The Adventures of Nathan and Amy

November 16, 2011

nathan — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:55:09 +0000

Friends or Foes?

nathan — Sat, 21 May 2011 13:56:17 +0000

Which of the following are friends (beneficial insects) and which are foes (pests – destructive or otherwise problematic insects) to have in the garden (Central Florida, to be specific)? Can you help me name these and determine what to do with them, if anything?

[Update: thanks to Lyle J Buss at the University of Florida's Insect Identification Laboratory, I've got ID's for all but #4!]

1. Aphids (pest). I already sprayed this plant once with insecticidal soap because there were so many. Luckily the lady bugs / lady beetles have started to move in now.

2. Long legged fly (beneficial)

3. Fire ant (pest). I’m putting this guy as a pest because he and his buddies have been shepherding aphids in my garden.

4. Unknown fly

5. ~~Unknown fly~~ Fruit fly, family Tephritidae

6. ~~Unknown fly or wasp~~ A parasitic wasp, probably Braconidae

7. ~~Unknown insect~~ Springtails, Order Collembola

8. ~~Unknown insect~~ Probably a seed bug, family Lygaeidae

Edamame (edible soybean) harvest

nathan — Sat, 21 May 2011 12:50:54 +0000

Last night I harvested my one edamame plant from this spring gardening season. This is the first time I’ve planted edible soybeans, and I’m very happy with the results. It was not a fussy plant, did well in my poor soil, and had pretty little purple flowers. It did get attacked by what I think were thrips, though I don’t know how much they affected its productivity. These photos show the harvest from one plant. I love that all of this came from one seed!

Harvest May 18, 2011

nathan — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:54:56 +0000

Little bugs doing damage to the underside of my soybean leaves

nathan — Wed, 04 May 2011 21:12:46 +0000

I swear the bugs know it’s May and just love to come out this month. I’m not sure if these are thrips. Can anyone tell by this photo? There’s damage on the undersides of my soybean leaves. How much of a problem is this? I’m trying to go as organic as possible. If I do need to get rid of them, what techniques have you had the most success with here in Florida?

Cross post from GardenWeb

Summer crookneck yellow squash with blossom

nathan — Sun, 01 May 2011 14:44:43 +0000

They say this is when you should harvest crookneck yellow squash, before the skin gets too thick, at about 3″ to 5″ depending on the variety. Pick early and often and you’ll get a bigger harvest. Here’s a pic of one with the blossom still attached. I picked three like this from the garden this morning, ate two of them raw. Tasty!

Passion flower (passiflora)

nathan — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 19:18:44 +0000

What’s growing in my Central Florida garden in April

nathan — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:12:44 +0000

Tomatoes (cherry and solar fire), peppers, pole beans, soy beans, peas (doing ok so far, wando is a heat resistant var), cucumbers, squash, marigolds, vitamin greens (tatsoi), basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, mint, oregano.

Starting from seed now: moringa, chamomile, more tomatoes and peppers, night jasmine.

Getting to Pecs, Hungary

amy — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:19:40 +0000

We decided not to bike to the Bridges conference this year. Also we didn’t row across the Atlantic. But we did take planes and cars and many hours: Orlando to JFK(2 hr flt + 2 hr layover) JFK to Zurich, Switzerland, (1 hr pre-flt taxiing, 8 hour flt, 6 hr time change added), fought to stay awake in Zurich, up by 4:30 am to catch a 6:50 flt to Budapest, 1 1/2 HR flt to Budapest, 2 1/2 hr non-ac shuttle to our intended destination: Pecs, Hungary.
Your challenge: approximate number of hours it took of vehicle transportation to get us from Orlando, Fl to Pecs, Hungary. 1st correct response posted to site gets a postcard from our travels sent to them.

May in the Garden Brings Bounty and Bugs

nathan — Thu, 27 May 2010 12:09:42 +0000

Yesterday's Harvest

Yesterday morning I spent about an hour in the community garden, harvesting some green beans, cherry tomatoes, basil, and dill, and weeding and watering the three 5′ x 40′ plots. As summer begins to settle on Central Florida, everything both good and bad begins to grow like crazy.

Cherry Tomatoes

Kentucky Blue Pole Beans

The cherry tomatoes and pole beans have been our best producers by far, and though we have had some problems with tomato fruit worms in the past month or so, the bug situation hasn’t really picked up until now. I’m seeing all sorts of interesting things going on, mostly on the tomato plants. I have heard that Florida is “tomato hell”…

Caterpillar Leaf Damage

Caterpillar on a Tomato Leaf

Whose Poop is This?

Leaf Damage

I’m not sure what the above leaf damage is from, nor what I’m looking at below, although they look like they might be red aphids?

What bug is this?

Bugs aren’t the only thing in the garden, however – there are some glorious flowers! The only thing I would do differently with these is plant them earlier in the season, both for the enjoyment and for the magnetic effect they have on bringing beneficial bugs into the garden.

Zinnia

Cosmos

Sunflower

Burgundy Sunflower

I even heard, and then saw, a majestic pileated woodpecker yesterday morning, chilling at the top of a dead tree:

Pileated Woodpecker