tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post9199290120727847647..comments2024-03-19T00:54:49.043-05:00Comments on In My Kitchen Garden: Blasted Birthday Blister Beetles: Garden Journal 7/10/12Farmgirl Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04851855517852917202noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post-43760980301482805622012-07-24T03:40:55.011-05:002012-07-24T03:40:55.011-05:00Good luck with the blister beetles.We don't ha...Good luck with the blister beetles.We don't have them here in Ireland, I'm just suffering slug damage instead. Lost my whole pumpkin crop to them. However I'm a bit like you, I should learn from one year to the next and be ready. truth is I wait for a problem to happen, then I fix it. but if these wet summers continue I'll have to think again. Lovin your blog by the way,I was brought up on Little House on the Prairie, you are my 'little house ' fix. P.S. Just love Out of Africa and Flame trees of Thika too.Suzie Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877324397146544442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post-73400028572507862972012-07-20T21:46:33.519-05:002012-07-20T21:46:33.519-05:00Ugh! Blister beetles!(And happy birthday!) I saw o...Ugh! Blister beetles!(And happy birthday!) I saw one in the garden last week, but then it started to rain and has rained a bit daily and I haven't seen another..yet. I have Spinosad, but haven't used it yet and have found DE to do nothing to deter them..at all. In the past years I ahve found one way to get rid of them that works very well, but it is nasty. The first day you go and gather as many blister beetles as you can find up into a cup of lightly soapy water. Carefully so as not to get yourself blistered. Then throw them in a blender and hit puree. Strain off the buggy bits and you are left with a bug tea, as it were. Dilute it with more water and spray your garden with the blister beetle tea and they go away and leave your garden whole. It really, really works. But if someone did that with people and the grocery store, it would work for me as well..Jen DeHarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13072371557446423116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post-82071808371064580742012-07-17T17:40:46.199-05:002012-07-17T17:40:46.199-05:00It is reassuring to hear that others have many of ...It is reassuring to hear that others have many of the same frustrations I do as an organic gardener. The blister beetles are chomping away on my tomatoes. Luckily, I planted plenty so I'm hoping there's enough to share. I also am scared to use DE (although I have used it in the past) because it kills some "good bugs." Have any of you read the article in Mother Earth News magazine by Harvey Ussery who writes about trying to attract lots of beneficials to deal with the bad bugs? Is there a natural predator of the blister beetle?Cindyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08661263332399158286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post-87719319132260642982012-07-16T12:39:34.250-05:002012-07-16T12:39:34.250-05:00Be careful spraying with Spinosad. While it is or...Be careful spraying with Spinosad. While it is organic it organically kills bees as well as what you want it to kill. If you must use do very early or late in the day to avoid bees. If DE will kill what you want kill use it instead. <br /><br />I use Spinosad in the form of Sluggo Plus pellets to kill snails and sow bugs but not a spray format.Mary Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17641862671805105095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post-11615551105403789172012-07-12T16:19:49.794-05:002012-07-12T16:19:49.794-05:00Oh boy, I can relate. I've never seen a bliste...Oh boy, I can relate. I've never seen a blister beetle, but with me it's harlequin beetles. Beautiful things, but boy can they rip through your brassicas. I once had them so bad on my brussels sprouts that it looked like a horror movie! Hang in there!Shannonhttp://www.thevegetablelover.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post-65554360075176922392012-07-11T12:43:36.444-05:002012-07-11T12:43:36.444-05:00I trust birthday/beetle recovery is going well. Yo...I trust birthday/beetle recovery is going well. You deserve more cake and a pre-birthday memory plan for next year to remember the DE. Chard will revive once the beetles have had their "moment?" and gone to their reward - snarl.<br />Wishing you many happy birthdays but no returns of beetle day...ever.Starrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post-59977912687991802272012-07-11T06:54:34.595-05:002012-07-11T06:54:34.595-05:00Happy belated birthday! We've seen an early a...Happy belated birthday! We've seen an early and intense onslaught of pretty much every kind of beetle known to farms here in northeast Ohio. It's super dry and super hot. At the farm where I work part-time, we were harvesting green beans yesterday and discovered that the Mexican bean beetles had discovered the patch. Farmer Ami howled and added 'spray neem mix' to her long list of sunset activities. Hope your chard pulls out of it OK - maybe throw some more chard seed in another bed now, just in case?Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02889737746282355235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post-22160922492275570752012-07-10T20:22:32.731-05:002012-07-10T20:22:32.731-05:00Oh, dear - I missed your BIRTHDAY! You'd thin...Oh, dear - I missed your BIRTHDAY! You'd think the heavens would celebrate in a slightly different way for your day....<br /><br />Belated birthday love and hurrahs, dear lady!she's in the kitchenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09638570119428360979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post-17203549600972683662012-07-10T19:07:42.408-05:002012-07-10T19:07:42.408-05:00Thanks for the reminder that we all have our garde...Thanks for the reminder that we all have our gardening trials. Right now in Reno, we're dealing with 100+ temperatures and have had 2 inches of precipitation so far this year. NO rain since April. It costs me over $100 a month, just for water for the garden. BUT... the only bugs we have to deal with are earwigs, squash beetles, and sometimes crickets and grasshoppers. And the chickens are great for dealing with those. Good luck with your pests!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21318605.post-74755564658654303872012-07-10T18:48:35.613-05:002012-07-10T18:48:35.613-05:00Is it poor form to use a shotgun? Perhaps with a l...Is it poor form to use a shotgun? Perhaps with a laser sight to avoid too much crop damage?<br /><br />I'm sorry. I don't mean to kid. They are awful monsters and deserve the DE dousing they got (are getting/will continue to get).<br /><br />And happy birthday to you.FinnyKnitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08813175777047535103noreply@blogger.com