Garden Repairs
To say that there was a breeze that day would be an exaggeration. So when this HUGE gust of wind came out of nowhere, we were taken completely by surprise. Phil had been grilling hamburgers and was stepping outside to check on them and Boo was going along to supervise. The wind gust was so strong that trees were bending over and our canopy was lifted up and dropped about 2 feet from where it had been. One of our picnic benches fell over and the 50 pound bag of sand that had been weighing down one corner of the canopy was lifted and moved to the other corner. The fountain on the other corner managed to stay right where it was, but the plug was ripped out of the wall. And then the wind was gone. Nothing else in the neighborhood seemed to have touched. Very strange.
The good news is, even though the fabric of the canopy has some small tears, Phil was able to pound the bent peices back and the whole thing is still in good shape. We had no other damage.
While I was putting the tomato cage back in place, I noticed a bunch of little green bugs investing the tomatoes. I googled them, but all I could come up with were “tomato stink bugs,” but that didn’t seem right. I sprayed them with Dr. Bronner’s soap and water. That helped a bit. A couple of days later I sprayed them again, this time with 2 teaspoons of Tobasco sauce in the soapy water. Hot bugs! That got ’em! On Wednesday I was out, setting the fountain back up from the Freak Wind and I saw all the little dead bug bodies. Bwah ha ha! I am Woman, hear me roar!
But I was still wondering what those little buggers were, especially because now the leaves that most of them were on had yellowed. This time I googled “green bugs turning leaves yellow tomato” and got my answer: aphids! Now this is not the first time I have grown tomatoes, but this is the first aphid infestation I’ve had. Of course, the best way to rid your plants of aphids (besides the hot sauce!) is to go get yourself some ladybugs. Well, that wasn’t going to happen yesterday, but what did the Good Lord send me? You got it – a nice little ladybug got herself caught between the glass and the screen on my storm door. With Phil’s help, I captured her and released her on to my tomatoes.
And yesterday, as I was pruning all the damaged leaves from the tomato plants, I found not one, but two ladybugs! And a couple more aphids. So hopefully the ladybugs will have a feast and the aphids will be no more!
