Monday, June 29, 2015

Beauty & The Beast!

The last couple of years, I’ve tried planting cabbage from seed……each time the seedling would just pop out of the ground, and something would eat the entire seedling.

This year, instead of planting cabbage seeds, I purchased several cabbage seedlings (healthy in size, approximately 4 inches) from Atwoods Ranch Store, and directly planted them in the compost soil mixture.   These larger seedlings started to grow nicely; that was until we had massive rain storms, which caused flooding in my garden. 




The water/moisture attracted bugs…..you know, those type of bugs that love to eat in your garden, as if it were a salad bar at a restaurant.

To stop the bugs from targeting my cabbage leaves, I mixed up a natural bug concoction out of water, alcohol, and Dawn dish soap, and sprayed it on the cabbage leaves directly.  This natural bug concoction/spray worked at killing off the bugs….that was until it rained again.  After each time it rained, I went back outside and re-sprayed the cabbage with the organic homemade bug spray.



After checking on my cabbage last night, I noticed these thin green looking worms munching down on the cabbage……here we go again!!!! 

This time, instead of a bug, its worms, munching down on the cabbage leaves.  Half of the leaves looked as if they were pieces of Swiss cheese with all the holes in them. I pulled off each and every worm…….squishing each one to death, and then sprayed my cabbage plants once again with the organic homemade bug spray.



Tonight while outside, I checked my cabbage plants, they’re doing well, no signs of worms.  I will continue to check my garden until harvest time; hopefully I’ll have some nice looking cabbage not too long from now.

These worms are called Cabbage Worms, nasty little boogers.  Bright green/blue in color, small and thin looking, and can be very destructive. I prefer to use organic homemade sprays to kill off bugs/worms.  Most people recommend using Bacillus Thuringiensis, an organic crystal protein, which paralyzes the digestive system of the insect.

*****

Just to get out of the house, I took Bulldog Man (since he's still not allowed to drive until after he gets a release from his doctor because of his surgery) for a nice drive down to where we love to go fishing; down at Lake of the Arbuckles, Davis, Oklahoma to see what type of damage was done to the lake after all the storms we had.

We stepped out of the truck twice in the park, and walked to the edge where water was not supposed to be, to take these pictures.  The park was really messed up; old trees and vegetation are sitting in water. You could smell the stench of rotting vegetation because of all the sitting water.  It will be sometime before we can fish in our favorite location.  We may have to wait until winter to test the water……if you know what I mean.  

There was, however, two gorgeous butterflies flying around Bulldog Man and me as we took in all the damage to the lake and park.  I took a few pictures to share with you; the damage at the lake, and the beauty of two butterflies that wouldn’t leave us alone. 









Tomorrow is the infamous follow up doctor’s appointment for Bulldog Man to see if he gets released to return to work, and approval to be able drive anytime soon.  Folks, I must say he looks good for having his throat slit.  

Tell me about your weekend........

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18 comments

  1. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS REGARDING WHITE BACKGROUND AND TEXT CHANGING ON YOUR POSTS? ABOUT EVERY COUPLE OF MONTHS THIS HAPPENS WHEN TRYING TO POST. HAS ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCED THIS?

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    1. I'VE GONE BACK INTO BLOGGER AND CHANGED IT 4 TIMES, AND IT KEEPS REVERTING BACK TO A WHITE BACKGROUND ON THE TEXT, ALONE WITH CHANGING FONT SIZES.......DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME!!!

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    2. I had something like that happen a year or so ago, but I never figured out why. It does look weird, but is still very readable. Sounds like it's driving you crazy just like it did me.

      The post I put up on Friday never did show up on anyone's blogroll, like yours. That was strange. The one I posted on Saturday showed up everywhere right away. I even went back and reposted the one from Friday on Saturday morning and it still never showed up anywhere. Beats me.

      Good luck with your cabbage. Those worms are always here with all of their friends. We have yet to get a decent cabbage crop. I think I will try fall cabbage and see how that goes.

      Fern

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    3. I've had it happen too. I believe it's a highlight problem. If you check your HTML it will have a div with a color code for those lines of text. You can also fix it by hand by deleting the HTML code before and after the highlighted text. But it's better to send blogger a feedback report. They are pretty good about fixing problems.

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    4. Fern,

      Yes, it's driving me crazy. I spent hours going through making sure background colors, and high lighted fonts were turned off. Deleted post several times and started fresh...........when finally I just gave up.

      I'm going to continue to keep up with my cabbage with hopes of harvesting a couple of heads :-)

      Leigh, I will check the HTML and see what's up with the color code and see if I can fix the problem this way. Thank you for the information!!!

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    5. *******FIX FINALLY********
      THANK YOU LEIGH!!!! I went and changed up the HTML code and was able to remove the white highlighted text, along with change up the strange font. Now we shall see if I have problems posting again. Thanks again Leigh!!!

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  2. I had that happen once & have no idea of the cause. Boy, you are really staying on top of those cabbage, I'll hope you get a large harvest. We love to ride around after storms too. Hoping for the best & praying the worst didn't happen. Good luck on Bulldog Man's release!

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    1. DFW,

      It's frustrating when you can't fix or figure out the problem with your post.
      Yes, I plan on staying on top of this cabbage totally. Bulldog Man is doing really good. The doctor released him for light duty, YAY!!!!

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  3. I hope your Bulldog gets a good report tomorrow, Sandy!
    It's been awhile (years) but when we had our large gardens we would sift flour on the leaves of our cabbage plants. You do have to re-do after a rain, but it worked.

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    1. Kimberly,

      Bulldog Man got a great report from the doctor. The doctor released him for light duty..........and he can drive now!!!!

      I will keep the flour idea in mind, and must try. Thanks!!!

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  4. I have to say it's great you have a good organic solution to the cabbage moths. I have a bunch too so I need to use your formula. Having to reapply after rain is the down side to not using a petrochemical product. It's oily so it doesn't wash off as easily.

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    1. Leigh,

      I try to keep everything going into my garden totally organic. The only issue is having to reapply the solution after it rains.

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  5. Bugs, really bug me here in Florida. Within a couple weeks of neglecting them they can ruin the whole garden. I don't know how commercial farmers deal with them but they must have access to chemicals we can't get. Then when I do apply chemicals it rains and washes it off so I'm constantly in the chemical warfare mode. I feel sorry for the wana-be Prepper who has a 'can of survival seeds' in stock and thinking they're all set. The reality is all they're going to do is feed the bugs if they can get something to grow at all in unprepared soil.
    I have noticed that when I cover the ground with a weed-block fabric and only cut small slits to transplant through, I have no weeding to do (I really like that part) and I have about 75% less bug issues. I suspect many bugs come from the soil itself. The weed-block fabric can be removed at the end of season allowing tilling and then be re-used for several years. May be worth your looking into and testing.

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    1. Mike,

      Bugs are such a pain in the butt!!!! Sometimes it doesn't take a couple of weeks neglecting, just a day. This weed block fabric sounds wonderful, and I will check into it for next planting season. The problem I'm having now with the worms, relates to moths flying in and laying eggs. Thanks Mike!!!

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  6. Good luck with your cabbage. I have never tried to grow them. My brother lives in Washington, and he has had good success with his -- so much so that he had to make a bunch of sauerkraut (yum)! Thank you for your (as always) lovely post.

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    1. Kathi N,

      Thank you, this is the first year my cabbage has actually grown.....and stayed alive. Your brother lives in an ideal location for growing cabbage.
      Thank you so very much for your kind words :-)

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  7. hey Sweet Sandy - i am so glad that the BullDogMan is recovering so well - woohoo! and my goodness - you are darned determined in your garden - good on ya Gurl! Sweet Sandy - i haven't been able to grow a cabbage or any kind of brassica here because of the bugs! this year we tried something new and it seems to work! i planted all of the brassicas in little pots in the greenhouse and waited until they were quite large before transplanting them. once i transplanted them all to the beds, jam put 4 tall stakes at the 4 corners of the beds and then we wrapped each bed in plastic. we left a lot of plastic overhang at the bottom of the beds and then put sand down on that. then we stuck a cut top and bottom large tomatoe juice can over each brassica until it really started growing. our problem here is slugs and this method really seems to be working - woohoo! i hope this gives you some ideas - i know that you are dealing with different weather conditions and bugs than we are but keep trying gurl - i know with your hard-headedness you won't let anything stop you!

    give that BDMan a hug from me! and know that we are both always sending love your way!

    your friend,
    kymber

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  8. Sweet Kymber,

    Me too!!!! I'm very determined to have a great garden this year with plenty to harvest. I will kill all kinds of bugs with my own hands, LOL......
    I don't have problems with slugs.......YET.....but if I do, I will make sure to use the process you have to protect my plants from those darn slugs. Mostly my problem relates to worms and bugs directly on the leaves.
    Sending hugs and love to you both.
    Your Friend,
    Sandy

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