Releasing ladybugs

So, last year the pomegranate tree had a huge infestation of aphids and this year the Valencia orange tree is starting to host its own little colony of aphids and ants.  Apparently the ants take care of the aphids and the aphids secrete a sweet substance called "honeydew" that the eats eat. This works out well for the ants, but the aphids weaken the trees by feasting on sap from the leaves. Today I bought two small cartons of ladybugs and released them into the trees. The ladybugs didn't rush to eat the aphids, but I did see a few ladybugs eat an aphid.

This leaf has ants crawling around the aphids. The aphids look like tiny green ovals.

 

Aphids on an orange leaf. The aphids are clumped together on the underside of the leaf. (The leaf is flipped over for the photo.) Note that there are also signs of leafminer tracks on the leaf.

 

This leaf has aphids, but also has the lacy serpentine tracks of a leafiminer. You can see the tiny leafminer larva on the lower right of the tracks.

This ladybug seems to be moving towards some aphids.

 

I hope this ladybug is about to munch a few of the aphids.If you look carefully, you can seen the little green aphids have tiny legs.

New Carrots

I planted carrots on August 21rst - just 8 days ago. About a hundred tiny shoots are springing up around the tomatoes and bush beans. The idea is to have the next crop starting before harvesting the previous crop. I hope this works.

Figeater Beetles!

Lately I've been noticing a beautiful iridescent green beetle that looks too heavy to fly, yet it flits around the yard making noise like a bumble bee. They are so pretty that I have been leaving them alone, but today I realized that they are Figeater Beetles (Cotinis mutabilis). They apparently eat fruit. I have seen countless of their large fat grubs when I've been digging in the mulch, but I never made the connection until reading more today.

raised beds doing OK

The little 4' x 10' raised bed in the back yard has been such a delight. Every day there is a little more growth - some small surprise of a new flower or fruit. 

The corn has been growing so fast. From day to day you can actually see the growth. Just recently, the male flowers have popped out on top of the stems.

The female flowers (the "silk") have just recently appeared over the tiny ears. 

 

The bush beans have a few beans on each of the plants.

The tomatoes have a few small green fruits...

The sweet banana peppers have born fruit as well -  a few look ready to pick soon.

happy to see a lizard

Saw a cute little lizard climbing by the avocado tree today. Made me happy to not be using pesticides so the little fellow would have a nice place to live.

Citrus Leafminers!

This morning I saw the dreaded serpentine shiny tracks of the ctirus leafminer, Phyllocnistis citrella.

This is a tiny moth that was accidentally introduced from Asia and has been spreading throughout the world. The larvae crawl along the leaves of citrus trees. The lacy little tracks they create are elegant, but they can cause the leaves to curl up and decrease yield. I looked under the leaves and squished the little larvae with my fingers.

Making dolmades

Last weekend was pruning time for the grape vines in the back yard. All three of then had sent runners across the mulch and they weren't growing up over the arbors as much as I had hoped. A few minutes with the pruning shears help clean up the lower parts of the vines. The leaves looked so green and fresh, I was inspired to look up some dolma (stuffed grape leaf) recipes. I spent a few pleasant hours listening to NPR and stuffing leaves, then we shared the fresh dolmades with the neighbors.

Finding horse manure

On July 14th, I built a little raised-bed garden bed in the back yard. The materials were 2"x12" boards from Home Depot. The bed measures 4 feet by 10 feet. (Ten feet was the longest board that would easily fit in our small car).

As I was turning the soil with a garden fork, I was pleased to see fat healthy worms in the dark earth. We had put down several loads of mulch in the back yard last year, and the mulch seems to have made a big difference. Last year the soil was a very hard red clay. Now the soil is nicely dark and soft.

I also picked up about 10 large bags of horse manure from a woman named Mary in Lakeside. I saw Mary's ad for free horse manure on Craiglist. When I drove up to the address she had given me, she was there in the yard feeding a horse. Also in her yard was a little lame goat that she had raised up from a kid. Besides the manure, Mary gave me some delicious tomatoes. There is much kindness in the this world.

Gardening in a small yard

We moved into a small house in Southern California a little over a year ago. The yard was quite typical for the area - a grass lawn, a few small trees, and a water sprinkler system on a timer. Keeping the grass alive was an adventure in water use. Most of our water is pumped from far away, draining the Colorado River. Looking at our water-intensive yard, it seemed we could do better.