Beetle-Mania




If I had a dollar for every Japanese beetle I picked off our trees and plants last summer, I’d have $6,000. Well, to be fair, that’s an estimate. I stopped counting after 237 on the first day, but the “season” went on for more than a month. So, 6,000 is a pretty fair estimate. This year there seem to be fewer, but they are still plentiful.

Japanese beetles are an invasive species that originally came from… you guessed it… Japan, where they are kept at bey by natural predators which the USA doesn’t have. They are known to eat 300 different plant species, but in our yard they prefer our fruit trees, raspberries, grapes and – depending on their moods – green beans, potatoes, currents, and certain types of marigolds, into whose flowers they bury themselves.

So, for an hour or so each day I patrol the yard and garden with my plastic convenience store soda cup half-filled with water. I either grab the little buggers or flick them into the cup. It may be futile, but I figure every one I get is one that won’t reproduce for next year.

Basically, I don’t like them. The only thing that would make me like them is if they suddenly developed a big appetite for creeping Charlie, which I have in great quantities this year.

If you live someplace where you have fire ants, killer bees, murder wasps, or genocide June bugs (I just made that up), you probably scoff at my Japanese beetle diatribes, as well you should.

In the grand scheme of things, the Japanese beetles are really only a small irritant. Getting worked up about them shows how good my life really is. And yet, it is nice to have foes who have no particular political views… at least as far as I know.

If you have any sort of garden infestation, I wish you strength. If you don’t, I encourage you to enjoy a few minutes of gratitude each day.

Speaking of “a few minutes,” that’s what it takes to read my twice monthly newsletter called “Interesting Things.” It’s free, and you can subscribe here:

https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/n8r7w0 

I am an introvert who seeks recognition, but only a little bit. I live in Southern Wisconsin and yes, I do enjoy cheese and a half-dozen or so beers each year. Somehow I found someone willing to marry me back in 1976, and so far so good. We have children and grandchildren and they are all really something.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Making it Fit

So many seeds – so little space! We have a pretty big garden, considering that there are just two of us at home these days. We do give food away to our daughters and some other relations and neighbors, but the garden is pretty big. And yet, every year some seeds and plants get crowded, or I’ll look up and realize that we’re out of space with a couple of seed packets left over. It seems like an impossible space to fill when we start, and not big enough once the planting is nearly done. By the same token, we can, freeze, and dry food frantically during the harvest season. We don’t pretend to be self-sufficient, but the way things are going these days, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared for such a circumstance. Now, with days getting longer, we look at our mostly full shelves and freezer and wonder how in the world we’ll be able to eat it all. Of course, that is a wonderful problem to have. So, how do we go about turning stored food into tasty meals? One idea is soup. Lots of soup.
Read more

Look, Mildred

Image
  “Look Mildred,” I said as I walked towards the yearling  deer who was munching on grass just outside the fence near our garden. Not a deer-proof fence. Just a fence. I don’t know for sure that her name was Mildred, but it seemed to fit. “You aren’t supposed to be here. You’re supposed to be in the wilderness someplace, not casing my vegetables.” Mildred tore up another mouthful of grass, began to chomp on it and seemed to ponder what I was saying. “It’s nothing personal. Or deer-onal.   I just don’t want you to eat my garden. Okay?” By this time, I was about a free throw away from her. I looked down for a moment and when I looked up, she was gone. I saw her bounding across the corn field to a well-known hangout across the street where she and a dozen or so of her kind congregate in the evenings. Probably waiting for us to go to bed so they can sneak over to our place again. To be honest, we have been pretty lucky, considering the number of deer in our area. I use some dee
Read more