Re: [gardeners] Those Big Mamas
penny x stamm (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 2 Oct 2000 12:42:41 -0400
.
George, only a day or so ago we were watching a nature
program in which they showed us how a bird was utilizing a
stick to persuade a juicy grub to come out -- and it was the
Biggest Mama I have ever seen! Really gross ..... Wonder if
your specimens were really just ordinary grubs which had
gorged themselves on the magical ingredients within your
home-concocted compost....?
Penny, NY
On Sun, 01 Oct 2000 10:03:46 -0500 George Shirley
<gshirley@lightwire.net> writes:
>I sure hope they weren't like the two we found in the compost
>yesterday. These
>big mamas were about 2.5 inches long and at least 3/4 of an inch in
>diameter.
>Huge grubs, probably could have tied a rope to them and lowered them
>into the
>creek and let them catch some perch for dinner. Instead I squished
>them with a
>brick whereas we usually squish the smaller ones between thumb and
>forefinger.
>
>It's another beautiful crisp day here in SW Louisiana. Think I'll go
>find some
>cabbage starts somewhere and get them in the ground.
>
>George
>
>penny x stamm wrote:
>>
>> .
>> I glanced thru the front window at a squirrel sitting upright on his
>> fanny with a posture that was enviable -- and I quickly realized
>> that the ground was no longer level and smooth. In fact, it was
>> no longer green....!
>>
>> Sprinting thru the front door at the speed of light - or nearly so -
>> I quickly came upon the carnage. The entire lawn had been
>> ravaged. That means grubs. And it follows that this means
>> skunks (which we have not smelled lately) or any of the other
>> $%#&!^&! which tear apart the turf in their search for grubs.
>>
>> All summer I had kept an eagle eye on the lawn (we have
>> 16,000 sqft in toto) and had seen no evidence of any problem,
>> so I chose not to put down a preventive application of grub
>> killer. Have never heard of lawn destruction on Oct. 1st -- it
>> must occur, but it's not common.
>>
>> OK, it was already 4:30pm, and Jimmie had just been called by a
>> neighbor to come fix a downed computer. Jim rose to the occasion
>> (I was frantic) and agreed to spread the chemical. I ran up with an
>> aluminum rake to clear away all the debris, but it was not feasible.
>> The torn up duffs were still attached to the ground, and I am under
>> orders not to do garden labor -- and then Jim said gee, I think I'd
>> better mow first....
>>
>> Well, I brought up 5 32-gal pails for his use, and he managed to
>> fill them all! We had put down half strength fertilizer two weeks
>> ago, and the stuff was growing faster than we could clip it . .
>> The front measures 6800 sqft, but the grass was thick - remember,
>> we nearly drowned this summer with some 16 inches of rain, and
>> the lawn loved it. Of course, this slowed down the mower, so it took
>> Jimmie an hour to mow.
>>
>> At this point he was exhausted, and would do no more. Literally
>> translated that means that the perpetrators will have the freedom
>> to finish destroying the front yard, and to attack the back yard
>tonite,
>> because we could not apply the chemical.
>>
>> Oh how I wish we were 35 again -- then we'd be out there by
>> starlight, with photographic reflectors hanging from the trees to
>> illuminate the lawn, and Jim would be spreading the chemical while
>> I walked the perimeter of the property sprinkling heavy doses of
>> cayenne pepper at my feet . . that's what the local police told me
>> to do those 40 years ago when I called in to say that those lights
>> would stay on for the entire night, as a deterrent. I counted as I
>> sprinkled -- 920 running feet measure off the perimeter of the
>> lawn. A whale of a lot of cayenne .......
>>
>> Anybody for Jambalaya for Sunday dinner ...? Don't know if it will
>> be possum or woodchuck, but it will be mighty tasty. Full of fury.
>>
>> Penny, NY
>>
>> .
>> .
>> .--
>>
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