Re: [gardeners] Those Big Mamas
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 03 Oct 2000 06:27:51 -0500
They certainly looked like an ordinary grub only 50 times bigger than I've seen
before. Nothing magical in our compost, just leaves, grass, kitchen leavings
except meat, and horse poop. Maybe the horse poop had steroids in it.
George
penny x stamm wrote:
>
> .
> 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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