78\u00a0 bar falls 29.68\u00a0 2mpn NW dew-point 65\u00a0 sunrise5:57\u00a0 sunset8:40\u00a0 Summer<\/p>\n
New Moon (Corn Moon or State Fair Moon)<\/p>\n
NOAA awakened me with its trademark ululation, alerting me to the thunder storm watch declared for Anoka County.\u00a0 Such notices are rare in the morning, mostly coming in the late afternoon as the heat of the day punches up cumulus clouds into congestus, then into the anvil shape of the thunderhead, sometimes 5 or 6 miles high.<\/p>\n
This allowed plenty of time for Kate and me to conduct our family business meeting.\u00a0 This included Kate’s announcement of the fourth large quarterly adjustment in a row.\u00a0 She works hard and gets compensated accordingly.\u00a0 She’s off right now having lunch with Penny Bond at the Istanbul Bistro.<\/p>\n
Last night while checking the crops I found an infestation of aphids in one corn stalk’s tassel.\u00a0 After checking others and only finding the one, I ripped that one of the ground and moved it far away.\u00a0 This morning I found another tassel with a few aphids, this one I squeezed between fingers and thumb instead of discarding.\u00a0 I’ll check it again, but I imagine that fixed it.<\/p>\n
Watching for disease and pests is an important part of gardening.\u00a0 Another important part is not overreacting. I used to overreact, head straight for the pesticide or fungicide.\u00a0 Since then, I’ve learned that plants can sustain damage with no harm to their overall purpose.\u00a0 The trick is to know when the balance shifts from the plant’s natural defenses to the invaders.\u00a0 Even when I react, I almost never resort to pesticides (I use cygon on Iris Borers in the spring.).\u00a0 Instead I look for hand removal, plant elimination or measures such as squirting with high pressure water.\u00a0 That approach has served me well for the last four to five years.<\/p>\n
Integrated pest management (IPM) encourages this kind of response.\u00a0 Good cleanup in the fall, creating a soil and growing condition favorable to healthy plants and either starting or purchasing strong plants also goes a long ways toward a manageable pest and disease environment.\u00a0 These are also part of an IPM strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
78\u00a0 bar falls 29.68\u00a0 2mpn NW dew-point 65\u00a0 sunrise5:57\u00a0 sunset8:40\u00a0 Summer New Moon (Corn Moon or State Fair Moon) NOAA awakened me with its trademark ululation, alerting me to the thunder storm watch declared for Anoka County.\u00a0 Such notices are rare in the morning, mostly coming in the late afternoon as the heat of the … Continue reading Integrated Pest Management<\/span>