Old-School Organic Bug Killer

Two years ago, Kat & I and friends Misty & Ben attended a garden show at the Will Rogers Exhibition Center. I picked up, for a dollar, a small plant with unusual leaves. The gal selling them said it was a Shoefly plant, and was an annual. I figured what-the-heck, lets try it. The plant took off and grew to be about 2.5 feet tall with lots of leaves and light purple trumpet flowers.

Later in summer it put on spikey orbs which would later open to reveal seeds. We saved a pod for next year.

I was curious about this thing, so I Googled it. I found that it is native to South America, and was used 100+ years ago as a natural pest control. I was curious about this thing, so I Googled it. I found that it is native to South America, and was used 100+ years ago as a natural pest control. So I followed the directions, which are here:

Grab a handful of leaves and stems.
Mash them up.
Add milk (I used about 3/4 cup Braum's low fat)
Let sit for flys to ingest.Right now I've got this container sitting out back on the grill shelf (don't want the dogs getting into it). I'll take another pic tomorrow with the results.

Clover update

A few weeks back I posted about "growing free fertilizer" in the form of nitrogen fixing through clover. Kat bought me some seeds on Amazon, and I decided to test a small patch before dumping it all on the yard. Well, it has started to grow in....


This is a patch in the backyard that Max had dug, so there was no digging involved. I tossed out some compost from the previous year, and watered daily for about 10 days. Then about every other day. Depending on the heat, it should be about twice a week now. Unfortunately, the nitrogen fixing won't start until next spring.
Speaking of last year's compost though....
I had thrown a gourd into it last fall, and by the time I was planting my raspberry bush, the gourd had decomposed. I didn't think anything of it until a strange plant started growing next to the raspberries. Eventually it took over and I found out what it was.

Looks like we'll have some fall decorations again.....

Product review: organic grill cleaner

When trying to grill tasty, quality steak, it's probably best to knock the years of crud off the grilling surface. Most products for this are harsh chemicals similar to engine degreaser. I had seen this product in Home Depot for about 6 months, and finally had a reason to spend $6.95 on it.

The good:

Made in USA.
Smells good.
Bottle made from recycled material, and is also recyclable when empty.
Plant based, so it's on-toxic.

The bad:
It was only decent at cleaning the grates. I think dish soap edged it out.

The ugly:
Regular aerosol grill cleaners are $2 cheaper & are more effective.

3 out of 5 stars, if you don't mind scrubbing.
More info at http://www.getg.com/otherProducts/grillSurfaceCleaner.php

The one good thing about grubs....

So, our lawn has grubs.

This, I have discovered, is due to me using a high nitrogen synthetic fertilizer which blasted the turf clean of bacteria and single cell microbes. This may sound great, but those microbes eat grubs. With them gone, the grubs get fat & feast on the grass roots.

The life cycle goes on though, and fat grubs eventually grow into June Bugs that attract a new predator.

No, not Max, but his toad buddy at the bottom center of the pic.
We've had toads eating the June Bugs on our porch for the past few years. I never knew why the bugs loved our place so much.... I've learned organic controls for grubs in Milky Spore (a disease that makes them stop eating), and nematodes (microbes that eat grubs). Both are a natural defense and can be bought online. I'll eventually give them a try, but for now it's all up to the toads.