Sunday, August 15, 2010

Mosquito Buffet

So our air conditioning decided to stop working this weekend.  And on Saturday morning no less!  So that meant it was the prefect day to go outside, since it was about the same temperature inside as it was outside.  Yuck!  And after two days of heat advisories, followed by a day of rain, I needed to go out and harvest things anyway!

I started my garden activities checking for ripe fruits and I found quite a few.  Jalapeños, poblanos, Hungarian wax, green bell peppers, zucchinis (yet more!), tomatoes (including one Big Boy!), and some more green beans.  I also decided it would be a good idea to spray the tomatoes again with my Copper fungicide, and to spray the squash plants, since they have some mildew on the leaves.  I wanted to get more insecticide on my cabbage, since they have actually been growing now too!  Because of the spraying, I harvested a few tomatoes that were orange-ish instead of red.  You need to wait seven days after spraying to harvest.  It is supposed to rain again by Friday, but that could always change.  Better get it done while there is sunshine.

Another interesting tid-bit is the strange dance I saw in my backyard.  It was evening, and so the sun was starting to get low in the sky providing plenty of shade.  This meant the mosquitoes were coming out in droves.  There is a steep hill between the house and the garden, so there is quite a bit of grass that is mostly undisturbed on a daily basis.  There, on the hill, I saw a swarm on dragonflies dancing around, mostly right above the grass.  I was in awe!  I have never seen so many dragonflies in one place!  I had to look up their diet to confirm what I thought was happening; mosquito hunting.  Because I have a movie function on my camera, I sat down in the grass and filmed it.  The dragonflies went buzzing past my head as though I wasn't even there.  It was crazy!  I can only hope they make a dent in our mosquito population.  I might have to make a sign that says, "Dragonflies Welcome!  Come get your free mosquitoes!"  Here is a link to the video for your viewing pleasure.  I wasn't really sure what to say, so I said, "Dragonfly swarm".  I feel a bit silly about it.  Oh well! Link--> Dragonflies!

And some photos too!
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