Oh, brother. I guess I should fess up! We have the small freezer below our fridge, the small freezer about our extra summer fridge, a huge upright and a smaller chest (unplugged for now). We're also in the middle of processing 100 meat chickens, so the 2 farm freezers are on now, too! Yikes!
They are the easiest things I grow! I tossed them in the ground a few years ago, one year my husband accidentally completely mowed one off, and yet they thrive. Never pruned, rarely fertilized or watered, but very productive.
HiDelight--That is the coolest story EVER of how you learend to forage!!
I had the luck to marry into a family that knew morels. They are the only shroom I feel comfortable eating since they're the only one taught me by living humans :)
Happy mushrooming to you! Michael Pollan's description...
I don't know the entire life cycle of hte stinkbug, but those babies look just like it and the adult photo looks like the adolescent stinkbug. They get larger, harder and brown-gray. They suck the juice out of the plants and make them wilt and die. I crush every one I see and smush the eggs...
Usually I can count on my herbs to stay healthy and bug free. Not this year!! I have a small bug, perhaps a bit smaller than a lady bug, black and fluorescent green vertical stripes, soft bodied but looks like a beetle. They are all over my mint, sage, oregano, bee balm and lemon catnip--pretty...
I consider winter squash as absolutely necessary as spring asparagus and summer tomatoes :). I do whatever it takes to get a good crop, including picking stink bugs off all summer. I've been growing the huge heirloom squash/pumpkins to get loads of meat for freezing and using all year long in...
I grew it twice. Nice plant, great growth, comes back from seed even when I didn't realize it had seeded itself, good for hot time of year. I've had it raw and cooked. It is fine but not super impressive. I didn't care too much for its sprawling growing habit. :P
Hi--I'm in WI, too. I'm doing second plantings of a ton of things for fall that you could use to keep weeds out--carrots, beets, green beans, summer squash, basil, lettuce, spinach, etc. Of course, the greens would need pretty consistent water to germinate and keep from frying.
Otherwise, rye...
I haven't tried plastic bags, just some thick black plastic left over from building our house (maybe moisture barrier?) Anyway, it grows nice melons for us :) Good luck!
Yes--Black plastic will warm the soil and help the melons ripen in time before frost. It is how we finally started getting great melon crops here in zone 4 in WI :) Awesome for weed control, too!