Thursday, June 07, 2007

The Good and the Bad

The good


This is one of two artichoke plants. The other is not quite as far along. I wasn't expecting to get any artichokes this year because I read that they must go through a winter before they will produce. I guess the cold snap earlier in the year fooled them into thinking that they had wintered over.


I think that this is a parasitic wasp sitting atop of a radish leaf. Parasitic wasps are good guys so I hope he hangs around.


The early girl tomatoes are starting to produce. I trimmed the tomatoes over this past weekend; It seems to have done some good.


This tray of baby carrots is coming along.


Planter #3 with the Mel's Mix removed. The strawberries seem to have acclimated to the boxes without a lot of stress. I hope this works out.


Crook neck squash growing.


The zucchini is coming along dispite the earwig damage.



The Bad


The snap peas are checking out. I didn't think that this would happen so early considering that the temps haven't been very high.


Frigg'n earwigs!

Sunday, June 03, 2007

The Highway of Death

In February of 1991, during the first Gulf War, a retreating Iraqi Army was attacked by Allied Forces as the Iraqi Army fled Kuwait en route, presumably, back to Iraq. The road that the Iraqi Army was traveling on is now often referred to as the "Highway of Death." The Allies, primarily the United States, were criticized for what some (probably the French) considered to be an unnecessary attack upon a (presumably) fleeing enemy. I recall watching some of the news coverage back then. I remember an Army General explaining why the Iraqi Army was attacked. He essentially said that a retreating army is still an army .... an army that can regroup, resupply, rest and then fight again.

The earwig invasion of my SFG is still ongoing. Primarily, the earwigs have been bombarding Planter #1. They have more or less left Planter #2 alone. Planter #3 lost watermelon and cantaloupe transplants and the Dahlias. There has been some munching on the strawberry leaves in planter #3, but not much. However, last night, when I conducted a search and squish mission, I noticed several earwigs on the developing strawberries. A quick look-see revealed that most of the strawberry fruit had been munched on. DRAT!!

I have a couple of cantaloupe transplants in the modular SFG that have grown enough (one has blossomed) that I had to get it next to a trellis before to long. All of the back squares in Planter #3 are open. I could:
#1: Transplant the cantaloupes into the back squares; or
#2: Set the modular SFG container on top of the Mel's Mix; or
#3: Remove the Mel's Mix from the square and set the modular container on the floor of the bed.

I chose to remove the Mel's Mix and set the modular container on the floor of the planter. Considering my current situation with the earwigs I wanted to keep the plant in the container. I have read that an earwig will not cross a line of Vaseline. What I thought I would do is to smear Vaseline on the underside of the lip, and therefore, hopefully, prevent the earwig from getting to the plant. I could have just set the container on the mix and left the Mel's Mix in the planter, but I figured that I would use it somewhere else since I wasn't going to plant anything in it.

I used a small shovel to cut an edge and remove the mix from B6. I worked well. The mix in the adjacent squares didn't fall into the emptied square. Now I could just set the container in the void and start training the plant up the trellis.

You might remember from my first post that I stapled landscaping fabric to the inside of the planters when I built them. I tore the fabric when I was removing the mix so I decided to just remove the remaining fabric from that square. I used a razor to cut away the fabric on the floor. As I pulled the fabric off of the floor and away from the sides and back ..... EARWIGS ..... A LOT OF THEM! Those suckers have been nesting in the space between the landscaping fabric and the wood. I immediately set to squishing them, but they caught me by surprise and I only got a couple dozen before the scurried away. They're actually pretty fast.

Well, I knew what I had to do .. remove the landscaping fabric. Along the back it was no big deal .. there was nothing planted back there anyway. I could just remove he Mel's Mix and remove the fabric. The problem was going to be the front of the planter because of the strawberry plants.

Now that I knew where the earwig army was based, I wanted to get rid of as many of them as I could, and hopefully demoralize them to the point that they wouldn't come back. I bit the bullet and decided that if I wanted to be victorious and annihilate the earwigs I would have to remove the landscaping fabric from under the strawberries.

Each 12"X12"X6" square in my SFG Planters holds approximately half a cu. ft. of Mel's Mix. The plastic planters I purchased at the 99 Cent Store hold approximately a third of a cu. ft. The 99 Cent Store planters are narrower and slightly deeper then the SFG squares. The strawberry roots had already spread out to about the width of each square that they were in. They were growing so well that I didn't want to trim the roots so they would fit in the plastic containers. I had some scrap redwood fencing available, so I made three 12"X12"X6" (approx.) boxes to transplant the strawberries into. For the first box I used redwood fencing for a floor; for the other two I did something a little different. Instead of attaching a redwood floor to the bottom of the boxes I snipped out a 1' square piece of 1/4" hardware cloth and stapled it to the bottom of the box. I then put a piece of window screen (cut to size) over the mesh on the inside of the box. The window screen will keep the mix from falling through the hardware cloth and keep the bugs out (including .. especially ... those frigg'n earwigs). The hardware cloth will allow for exceptional drainage and aeration of the mix. As carefully as I could I slipped a transfer shovel under the strawberry plant(s), lifted them out one by one and put them in their respective boxes. I'm hoping that by being careful and taking all of the plant and roots, that the strawberries won't suffer too much from transplant shock and they will continue to produce strawberries.

Now, back to those frigg'n earwigs.

After I removed the strawberries, I shoveled the remaining Mel's Mix out of the planter. I then took a break to consider my options and contemplate how I would execute a crushing attack on the battalion of earwigs that I was certain was lurking under the remaining landscaping fabric.

I considered bug spray, but it was a little breezy and I didn't want to over spray poison onto the veggies in Planter #2. I could use insecticidal soap; but that doesn't always kill right away, and I wanted to SEE dead earwigs .. LOTS of dead earwigs. So, in the end I decided that the best and the most satisfying thing to do was to squish 'em.

I pulled the fabric away from the sides of the planter, and ever so carefully ripped it from the staples that secured the fabric to the wood. Inch by inch I made my way down the side of the planter, freeing the fabric as I went along. I was very careful not to pull the fabric too far because I didn't want to disturb the sleeping earwigs. I freed up all the fabric at the left front and back corners. Now, the fabric that was previously secured to the inside of the bed was laying loosely on the floor of the planter. The fabric was neatly stacked along the sides of the planter where the sides meet the floor. I knew those nasty earwigs were probably concentrated in the corner(s), resting and preparing for another night of feasting on my plants .... I just knew it.

I paused and readied myself. The adrenalin was pumping .. finally .... revenge. But then, as if, as if it had pushed its way through a forest of watermelon and zucchini, my moral compass alerted me to the fact that what I was about to do could be considered shameful, barbaric, and even ...... unholy. It was a fleeting thought that I quickly dismissed. The enemy was at hand .. and they were mine.

Stealthily I gathered the loose landscaping fabric. I steadied myself as my grip on the fabric became tighter. I quickly rehearsed my plan in my mind. I would toss the fabric over my left shoulder so that my hands would not have to cross my body before I commenced the squishing; every second would count .. earwigs are cowardly, but they're fast.

Okay, feet planted, balanced stance, firm grip, ... ready, one , two, threeee ..............

I pulled the landscaping fabric up and to my left. The fabric suddenly stopped and was ripped from my gloved hands as my arms continued in their upward arc. SH!T .. I forgot that I had stapled the landscaping fabric to the bottom of the planter in the corners .... and not only that, I had double folded the fabric. The fabric remained attached to the planter and the earwigs had been alerted. The alarm was sounded .. DANGER, DANGER, THE COLONY IS IN DANGER. Then, I could see them .. EARWIGS coming out from under the fabric and escaping through the cracks in the floor .. THEY WERE GETTING AWAY!!!

I gathered a fist full of landscaping fabric and pulled as hard as I could. The force caused the the left front leg of the planter to come off of the ground a few inches. The fabric tore at the staples and dislodged from the planter. The breeze caught the fabric and it flapped in the wind. I looked like a crazed magician pulling the tablecloth out from under dishes. With the fabric hovering in the breeze above the planter .... I saw them .... hundreds of them! I didn't even bother to throw the fabric over my shoulder .. I had already squandered way to much time by forgetting about the extra staples. I let go of the fabric, and luckily the breeze carried it away.

Now that the fabric was gone and the earwig lair exposed, the earwigs were in full retreat. I commenced squishing them at a frantic pace. No dilly-dallying around, I employed a full handed press. I must have squished ten or so each time I slammed my hand down. But their numbers were great, there were too many of them. They were at a full sprint up the sides of the planter and along the floor. I started to use both hands so I could maximize the damage I was inflicting on the enemy. I needed to squish or cripple as many as possible, for a retreating army of earwigs that lives, is an army of earwigs that can come back to eat my plants another day.

Then, it seemed, that the attack had no sooner started, and it was over. My God, the carnage. The carcases of a couple hundred earwigs littered the floor and sides of Planter #3. Many earwigs escaped, through the bottom and over the sides. I stomped on as many of them as I could, twisting my foot to be sure that I ground their broken exoskeletons into the dirt. but I let a few go; "Tell your brothers and sisters in Planter #1, and #4 what just happened, and to expect the same .. if not worse. For as mighty as the earwig army may be, you are no match for me!!!"

Maybe the remaining earwigs will take heed and withdraw before I engage again.