Hoppers have been a plentiful this year. They prefer our sunflowers over the tomato plants for some reason though.

LSS - we found a recipe today that we're gonna stick with Thank you though.

I leave several patches of grass in the pasture to grow long ( learned that little trick a long time ago ) and try to encourage as many insect-eating bird species as possible to nest near the gardens / yard . I also try to keep a decent population of frogs , lizards and praying mantis around .

The hoppers don't bother much other than the four o'clocks and I like to catch whatever the birds leave for fish bait.

My Early Girls did last year...I don't remember if I had Better Boys are not last year. I have some this year.

Now that you mention it, some of the smaller varieties of sunflower I planted have been getting chewed on. I usually plant the "Russian Mammoths" (early) and never had a problem except for the giant mutant squash bugs that live on them.

I have no idea what's up with that . The squash bugs don't seem to be damaging the sunflowers ( or my catalpa tree ) but there's a ton of 'em on those two particular plants.

MrsChicken made some fig preserves today. Solid B- to A- but the jury is still out. Not bad and its damn sure better than my attempts. Figs are still coming in strong too.

woke up this morning to water and had 5! big racoons and a trail of torn up corn.....How am I going to get rid of these dudes?

.22 cal works

They are easy to trap

you mean with 1 of those live trap rectangle cages?

I need to get them to WRL

Yes. Havahart traps.

Also, you can check with your local animal control center and most will have live traps to let you borrow. I know in Bedford they have them and I have used them before.

I lost all my chickens to coons last summer. I trapped and shot a coon everyday for three weeks. I used a havahart and dry dog food for bait. They're pretty easy to trap.

This may have already been posted here, and I apologize if it has. How do you get your jalepenoes to get hot? Every jalepeno I have gotten from then garden have looked great, but are mild as a bell pepper. The habeneros are like what a normal jalepeno is. I love spicy food, and am on the low carb diet, so peppers are a must for a sandwich. It's kinda disapointing. How do you get them to be hot?

Don't buy the "tam" jalapenos . They're genetically altered to be less hot than the originals. I've found that hot peppers need hotter temperatures to get the "bite". My habaneros aren't all that hot until the last of July or early August.