Also this though I fear I will bring down the wrath of the gods
I have not gotten bitten this year so far by a mosquito or anything.
A few years ago it was a problem. They've always liked me for some reason. Last year I think maybe I got one bite. This year? Nothing. Not a complaint just an observation.
Would you like some of mine?
My backyard is 60% clover – and covered with honeybees (either one of my neighbors is keeping bees or there’s a “wild” hive nearby). I have to make sure my dog doesn’t eat one of them (bad enough he rolls on them).
I spent nearly a month pouring boiling water on ant nests this year trying to keep them from getting into my house. Thankfully, they now seem content to swarm along the outside edge of the sidewalks. It took me years to get rid of the ant infestation inside my house and I don’t want the back!
We don’t say “F-L-Y”. My dog is terrified of them. They keep getting inside the house and my dog just sits under the kitchen table quivering. Around dawn thy line the leaves of my squash plants waiting for the sun to rise and warm their wings so they can fly.
Mosquitoes dwindle in drought years, as there isn’t as much water around for them to breed in (they like stagnant water). However, if you really want some skeeters, I have more than enough around here for you (I’m sure the frogs and dragonflies would be happy to share).
Between drought and pollution, insects are on the decline. Well… except for bark beetles. They seem to be proliferating. Strangely, I have seen more dragonflies around here this year than ever before, but fewer swarms of gnats and midges.
Thank you.
Between the hailstorm in June and the recent cool nights, my garden’s not doing well this year (so far, anyway). The nights have been cool lately so I’m experiencing a lull in produce. For a while, I was inundated with yellow squash (crookneck and patty pan), but now they have stopped setting fruit. My tomatoes aren’t doing much better. Only the beefsteak tomatoes have much fruit on them, and they won’t be ready until late August or September (unless the rats get them first). The Early Girl’s and Fourth of July’s – which should be ripe by now – only have 1-2 small green tomatoes on them. I lost 2 cucumber plants to the hailstorm and the replants are just now bushing out. They should start fruiting in few weeks (weather permitting). I plated ¾ of a packet of corn seed, but only 1 plant germinated. I planted the rest of the packet but only 4 plants germinated. This year I seem to be doing better in the Aloe department than the vegetable department. I de-pupped my aloe and now have 7 new plants.
my2cents 