Garden Pests

It's like a blues song.

I got aphids on my roses... da da da dum.

So, I need to get some Safer Insecticidal Soap, which I just saw somewhere. Home Depot? Lowe's? I remember being surprised.

And there's the poison ivy. da da da dum. I'm pulling it, then showering in luke-warm water with CVS brand Poison Ivy Anti-Itch Scrub. This might be working, it seems like I'm getting less of a rash than I should be. Of course, the true test - rubbing ivy on both wrists and only washing one - isn't going to happen, so I don't really know for sure. I'm rubbing on Caladryl Clear afterwards, which doesn't seem to work at all. Ivarest is what I use for the areas that break out. It says "8 hour relief on the package. I seem to get 10 if I use it right after showering. Of course, it flakes off EVERYWHERE. But it's better than itching!

So I have a little bit of rash on both wrists, but it's no big deal. And there's that one spot on my temple : (

2006: the year of the itch. Since I'm no longer as terrified of poison ivy as I was after my HORRIBLE experience last year, I'm pulling it up like gangbusters. Unfortunately, you can't really dig it up, because it's always rooted under something like a sidewalk or a tree. So I'm considering pulling it back as far as I can, then treating the broken end with a poison.

Let me clarify: I identify myself as an organic gardener. I spray my roses with fish emulsion and have a compost pile. I mulch and use the square foot method to control weeds and water usage. But, as I would use chemotherapy to treat existing cancer (though I'd try to prevent it homeopathically), or would call in an exterminator if my house had termites (though I have a brick house), so I believe in using poisons to remove plants and animals that cause horrible or deadly conditions. For example, the last time I was bit by a fire ant, my entire leg swelled. Every time I've gotten bitten by a fire ant, my reaction has been markedly worse. Thus, I'd use a fire ant killer. On the other hand, I will not use a toxin on wasps. Neither I nor Sergie are allergic to wasp bites. So we can afford to mess around with discouragement techniques. My entire backyard, and parts of my front yard are covered in poison ivy. I'm at the point of reaching "last ditch" techniques.

Like many gardeners I use floating row cover to discourage weeds and noxious insects. And any mammals that might have designs on my vegies. So, imagine my surprise when I see a shadow in my garden. It's furry. It's black. It's Henry!!

He's looking at me like "Yum, it's warm in here." Thanks, Henry. Your butt is on my tomato.

He had managed to find a place that I hadn't clothespinned quite tightly enough.
(Maybe I should try the Cat Stop Willow Barrier. You think they'd even notice? Perhaps it's electrified?)

So, I drag him out of the garden.

Then he decides to go irritate the bumble bees that are pollenating my blueberries. Leaps 5 feet into the air to try and catch them. I figure that there's a fast way and an easy way to learn about bumble bees. And, given the don't-listen-to-a-word-I-say cat he's grown up to be, he'll just have to learn the fast way.