Ignorance on the other hand, truly is bliss.
Last year was my first experience with the bastard SVB's. Squash Vine Borers wiped out my summer and winter squashes and pumpkins. I was ignorant about what to do about them so I ended up in failure.
This year I know what to look for. The eggs on the leaves.
Right now I'm simply cutting off the leaves that have the eggs. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, I have my first harvest of summer squashes today!
Yum.
SM noticed ants all over the grapes yesterday. Crikey! They've eaten all the "baby grapes".
Talk about an early harvest! Since it's only been a few weeks since I pruned these babies back due to frost, I thought I might as well prune them again. Who knew ants would go for them like that? Well, now I do!
I hope to stimulate another round of growth and hopefully another round of fruit by pruning them. It''s still early. This time though I'll watch for the ants and spray them.
We got our bathroom counter top estimate back from the contractor who works with Lowes. $775 plus 3 sinks at $100 a pop. Say what?
The sales guy at Lowes quoted me about $550 plus sinks. The contractor increased the quote by 50%.
We are not happy.
I can put in granite for $1200. Why would I put in Formica for $1100?
Back to square one with the bathroom. Geez...
Whatcha don't know. Messes with you every time!
I too have had my battles with the SVB and I am going to try your method in about 6 weeks or so. For now I have only seedlings growing in the garden saince we live in Ohio.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your bathroom reno. We did our kitchen and bathroom. Everyone said that doing the kitchen would be a horrible experience. It wasn't really. We ended up using a designer at $75 an hour and it actually saved us lots of money because she knew where to get the deals. I thought I could do the bathroom on my own--and that gave me one big headache. I did not know where the deals were. Too bad she is no longer in business--she saved us lots of money and time and headaches.
As far as the remodeling goes, do your research and do as much as you can on everything yourself. The more "experts" (contractors, designers, etc.) you bring into the picture, the higher your costs. Talking to people in the business and asking questions doesn't always cost anything. 'Course, you've got to weigh all the info you get with what you've found out yourself and come to what sounds/feels like the best for your particular situation. It ain't easy. It's time-consuming and can get expensive unless you keep a tight reign on your money! Isn't remodeling fun? (Ummm, no.)
ReplyDeletebeautiful squash harvest! Mine is only now startig to pick up on growth. And I don't think you need to prune grapes - ants did you a favor by removing extra grapes so the remaining will have more room to grow.
ReplyDeleteWe are growing grapes for the first time this year... well we were, until our baby goat got out and munch all over them. I hope you still have some to harvest!
ReplyDeleteA bunch of our baby grapes have disappeared, too. Boo!
ReplyDeleteAs for the counter tops, see if you can find a local place that makes and sells bath/shower inserts and counter tops. Lowes/Home Depot's quotes were ridiculously high for our tiny bathroom (IMO) and we ended up finding a company who came out, measured, delivered and installed the shower surround and cabinet top. They were from the next big town and they charged a $100 fee for the mileage but they were still about 1/2 the price of the other quotes we had. Good luck!
Nasty little buggers. Contractor included with those little nasty buggers. Amazing how something so small can create such havoc.
ReplyDelete@ 3Beeze Homestead
If the SVB hit again this year get some Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) and some hypodermic needles from the feed store and inject it into the stems of the plants. It's an organic, safe bacteria and it'll kill the little buggers when they ingest it. Some say to mix it into the dirt around the plants but that would also kill all your beneficial worms and it's not a guarantee that you'll get the SVB. Best of luck to you this season...I already lost 3 zucchini to SVB but they were still pretty young so it's not a big deal to replant.
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