Friday, November 09, 2007

Green, Brown, shades of Orange with Photosynthesis

We have been gathering leaves from a neighbor that does not want them. The saying goes “ one persons trash is another ones treasure.”

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We also have a pile of green materials from the summers mowing and gardening. Mixing green and brown materials together is the basic rule to get the compost process going. Green materials, such as grass clippings or fresh green plant parts, supply nitrogen. Brown materials, such as dead leaves, are high in carbon. Mixing the two assures good conditions for microbes, which actually decompose the plant material.

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When the garden area has been tended to I will rake some of the leaves in the front yard into a flowerbed…before I do that I know I will run and jump into the mix before final distribution. It just smells so good this time of year. But first to separate the pine cones for another inside activity!
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Yup it is for the BIRDS! I first gather up the pinecones that have less of the pine resin on them. Then if I need more I make another pile of the newer cones that are still full of the STICKEY Stuff. An old cookie sheet and low oven temperature will soon make short work of that mess.
~~~~~~~~~~ Then: What you will need!
The birds are coming in droves to the now filled feeders. Yesterday I saw a covey of Morning Doves flitting in and out of the frost ridden Hosta plants. So far we have had light frosts. ~~~~~~~~~~ The Asian Beetles are already coming in the cracks and crevices seeking a winter home.
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The multicolored Asian lady beetle is native to Asia, where it is an important predator that feeds on aphids and other soft-bodied insects that dwell in trees. In their native habitat, large aggregations of these lady beetles often hibernate (overwinter) in cracks and crevices within cliff faces. Unfortunately, in the United States where cliffs are not prevalent, they seek overwintering sites in and around buildings.
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Stains and Odor. When lady beetles are disturbed, they defend themselves by exuding a yellow-orange body fluid, which is their blood. This defense mechanism is termed reflex bleeding. The blood has a foul odor and can permanently stain walls, drapes, carpeting, etc. Thus, do not crush or swat lady beetles so as to minimize their defensive behavior. They are just plain SMELLY BUGS.
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I have found like this site indicates: "Bag 'em!!!" Using a Vacuum Cleaner. An effective way to minimize problems with large numbers of multicolored Asian lady beetles is to use a vacuum cleaner or shop-vac to "bag" the beetles. The beetles can be captured inside a knee-high nylon stocking that has been inserted into the extension hose or wand and secured in place with a rubber band. As soon as the vacuum cleaner is turned off, be sure to remove the stocking so that the captured beetles cannot escape. As you remove it, the rubber band closes around the stocking, effectively "bagging" the lady beetles. You then can discard the contents of the stocking.
BAG those LADIES ~~ it does work!
HA I also you knee high stockings to trap the lint from the dryer vent…This time of year I use the smoke gray for silliness as it is a fall color. Ya might as well have fun with mundane tasks.
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The fertilizers is awaiting distribution for the yard area we call the “Football Field”… We need to wait for either a good drenching rain or the first snow because we do not what the geese and ducks to try to eat the fertilizer. If we judge WELL, we can broadcast the fertilizer just before a good rain or snow so the fertilizer sinks into the ground before the FOWL gets it.
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Autumn Leaves ~~~~~~~~~~ Falling Leaves (French lyrics by Jacques Prvert,English lyrics by Johnny Mercer,Music by Joseph Kosma)

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The falling leaves drift by the windowThe autumn leaves of red and goldI see your lips, the summer kissesThe sun-burned hands I used to hold

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Since you went away the days grow longAnd soon Ill hear old winters songBut I miss you most of all my darlingWhen autumn leaves start to fall

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Cest une chanson, qui nous ressembleToi tu maimais et je taimaisNous vivions tous, les deux ensembleToi que maimais moi qui taimaisMais la vie spare ceux qui saimentTout doucement sans faire de bruitEt la mer efface sur le sable les pas des amants dsunis

8 comments:

Tom said...

What a great tip... I love the pine cone feeders.. I'm going to go and collect a few tomorrow morning now. I was wondering where to have a walk... I'll take a picture and dedicate to you, I'll post it tomorrow afternoon when I get back.

DeeMom said...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww O.W.T.

Shucks and Darn

add blushing ')

imac said...

Interesting info and great shots

Tene Murray said...

LOVED this one - especially the lyrics... It reminded me of a favorite song, written by Johnny Mercer, recorded by Barry Manilow. Title - "When October Goes" - if you've not heard it, I'll email you the song (I have it on CD) as well as the lyrics. Let me know...

Was great seeing you today at the shop!

Anonymous said...

I wanted to leave a comment yesterday but somehow missed doing it. Your post reminded me that when we first moved to this new house in 1962, there wasn't even any fishing worms. The ground had been scraped clean, so to speak. So we used old lined drapery panels and went to the side ditches along side the park and filled them with leaves we raked up. I don't remember how many years we did this but a lot. When we got home we dumped the drapery lining load of leaves on the lawns and mowed over them with the lawn mower. We also dumped bags full on the new flower beds and around the plants. Did all of that for a number of years and now we have the richest soil around. Your post reminded me of that whole time period.

We never bag up lady bugs or lady beetles but let them go and lots of them hibernate each year in my shop or shed. In the spring they are dozens at a time on the glass windows and I capture them in a dustpan by holding it up to the glass and on it and then move the dust pan up the glass and tney fall off into it and I dump dust pans full outside.

We used to have three large bins for making compost. Got plans for them somewhere and built them and tried to make compost but it never worked for us. We tried everything.

So, now, I will collect whatever I collect and put it in a pile with some fine dirt and forget it for at least one season or year and when I am ready to use it the soil it makes just melts. It is the easiest way for me at my age of 73 years.

Sometimes, in an effort to do away with more lawn grass, since it has been a summer-long drought here, I plow or go over the area of grass with the roto tiller (we have a tiny one) which kicks up the grass and mixes it in with the dirt. So I rake out as much of the grass as I can and that has all gone into a pile stacked up along the board fence behind my shop. It is out of the way and making compost.

I do enjoy your post.

I also watched West Virginia play a football game on television the other evening. And they pulled out a win at the end. It was one of the most exciting college football games I have seen.

oldmanlincoln

DeeMom said...

Thanks Abraham, we too have gone through much of the mulching process…it is amazing actually simple it is to make good soil.

So you watched the game, NEAT…glad they pulled it out, many silly errors were made, but…in the end. These next three games are crucial for us to win. Cincinnati, U Conn and Pit [will be the 100th Backyard Brawl], wow it will be good football for sure. I am ready

Tene do e-mail that if you would, not sure I have heard that one…

Thanks IMAC…

Tom said...

Me again... Sorry but I couldn't get out today for a walk or to pick any cones... as soon as I can I'll get a post up about it. I have had an ( A.F.)erratic heart beat today which leaves me unable to move about far, I used the time in to visit all the blogs I link to which as been nice, and I got a few more post sorted for spare. I feel fine now, the beating as settled down at last but I still a tad tired.

DeeMom said...

O.W.T. you best take care of your self...