No Japanese beetles sighted in early June 2014!

Every year, right at about the start of June, my garden areas have been assaulted by Japanese Beetles. These insects crawl out of the grown and then go after about any thing they happen to land on. I've had entire raised bed crops decimated overnight! So, this year, I've keep a sharp eye out for these distinctive looking little critters. Only, they somehow must have missed the wake up call. I've not seen a single beetle thus far!

My theory, as to what happened, centers around the very cold winter we all just went through. It might be possible that the deep and prolonged freezing of the ground may have killed off the larvae. If true, then it may take them a number of years to make any significant return. A possibility that I can live with! At any rate, I still plan to watch for them for another week or two!

Home grown tomatoes! This year for sure!

While I've never been accused of having a green thumb, I generally do alright in the home garden arena. Over the years, I've produced bumper crops of romaine lettuce, Kentucky pole beans, onions and even some potatoes just last season. But, its tomato growing where I've consistently fallen on my face. I'm not sure what it is I'm doing wrong, but something always seems to go wrong. One year it was deer that ate all my plants down to the ground, and then over the past couple of seasons ,it's been both the deer and some hungry Japanese beetles that have left me having to resort to farmers markets in order to sate my appetite.

But this year is going to be different! First off, all the deer have been killed by hunters and not only are they not around but the tics that generally accompany them have bee absent too. That just leaves those pesky beetles and they are due to show in just a few more days! But, I'll be ready for those little critters with lots of grow cloth or as its commercially known reemay. And, any deer that might show up will have to cut their way through some chicken wire. Wish me luck!

On beans and beetles!

Even though it’s still mid-winter, I’m making my plans for a successful spring and summer garden. I’ll need to plant and work smart because just under the surface of the grass outside there are thousands of problems biding their time.

Every year now, for the last few seasons, Japanese beetles have made their appearance right around the first week of June. This is also the time of year when many of my garden vegetable groupings are young, succulent and the most susceptible to insect attacks. One of these will be a large planting of pole and bush beans, which by June are normally just getting ready to produce bean pods. Turns out they are also a favorite food of this beetle.

Known scientifically as popilla japonica, these pests originally arrived on our east coast sometime in the early 1900’s and have been spreading westward ever since. These days, you can find scattered throughout much of the Midwest. The beetle that is about 15 millimeters (0.6 in) long and 10 millimeters (0.4 in) wide, with iridescent copper-colored elytra and green thorax and head. It’s not very destructive in Japan, where it is controlled by natural enemies, but in America it is a serious pest of over 200 species of plants, including; rose bushes, grapes, hops, canna, crape myrtles and beans of course.

I have literally had an entire crop reduced to stubble in just a few days after a horde of beetles descended upon them. And while most insecticides will work on them, who wants to spray poison on their plants? Hand picking is another option, but it’s a pain. So, what else is there?  Plant early and cover!

By planting your beans as soon as the soil hits about fifty five degrees, you can get an earlier than normal start on a bean crop before the beetles even awake from their winter slumber. That way, by the time they are out and about, you have a healthy group of plants that can endure a lot in the way of damage. But, as they say in the commercials, that’s not all! I also like to use a very thin material called reemay to cover all my crops, not just the beans. This material is so light and transparent that it does not impede growth, but which is a very effective barrier to all sorts of nasty insects. It’s also relatively inexpensive, so I use it to also cover just about everything I can. By the end of June, the beetles are gone and so off come the covers.

Last year, when I did this, I was able to enjoy great production with everything I planted excepting the tomatoes. Those guys have always been a challenge for me to grow well.