Now that we're back home, life takes on the summer routine. I sleep late, work in the garden for an hour, feed the weeds to the chickens as I feed and water them, pick up eggs, ride down to the beach for a quick dip if there's time, nap for 20 minutes, and then head back to the casino to work my 10 or 12 hour shift. People are in town and it's time to "Make Hay While The Sun Shines." There's time for long thoughts but not much time for long blog posts.
The garden chores are weeding, watering, and bug picking. The squash bugs pictured above have been my nemesis for the last few years. They only have one breeding generation per year, so I ought to be able to pick them off as adults and eggs and break the cycle. In reality, they are too quick, too mobile, and too ubiquitous for me to find and drown every one, and the ones that escape produced enough young last year to pretty much wipe out my squash crop.
The eggs look like this, hiding under the leaves. My neighbors at Meadowlark Farm start their squash under Remay to keep the bugs off. I concentrated on clearing the ground of debris and staggering my planting times to give them less opportunity to overwinter and less to eat once spring came. But last time I hung laundry they were hanging out on the clothes waiting for my late crop of winter squash to germinate. Guess I'll be buying more Remay next year.
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