(DF) GARDEN DAY RAMBLINGS (part 3) ....... mosquitoes in the grass

       "We must take care, old chum.  Great hoards of voracious, flying creatures may well drain our bodies of life giving fluid, leaving little more than  mere husks of our former selves, to be blown about like leaves in the wind."

                            from 'Pickery Hudson on Mosquitoes and Gnats'


For several years, I have found that there seem to be more mosquitoes here than I consider reasonable, considering there is no swamp or large body of water nearby.  The closest such body of water would be my neighbor's pond a few hundred yards away and this time of year, the evening breeze tends to move them in another direction.  This was a bit of a puzzler for a while, until I did a bit of research and found that the prevalent species of mosquito that plagues me can actually raise in patches of damp, tall grass.

Anyone who has seen this place in summer in recent years can vouch that I tend to be negligent when it comes to cutting the grass.  In fact, most often, it gets quite tall before I cut it with a scythe and let it cure for goat hay.  No need wasting perfectly good hay, right?

Most years the mosquitoes, though plentiful, are somewhat tolerable, so the trade off is worth it.  This year, however, the mosquito population has exploded to a proportion comparable to that of any swamp or river bottom.  In fact, the last time I encountered such a huge number of loud, hard biting mosquitoes was when I camped out on a little backwater in the Mississippi river valley in July a few years ago. 

Mosquito numbers of this level tend to take the fun out of gardening.  Alright, they don't take out all the fun, but one does begin to wonder how much blood loss it takes before you get weak and light headed, and the fact that they are so intent on getting in eyes and ears adds to the problem.

As I worked in the garden, fought mosquitoes and certainly looked quite insane and hilarious to any onlookers, with my swatting, flailing of arms and slapping myself about the head and neck, I couldn't help wondering what could be done about this nuisance.  Before figuring out what to do about such things, I needed to know where they were coming from in the first place.  Lets face it, if they were coming from the neighbor's pond, it would be most un-neighborly of me to start putting insecticide in the pond where his cattle drink.

A few of the day lilies

After a few days of pondering and fighting these nasty creatures, I figured out where they are coming from.  Years ago, a sparse row of day lilies was planted along the south end of the garden.  Yes, it is the same day lilies that I mentioned spreading in part 2 of this post.  This spring has been ideal for the lush, moist, green growth of these wonderful flowers, which have over the years, spread and thickened into an absolutely impenetrable mass of vegetation.  Upon inspection, I found that underneath this mat of green was a wonderfully wet place, perfect for mosquitoes and other water loving creatures (even toads and smaller types of frogs) to reproduce.

Now the question becomes one of what to do about them.  My first thought was to cut down the day lilies, a thought which horrified Anna, and on second thought would be a little extreme (though we don't need so many of them).  Diatomaceous earth would probably do the trick but, as with anything else that would kill them, there is the problem of how to get it through the vegetation.  I am absolutely against the use of commercial insecticides as a matter of personal ethics and respect for the earth.  Anna has done a bit of research on natural pesticides and came up with an oil emulsion based possibility that we will be trying, hoping the oil emulsion will follow the leaves to the ground below.  We will certainly let you know how it works.  Any ideas or experiences you can share will also be very much appreciated. 

Stay tuned for a mosquito update, and good luck with your own pests.

Pudding for Dinner

Sad to say, but it is when there are long lapses in writing on here that I actually have the most to write about and just can't seem to stop long enough to get in a post!

I will be doing a several part post about my Christmas this year, as I did for Thanksgiving, but I kind of need to cool off a little get my emotions in control, before I write about it. So before I get to that, I will be making a few other posts, first.

Thanksgiving Day I felt kind of yucky, but just figured I was tired from getting ready for the holiday. Then the next morning I got up with the full-fledged flu! I ran a fever and had the aches for about 10 days, then it turned into bronchitis. I was sick for the whole month before Christmas, so, consequently, a large portion of my gifts never got made (and I couldn't just go out and buy them because I had lost two whole weekends of work while sick). I was just beginning to feel half way decent again, except for a lingering and very annoying cough, then....

A couple of days before Christmas I started feeling puny, and it just seemed to grow each day, especially the chills! Then the gut pains magnified and by Christmas day, all I could think about was going home and going to bed. That is what I did do yesterday.... all.... day .... long. I think I was up only about 3 hours out of 24, sleeping most of the rest. Today I am weak and tired, still a little achy, but not near so bad, we won't talk about what my gut is doing, but I have been able to stay up most of the day.

And now I am eating a small bowl of homemade vanilla pudding with a heaping serving of Diatomaceous Earth stirred in. I usually take it on a regular basis, as it helps with all kinds of things, but, I hate to admit it, I had gotten slack on taking it lately. It is suppose to really help with pulling viruses and all kinds of toxins naturally from your body. So I will let you know if it helps.

I hope your Christmas found you well and relaxed.