm animals.  Gardening, however, has turned me into a much more violent person.  I now roam around my garden with a kill jar filled with soapy water and happily dunk Japanese beetles, squash bugs, and lately Mexican bean beetle larva.  I can't squish bugs yet.. I still find that too gross. 

I put the hornworm in a jar and debated it's fate.  It was pretty in a Very Hungry Caterpillar kind of way.  I finally decided to take it to the front yard and put it out for the birds to hopefully eat.  A couple of hours later, it was gone.. perhaps crawling it's way back to my garden or digesting in the stomach of a very happy bird.  I'm hoping for the latter. 

The next day I found three more hornworms in the garden.  My moral dilemma has passed and I found a bigger jar to use for killing! 

Potato Beetles in the Organic Garden

Unfortunately we are not the only species that enjoy a vegetable garden.  Keeping pests under control can be challenging when you refuse to use any chemicals.  My latest nemesis is the Colorado Potato Beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata).  The adult beetles are actually kind of pretty with black and yellow stripes.

The problem is that they love to eat potato plants (they will also eat eggplant and tomato leaves).  They don't bother the tubers, but munch away at the leaves and stems which makes it difficult for the potato plants to photosynthesize and produce tubers.  They overwinter in the soil and I was hoping that our cold winter put a damper on the population, but that doesn't seem to be the case.  They lay eggs, which are yellow-orange and can be found on the underside of leaves.

The red larva, with black heads, hatch add devour the potato leaves as they grow.  When they reach maturity, they go into the soil and a few days later emerge as an adult.  The cycle repeats up to three times in the South because of our long growing season.

So what's gardener to do about these potato beetles without using pesticides?

Strategy 1:  When I saw the first larva on the plants, I sprayed them with a hot pepper spray (1 quart of water, 2 tbsp hot sauce, 3-4 drops dish soap).  I found that this took out maybe half of the larva and did not phase the adults.

Strategy 2: My next attempt was simple, but more tedious.  I took a jar of soapy water and went hunting for potato beetles, larva, and eggs.

It is really important to remove as many eggs as possible.  I have found that they tend to be on the underside of lower leaves.  I also found that eggs were laid on nearby weeds as well, which is yet another reason to keep the beds cleared of weeds.

So far this strategy seems to be working.  I check the potato plants at least once a day and pick off any adults, larva, and eggs.  While hunting for potato beetles a ran across a little baby toad.  Hopefully this little guy will help me out and eat lots of pests!  It's also a reminder of why I don't use chemicals in my garden - I'm not the only one that would be exposed to them.

The potatoes have some leaf damage, but seem to be fine and one just flowered.  Hopefully there will be a nice potato harvest in my future.

Future strategies:  Next year I plan to use a row cover over my potatoes to keep the potato beetles off the plants.  It is really important to move the potato bed to a location that did not previously have Solanaceae crops (potatoes, peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes) since the beetles overwinter in the soil.  It would be pointless to put up a row cover over the same area and have it filled with potato beetles that overwintered in the soil!

Has anyone else battled the potato beetle and found strategies that work?  If so, please share!

This post is shared at Green Thumb Thursday at Grow a Good Life.

Corn Crop Failure

I guess I should have taken the hint when the cutworms took down every one of my corn seedlings in the spring, but I persisted and replanted with cutworm collars.

The corn patch was uneventful until mid July when the ears began to form and then the squirrels arrived.  This is my third year growing a garden here and I've never had the squirrels problems I've had this year.  I'm afraid they have officially discovered my garden and have permanently moved in.  Note the gap in the corn bed.  There were corn stalks there, but the squirrels have toppled them and I even caught a squirrel running away with the entire corn stalk!

This is what the corn looks like now:

My total corn harvest stands at zero.. sigh.  I planted a second patch of corn, so perhaps I can beat the squirrels to a few ears in the fall.  In the meantime, I am dreaming of a squirrel proof garden like this image I found here.

The Army to Defeat Hornworms

I keep having a nightmare that I go out to the garden and all the tomatoes and peppers are leafless!  The reason is the hornworms.  If you saw my earlier post, hornworms have invaded my garden and I'm a bit squemish about controlling them.

Now I inspect the tomatoes and peppers everyday, looking for missing leaves and big fat hornworms.  The other day I saw a smaller hornworm surrounded by the troops:

Those are eggs of parasitic wasps, the braconid wasp to be specific.  It lays its eggs inside the hornworm and as they hatch, they eat their way out, killing the hornworm. This makes death by soapy water seem much more humane!  I left the hornworm to its fate and it has been in the exact same spot everyday and hasn't eaten a single leaf.  I think its end is looming close.  The best part is that once all those baby braconid wasps hatch I'll have an army to help defeat the hornworms.  Hopefully the nightmares will subside too!

Archenemy #1: Squash Vine Borer

There are few things I truly hate, but vine borers make it to the top of my list.  If you have never met a vine borer as a gardener, count yourself lucky.  They are a species of moth that lay their eggs on the stem of squash plants.  The caterpillars then eat into the stem of the squash and cut off the transport and nutrients and water from the roots to the leaves.  The squash start to wilt and the entire plant dies.  Plus, in the south we have a long enough season to get two rounds of vine borers.

This year I had a battle plan for the vine borers.

Step 1:  Plant resistant squash varieties.  C. moschata varieties are suppose to be more resistant to the borers.  I planted tromboncino squash which can be picked young and can be used as a summer squash.  I also planted Sweet Mama Hybrid squash which is a acorn squash that is *suppose* to be resistant.

Step 2: Plant a trap crop.  Hubbard squash are suppose to be one of their favorite varieties, so my plan was to plant them as a trap crop and kill the evil borers!

My battle plan is not going as expected!  My sweet mama squash started wilting (remember that this one is suppose to be resistant).  Checking out the stem, this is a red flag that there's a vine borer inside:

Sometimes you can cut out the vine borer and bury the damaged part of the stem and the plant will survive.  I tried this and here you can see my archenemy:

Don't be fooled by its small and harmless appearance- these guys are evil! 

I buried the stem and hoped for the best.  Unfortunately the plant wilted and died.  I pulled it up and found that there was a second vine borer!

Casualties:

7 of the 9 Mama Hybrid Squash have died
1 of 3 Hubbard Squash have died
0 of 6 Tromboncino Squash have died

The trap crop is doing better than one supposedly resistant variety, but so far tromboncino is the survivor.  All three hubbard squash have been attacked, two have survived so far.  I cut one borer out of the one that died.  As the plant continued to die, I pulled it and opened it up.  There were four more vine borers!  I've never seen that many before and this was at the end of May!


And the battle goes on...

 Any suggestions on how to win the battle or even how to survive the battle with a few squash plants alive?

Toads in the Garden

Last year I made a little toad abode out of an old clay pot.

 

I put it out in the garden and waited.  No toads moved in.  However, a rodent decided it was a great place to store peanut seeds!

This spring not only do I have a toad living in the garden- I have three!  Of course they are not living in the house I made for them.  Instead they are living under a frost blanket I left laying in a path.  I suppose that blanket is going to have to stay.

Hopefully the toads will fill up on squash bugs, Japanese beetles, and all the other pests in the garden!  It sure appears that this toad is eating well.  Perhaps I need to increase the size of the toad abode door!

The Battle for Strawberries

Spring started off with a bounty of strawberries.  I had about 3 1/2 lbs of oh so yummy strawberries.  I even had enough to make strawberry sauce for an angel food cake.  Life was good.

Then the strawberries started disappearing.  First it was the ripe ones.  Then even the green ones were pulled off and often abandoned.

A war had begun.

I assumed my enemy was the squirrels.  They run along the back fence and hop into the garden.  I have definitely caught them in the strawberry patch before.  My strategy was to build a squirrel proof cage so I could have delicious strawberries again!

I bought 1 inch plastic hexagon netting and used rebar and plastic piping to make the structure (this is what I use for my cold frames, so I had it available).  With a bit of cutting and zip ties to hold the pieces together, I had my squirrel exclosure:

I anchored the edges with retaining wall bricks and prepared to have tasty strawberries again.

 

I would love to say this story has a happy ending- the war was over and I won and celebrated by eating lots of strawberries.  Sadly that is not what happened.  There was a ripening strawberry in the center of the cage:

I watched and waited for the strawberry to ripen and one morning it almost looked ready.  By the afternoon it was gone!  Vanished! 

The war continues.  Perhaps my enemy was not the squirrels and is a vole living under my strawberry bed.  I now have a mysterious enemy, which is making the battle for strawberries difficult!

Baby Birds Update

A few weeks ago I posted about the first little eastern phoebe to hatch in a nest on my front porch.  In watching nature and gardening you learn that there are successes and failures.  These little birds were no different.  Here's how they looked on April 19th:

Then a tragedy, one of the little birds fell out of the nest.  Well I suppose I should not be naive, the little bird may have been pushed out of the nest by his siblings.  Siblicide (that's siblings killing siblings) is common among birds.  Here's an article about egrets if you want to read more about it.  Basically there's only so much food resources available, so by removing a sibling the chance of the remaining birds surviving is higher. 

Here's the remaining three birds:

Today I wanted to take another picture because they were getting big and I thought they may fly away soon.  I climbed up the ladder with my camera and then the mom and all three of the chicks flew away!  I guess I will be seeing them around the yard and garden.  I read about this species and they are vegetarians, so I bet I will be seeing them in the garden.  I may not think they are so cute when they start snatching my fruits and veggies.  It will be another lesson in the successes and failures of nature!

Baby Birds

Springtime is such a busy and exciting time of year- all the new and bright green growth, all the beds that need prepared, and all the seeds and seedlings that need planting.  We, however, are not the only ones that are very busy in the spring.  An eastern phoebe female has been busy making a nest on top of the front porch light:

Inside that nest are four eggs and the other day the first little bird hatched:

Is that not the cutest little baby bird ever??  

The little bird was quickly tuckered out and took a nap.  It is tough being such an adorable baby bird!

Yesterday I checked on the nest and now that first little bird has company:

All four eggs have hatched!

Here's busy mama bird:

I will definitely be watching and taking photos as the little birds grow.  I don't want to disturb mama bird and the babies too much, but it's difficult when the nest is next to the front door!  Yesterday I spent a lot of time working on the front flower bed and mama bird was not happy about my presence. 

Emergence

I stumbled across this eastern black swallowtail butterfly on the garden fence one morning in the garden.

The amazing part is that it had just emerged from its cocoon and couldn't open its wings all the way.

I love all the little discoveries I make being out in the garden.  I also love the renewal and newness that spring brings.

Funky Spider

A beautiful autumn afternoon lured me to the garden with my camera.

Among the cabbage plants I found the craziest looking spider.

It had such vivid colorings and the biggest abdomen I've seen on a spider!

Its a marbled orbweaver and I'm hoping its working on eating the cabbage worms that have been munching away on my cabbage.

She is a welcome and colorful and addition to my garden!

Garden Guardian

Today the Garden Guardian (aka Domino) turned two.  Guardian is really not a great description for his role in the garden- he loves to eat strawberries, tomatoes, corn, and anything in the cabbage family!  In the afternoon we'll pick strawberries together- I eat one, give him one, and he doesn't mind the ones that are a bit squishy or have been nibbled on.  What he is lacking in gardening etiquette, he makes up for in cuteness and personality.  And I do have to admit he is very good at chasing away the squirrels.  If you look closely at the picture at the top of my blog you can see him on the right with his head in the compost bin- a very predictable place to find Mr. Domino!

Happy, happy birthday Domino!

Snake Sunday

This weekend I did a lot of cleaning up the garden and pruning shrubs.  A couple of weeks ago I had tackled these huge privet bushes that are at the end of the driveway.  They had grown above the 10 ft fence!  I did not plant these and I'm not sure how much longer they are going to remain.  What is saving them is the thought of how difficult they will be to remove!  Anyway, I left the clippings in a huge pile and on Sunday was clearing out the mess and found a little garter snake and a ringneck snake.  Unfortunately I did not have my camera on me, but here's a picture of a ringneck snake courtesy of Will Cook at North Carolina Herb Photos.  Garter snakes are very common, but I've never seen a ringneck snake.  Although according to everything I've read about them, they are very common.  It was an exciting critter to see! 

But that was not to be the end of snake Sunday.  Next on my to do list was tackling the Rose of Sharon shrubs in front of the house.  I also did not plant these.  The good thing is that they are contained by a retaining wall so they can not take over the world because I'm pretty sure they would if they could!  I do have to admit their flowers are nice and prolific.  I was pruning away and not in a delicate manner.  I was hacking the shrubs because I know they grow rapidly and can handle (and need) a serious cutting back.  As I was chopping away, I almost chopped a green snake in two!!  Luckily it moved and I stopped.  It was a rough green snake.  Another snake that I've never encountered.  Once again I did not have my camera handy (this will teach me to prune with camera in reach!). Here's another photo courtesy of Will Cook at North Carolina Herb Photos. 

Who says pruning is a boring task?  My new mantra: prune often and carry a camera! Oh and watch what you are pruning.

The Good Guys

Sometimes I hate organic gardening.  You raise baby plants from seed, watch them grow, revel in their first flowers and forming fruit only to watch your baby and harvest succumb to a pest.  The tediousness of picking bugs off plants, cutting vine borers out of squash stems at some point every year gets overwhelming.  I want to throw the spade in and give up.  And then I stumble upon one of the good guys and I am reminded of the beauty and balance of organic gardening.  

The past couple of weeks I have found three praying mantises in my garden.  I find them amazing insects.  Those big buggy eyes and triangle heads may be a face only an organic gardener can love!  Getting a glimpse of these praying mantises makes the hard work and heartbreak of organic gardening worthwhile.  I know that if I took the easy way out and drenched my plants in insecticides I would not have these cool creatures thriving in my backyard.

Definitely thriving.. this mantis is the largest I've ever seen!  They are eating well!  I'm hoping this means that come spring my garden will be overrun with baby mantis.                                                                       

Knowing they have set-up residence in my garden and are battling the bugs makes me smile.  I am not in the battle alone!  And perhaps they are smiling back at me :)