My New Best Friend
Except I don’t like cherry ice cream (or anything cherry, for that matter). But yeah, meet my new favorite splurge. It’s cheaper than my old standby, Breyers, and almost as good.
My Old Standby
Can you tell I really love my comfort food? Popsicles, ice cream, and popcorn. Yep, that’s what keeps me going.
Of course I buy mine only from the Boy Scouts
When the Boy Scouts of America start raising money, I get hit up at least three times–both of my brothers are Boy Scouts, as is our boss’s son. Last ‘popcorn selling season’, I also got hit up by the cutest kid as I was coming out of the grocery store. He was obviously getting a lot of cold shoulders, so he looked pretty pathetic by the time I walked by his table. I felt so bad not buying from him…and really, I would have if I thought I could manage to eat my way through three huge boxes of popcorn by the time the next popcorn selling season rolled around. There’s no way. But, I did stop to explain myself to him (silly, I know, but I felt too guilty!). After I told him that I’d already ordered as much popcorn as I could consume, he gave me the sweetest, most understanding (but still sad!) smile. His mom thanked me, making me feel even worse, and I almost caved. Honestly, if this keeps up, next time anyone sees me I’ll be looking like this:
~
My garden is actually coming along very nicely this year. I must say, I’m impressed with myself! I have to post some pics as soon as I take them.
That said, I’ve been battling green caterpillars (from the white cabbage moth) on everything. Brassicas, radishes, and even watercress–my pride & joy.
This is what my watercress looked like before the caterpillars came:
Happy Watercress
This is what it looks like now (post-caterpillars):
Unhappy Watercress
*sigh*
However, my mom came to the rescue, as usual! She gave me a little of her secret weapon, which I like to refer to Bottled Death to All Caterpillars in My Garden. This stuff (correctly called Bacillus thuringiensis, or BT) is great!! To the naked eye, it actually looks like it rots the nasty caterpillars from the inside out! What it actually does is a little more involved. It’s a harmless bacteria (except to caterpillars) that renders the little beasties unable to digest their food. The best part is can actually work as quickly as 20 minutes after the caterpillar eats a leaf sprayed or sprinkled with BT. Bye, bye caterpillar.
Maybe I’ll try watercress again another year, though I’m all out of seed so I’ll have to find some more. Meanwhile, the other plants are thoroughly sprayed with BT twice a week & are back to normal.
Right now I’m reading up on how to keep Squash Bugs away. I. Hate. Them. Talk about nasty bugs! And, unfortunately, there’s no BT equivalent to take them out. I saw one a few days ago–which I crushed. Even though I haven’t seen more since then (and, believe me, I’ve checked) I’m worried that it’s just a matter of time. I was out there this morning and saw three cucumber beetles. I squished two, but the third one got away from me (twice). So, the war against the viney plant killers is ON!
Aspiring Alverna 