right now

right now

Aug 18, 2010

It's Closing Time...

... you don't have to go home, but you CAN'T. STAY. HERE!

Round 1 Eliminations were held last night, first to leave are the cucumbers covered with bugs!


They are horribly covered in squash bugs of all life stages...


This is the first bit of space created for the fall garden... what you can't see is the hundreds of squash bugs running for the hills!

I splurged and paid $8.99 for a large bottle of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap to make my own insecticidal soap. I had been balking at the price but you only need 2 tbsp to make a quart! The level in the bottle has barely moved after making 2 quarts! Plus this stuff can be used for all sorts of things around the home.


And it WORKS!


Stopped the squash bug in his tracks! Why did I wait soooo long to do this?

Unexpected Bonuses:
1. The peppermint smell will act as a bit of a deterrent if used in the early stages of the garden before they have established their stronghold (too late for me)!

B. If you are bored, the label on the soap bottle makes for fun reading!


Excuse the obscene abbreviation, but WTF? These are my yard-long beans! Luckily I only found one like this.


Check out the critter party aftermath on the J. Gyllenhaal!

I admit defeat at this point.


Here is today's harvest. Romas are rolling in now, but were crawling with squash bug nymphs and have BER. I've been sowing beans all through the heat of summer and basically been wasting my seeds until now. They are finally starting to come in again. Yellow Wax are looking to be winners again and new for me is Contender green bush bean which has just started to trickle in but are nice looking. I gave the Dragon's Tongue another go but sadly this variety will not be reappearing in my garden. I was hoping for a different outcome in the summer vs. spring, but they look even worse. They are colored beautifully when about an inch long, but lose their luster within a day and leaving them longer doesn't help. Not suited as well for my area I guess, although I will say the ones harvested in May were better, but not as good as the other varieties.

A few good things...


love, love, love yard-long beans! I love walking through them growing on the arch in the garden, love the blooms, love the way they taste, love the way they look in my wok, the love is rivaling my Subaru Love, and that's a good thing...


Then came school shopping for the kids...

don't take a sip of that coffee because you will probably snort it out...

HA!


While wandering around T.J. Maxx I put these on and my kids were horrified!

Finnegan: "mommy, take them off before you fall down!"

Lochlann: "you don't look like you would be a very good mom in those"...

Note in the above photo how there is about 2 inches between the top of the shoe and my knee, these would be good for gals who are like 6'2 !


OK, I don't want to offend any of you who "this is your thang"- but I will go ahead anyways - I'm a Birkenstock/Teva/Flippy-Floppy Gal, and these are utterly ridiculous! So hey, if you are in the "middle-age tween crowd" (heard that term today!) puh-leeze don't wear these, you look unstable, both mentally and physically LOL!
... but I'm thinking they might be good squash bug squishing shoes! Maybe hang them like a windchime to serve as a warning to insect evildoers?

Wait til my kids are about 14, they probably won't go anywhere with me!

Thunderstorms all day for next 2-3 days, so I think the garden will be done for by this weekend and it will be time for Round 2 Eliminations... I'm thinking it will definitely involve tomatoes.

26 comments:

  1. Oh my gawd! Those black shoes are SO you, Erin. LOVED Loch's comment about them! I had to laugh at the pictures. Not your legs (I think they're looking pretty darn good!) . . . but the shoes. (I do think we got the same length leg though.)

    We have a bottle of Dr. Bonner's Peppermint Soap in the shower. Love the way it makes my hubby's hair smell. Plus as an added advantage, he never has a problem with squash bugs either!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOL, it's good to know it works on husband-bugs too! I'm also thinking besides squishing bugs, maybe an added benefit to the shoes is "forcing you to take time for yourself"... by being in traction in the hospital! (Hey, even that looks restful to the single mom!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with Loch. You really don't look like you'd make a very good mommy with those things on. This, of course, is coming from someone who thinks "dress shoes" are clean sneakers...and I don't mean like these:

    http://tinyurl.com/ybgjvyh

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hooker heals!!! They're the rage at school. You should see those kids teetering in them, thinking they look sexy when they really just look drunk.

    Speaking of, before you close down, I'll take one burbon, one shot and one beer.

    BTW, the dragon tongue beans didn't hold their color with me either, but they were still good tasting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. OOPS....that would be heels......
    I's the English teacher, 'member?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't know- shoes like that may attract more and larger unwanted pests to the garden!! Just don't stand near any street corners!
    And Dr Bronner's- LOVE IT!! We use it for camping and for showering off at the beach. I'm not worried about what is running off into the ground. Oh, and about another million things. Right now we have the almond scented which is heavenly. And it leaves you squeaky clean- you'll know how those squash bugs feel.
    Judy

    ReplyDelete
  7. I bet your Hubs is gonna love those pics!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dr. Bonner's Peppermint Soap!! I love that stuff. I have to pick up a bottle. It smells amazing.

    Those heels are.... nice. LOL. My husband would raise an eyebrow if I brought those home. I hate heels of any sort, I'm usually in flip flops. I only throw on heels for "special events" parties, weddings, and the like. If I must!

    ReplyDelete
  9. First - with Dani about the hubs! Although being a Birk/Naot gal myself, got a HUGE laugh. Although, a few years back we ended up with some 'stripper' shoes from a white elephant gift exchange and I have been known to wear them for dusting. (no, that is not a euphamism-I really mean for DUSTING.) The first time I put them on as a joke and was then amazed to see all the high places covered with dust I'd never seen before. PLUS I could reach stuff. It must be great to be tall. Lastly, the bug damage broke my heart. GRRRR! It's so irritating!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Granny, clean sneakers ARE dress shoes!

    Ribbit, I don't envy you... seeing all those teen girls wearing that stuff, texting "OMG"", I would just want to yank them by their hair and dress them right... or better yet... yank their parents' hair for allowing it!

    Judy, ooooh I have never seen the almond scent, I'll keep my eye out because I'm not a huge fan of the peppermint - although I think the mint is prob better for the garden. I need almond in the house though!

    Dani, I haven't gotten an email from him yet LOL but he would probably echo Finn's sentiment "get mommy out of those before you FALL DOWN"!

    meemsnyc, I can't even do heels for special events anymore I've been a stay at home mom too long! I used to be the "short skirt looooong jacket" type career gal but yikes, no longer! I wore platform heels for halloween last year as hubby & I went as a 70's couple and I twisted my ankle BADLY, got up, continued to wear them and DID IT AGAIN LOL! My bell bottom jeans kept getting stuck under the shoes :)

    Melissa, I still have some "stripper shoe/Nancy Sinatra" looking red patent leather boots I got for a costume in the closet, have never worn them and now I am afraid! Oh, and you mean I have to dust higher than 5'2"? LOL, I bet my 6' husband sees a big dust-demarcation line all around the walls!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. You could poke someone's eye out with those things! Who would wear that????? Nice legs though! (As a gay man, I can say that objectively!)

    Beans have driven me so crazy this year. I give up. And the field mice just LOOOVE the soybeans.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thomas, LOL... thanks for the compliment, and since I'll be sticking to my Tevas my legs will stay intact! I used to be mystified by all the critters that would get into your garden, no longer.... they have found me! I think I have mousies in the night now!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Now I don't want to pass judgements across large groups, but I have a feeling us gardeners as a whole are more into flip-flops than 80's fashion pumps. Now, having said that, Erin: I do believe you have the legs to pull those off. They may not be fashion-model length, but they are toned and tan. Hubby is going' hell yeah" right now no doubt. Thanks for the laugh....I needed it as my female dog just snoozed right through peeing in my bed. :/

    ReplyDelete
  14. Kelly oh no! I can't laugh at that since my time is coming, I can only be so lucky and since I will have many dogs in my life it's prob coming soon. My bet is right after buying a lovely new duvet!

    ReplyDelete
  15. That's it. I'm going to have to post a picture of my very favorite heels. I'm not sure they're practical for gardening, those you've got.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Stefaneener, love to see them LOL but to be clear, I did NOT buy those heels!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Well I suppose if we all wore those things...we could get our hubbies to kill the bugs, pull the weeds, do the laundry, make dinner...you dig?

    Hmmm...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Very ugly shoes, very pretty legs.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Nope, those shoes wouldn't be my style either. I do like using them to exterminate the bugs.

    It's been fun catching up on your blog. So glad someone else is feeling frustrated with the condition of their garden. Mine is a mess, esp after being gone 4 days and hubby had little time to do much out there. I still do not have my fall seeds in! Thank goodness for plastic covering as I probably will be needing them early this year.

    Your peppers look great! Tired of them yet? I always fear I will have too many so I plant accordingly and then never have enough. Hubby took care of that this year by planting 3 x's more.

    Have a great end to this week...enjoy the rain.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I just have to share a Dr. Bonner's memory! The first time I talked a woman friend into hiking part of the Appalachian trail with me we took along Dr. Bonner's Peppermint soap for washing. At the end of a very long, very dirty day of hiking we set up at our shelter and decided to walk downstream for privacy and wash up thoroughly. We walked away from other people and stripped down next to this beautiful cold, mountain stream, dipped enough water out with a pan to get wet all over, lathered up all over with the soap, rinsed a little with the pan of water we had, then jumped into the stream to thoroughly rinse--and our hearts nearly stopped as the icy mountain stream water touched our peppermint soaped bodies! Holy Cow that was cold! That was over 30 years ago, and I still remember that icy grip as all my muscles cramped in protest! We laugh about it now, but it sure was a shock that day! I'd forgotten about the lingering effects of peppermint and what cold does to it. I think I may have recovered enough from it by now to get more Dr. Bonners to use on the garden, but it took a while.

    Nice shoes, by the way. I'm a Teva wearer, and wouldn't try to take even one step in those.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This post cracked me up. I have a tomato eating cat that is doing the same thing to my tomatoes. In my opinion you are very brave to try the shoes on. I am very clumbsy so I wouldn't even touch them for fear of breaking something. It has happened, tripped on air, broke a rib.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Loved your sons' comments.
    However, I do think you wear those black heels very well. They look great on you.
    You should get them (if possible)... even if it's only to wear around the house while DH is home or like Melissa, for dusting.

    As for gardening, I only wish to purchase some of your J.Gyllenhaal seeds... but not sure how to...

    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  23. I am with the majority on those shoes - but loved the comments from your sons. And I LOVE the yard-long beans. I will try them next year in the garden. I planted both green and yellow beans and, while the yellow beans flourished, the greens petered out to nothing. It has been a strange gardening year in upstate NY.

    ReplyDelete
  24. ApplePieGal, you may be on to something there, but I don't think the humiliation is worth it LOL!

    Lorie, I never have a problem getting too many bell peppers since they are fantastic for the winter stir fry, but I'm on jalapeno overload. I dropped from 9 to 6 plants this year and there is no difference! I'm thinking 2 plants next year.

    Trailshome... now that's a good story!

    FG, I didn't dare take a step in them... take the look of those shoes and combined with the fact that they were elasticized together, the results would have been catastrophic!

    Anna, I learned my lesson buying shoes that I have no place to wear them, I feel guilty every time I look at my shoe closet and think of the money I could have saved! I don't wish to make any $ on the seeds but don't worry, I will do a post this winter and get a list together and swap, that's part of the fun of having garden blogger friends!

    Susan, I can't get over those beans, sometimes they are called Chinese Long Beans and a few other names, but they are fantastic. Love that they grew during this horribly hot summer and escaped insect damage when everything else was getting assaulted! I too, love the mix of yellow and green beans, I freeze them that way and they are so colorful on the plate.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Erin, do you just mix 2T of that castile soap to a quart of water to use as insecticidal spray?

    Those shoes are really something! If you had daughters instead of sons, I wonder if they would have also protested, or encouraged you to buy them? :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks for being so kind. I was thinking of the fact that I live outside the states and do not maintain a blog. (...that it's harder to figure out and verify who I was).
    Any way, I think i'm complicating a simple process :o)
    Thanks again.

    Anna

    ReplyDelete