PAPER WASPS

WASPS! The very name brings fear and shivers to some who are afraid of these small, soldiers of the garden. Such a shame!

I have a large back porch on the back of our home of about 30' X 18'. It has a high railing and lattice all around so that when our grands were little we didn't have to worry about them tumbling off on visits. Now the youngest is 8 and that is not a worry anymore, but I still love the look of it.

The roof of the porch is white coated aluminum and paper wasps love to use the corners as nesting spots from spring through fall and even beyond. (these wasps will hatch throughout winter during our frequent warm spells) I guess this season I have close to twenty nests all over the porch not counting what is under the porch. "ARE YOU NUTS?" you say? Naw! Just smart!

I grow many, many, plants on my porch every year as part of my nursery operation and for my own gardens and pots/baskets. The railing is a perfect place to place large flats of seedlings or cuttings as well as the floor itself. Because of all these young plants, insect damage would normally be a big problem, but not for me. Why? Because I allow the paper wasps to live in peace on my porch and their favorite diet is BUGS!

While other people are ordering Lady Bugs and every other insect eating bug out there at $$$, I am sitting back and letting the paper wasps take care of my plants. They do a better job of keeping my plants bug free than any insecticide could ever do and for free!

People ask me, "Well, aren't you afraid of getting stung?" NOPE! Those wasps are just busy taking care of business and have no interest in messing with me. I sit out there and talk with my daughter in GA once a week with nary a problem. I had my grands all summer and they would do crafts out there without the wasps bothering them in the slightest. I have taught the kids that if they don't bother the wasps then the wasps won't bother them. It's true! All they want to do is live in peace and do their thing. Too bad humans couldn't be so easy to get along with, eh? Later gator!

FALL

Fall may be here but the heat is still on here in southern Alabama. Hot and humid days in the mid to upper 80's but is still better than our usual mid to upper 90's. I just can't take the heat anymore due to health problems.

Db's shop is finally going up but it is a slow and frustrating process due to the contractors labor issues. Just like Db, he can't find any good help anymore. No one wants to do any physical labor in this day and age. Of course part of the problem is out there in the news every day and I won't go there in this blog. I do have another blog where I share my own personal political opinions, but not here.

I am in the process of moving tropicals inside now as once in awhile the temps drop to the mid 50's. Some of my tropicals are so tender that they would not be able to even take 50's, so I'm just doing the move now. It takes about a week to get them all situated inside for the winter. I basically do a "six months in-six months out" rotation even though many could stay out a couple more months.

I have started the fall/winter veges in pots that I grow outside. Leaf lettuce of all kinds, some root crops such as Turnips, radish, etc.. then other greens such as Mustard, Collards, Spinach, and of course Garlic.

My hot peppers are still producing and I am collecting them daily and putting them in a baggie in the freezer to use in my cooking throughout the fall/winter. There is nothing that will spice up a pot of soup, stew, or chili like a hot pepper of any kind. I grow Jalapenos, and Chili's, all in pots.

Db is getting the Annual Rye Grass seed today so that I can start sowing it as soon the rains come. It's useless to sow it before then as the birds will just eat it all before it gets a chance to germinate, (3-5 days) and at 25.00 for 50# bag... (usually around 500 lbs. total ) I do not want to see it used as bird food. I love the birds and grow many, many, plants here on our homestead for them as well as keep feeders filled with sunflowers so I don't feel guilty at all. :-)

I am going to try and write more in this blog from now on. I realized that I can use my MSN calendar to send myself a daily reminder to write about what's going on here at The Bamboo Jungle. Later gator!