August 26, 2024

It has been difficult to keep up with the cantaloupes (Cucumis melo, honey melon variety) my plants have been producing.  I have taken to eating these fruits as a snack most afternoons when I do not eat some of the watermelon (Citrullus lanatus, rattlesnake variety) I have also grown.  This has been a healthy and delicious way to get a cool treat in the middle of a hot summer day.  Several weeks ago, I noticed the leaves and vines of both the cantaloupe and cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) were beginning to wilt and die.  I assumed it was from a combination of the heat and a natural occurrence of the vines end of life, especially since they were prolific producers.  However, this morning I took a closer look and saw the vines were infested with large bugs crawling all over the plants.  I learned they are aptly called squash bugs.

When I looked online, I found Squash Bugs (Euthochtha galeator), also known as the squash beetle, are common throughout the eastern US.  The adult squash bug is a flat-backed insect that is fairly large (0.6 inches/1.5 cm) and usually dark gray to dark brown.  The edges and undersides of the abdomen have orange stripes.  Although they can fly, they often simply walk around on plants.  Young squash bugs (nymphs) may be gray or light brown and have black legs.  They move quickly and often congregate in groups on the undersides of leaves.  As the name implies, squash bugs mainly feed on pumpkins and summer and winter squash plants.  However, you will also find squash bug eggs and adult bugs on zucchini, cucumbers, cantaloupe melons, and watermelons.  Squash bugs emit a foul stench when crushed and are sometimes mistakenly called stink bugs.  Although squash bugs and stink bugs look the same and smell awful when you crush them, they are unrelated.  A squash bug can do considerable damage by sucking the sap from leaves, causing them to wilt and die.

As any gardener knows, while the key is identifying your pest (my squash bug), the real question is how to get rid of them.  The best way is early detection to allow you to eliminate them before they grow to be adults (too late for me), otherwise they are very difficult to get rid of completely.  It is suggested to pick the bugs off the plant and flick them into a bucket of soapy water.  Once the bugs are dead you can dump them anywhere.  The egg masses should be picked off the leaves of the plants in the morning and later in the day.  You can scrape the eggs off the leaves with a butter knife and let them fall onto the ground, where other beetles will eat them.  Eggs hatch in about ten days, so you need to check for them at least weekly.  Another method is to place a board or shingle in the garden at night (or pieces of newspaper) and both adults and nymphs will congregate underneath the cover.  You can then squash them between two hard surfaces in the morning and dispose of them.  Again, keep checking your plants daily for more eggs and bugs.  Finally, remove any plant debris during the growing season to reduce sites where the squash bugs can hide.  Looks like I have some work to do.

THOUGHTS:  While I prefer using organic methods to control my pests, insecticides are not effective in managing squash bugs once they are adults.  Since it is late in the season, I can salvage what is left of my plants and then compost the debris to keep them from overwintering.  Since it is just this one bed that is affected, I can also try crop rotation when I plant next year.  It is hard to believe I am already considering what to do differently with next year’s garden.  Once again, I have learned a lot, but there is still so much to know.  Some believe high school or college graduation is the end of your training.  In truth, it has only just begun.  We need to commit to being a life-long learner.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 20, 2024

During the pandemic Melissa’s IT job transformed like many others and went to remote work.  As the pandemic continued it was decided that many of the in-person jobs were being accomplished remotely, and eventually her job status was changed to 100% remote.  This saves wear and tear of the long (1.5 hours) commute back and forth through rush hour traffic.  Over the last three years she has also found if she logs to her work site between 7 and 8 am she is able to get a head start before most of the other workers begin their day and start peppering her with queries and requests for “fixes”.  She generally logs on without breakfast and has also gotten into the habit of stopping around 9 am to prepare a quick snack of peanut butter on sourdough toast.  Since I provide the grocery shopping, I am always on the lookout for a sliced loaf for her snack.  Sourdough keeps well and I have often found these loaves in the “day old” section of the markets.  For some reason, I have not been able to find the store baked sliced sourdough at any of our local markets for the last two weeks.

When I looked online, I found sourdough bread is by the fermentation of dough using wild lactic acid bacteria (lactobacillaceae) and yeast.  The fermenting lactic acid imparts a sour taste and improves preservation qualities of the bread.  The Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology tells us one of the oldest sourdough breads was excavated in Switzerland and dates from 3700 BCE and suggests the origin of sourdough fermentation likely relates to the origin of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent and Egypt several thousand years earlier.  This was later confirmed by another archeological find in the Middle East.  In contrast, baker’s yeast has only been used as a leavening agent for the last 150 years.  French bakers brought sourdough techniques to Northern California in 1849 during the Gold Rush, and it remains a part of the culture of San Francisco today.  The sourdough tradition was carried into Alaska in the US and the Yukon Territory in Canada during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 as conventional leavenings like yeast and baking soda were less reliable in the cold conditions faced by the prospectors.  Experienced miners and settlers frequently carried a pouch of starter either around their neck or on a belt, and came to be called “sourdoughs”, a term that is still applied in the region.

Finding Melissa sourdough bread has turned from “something on the list” to an obsession.  When her supply was running low, I put it on my list.  I went to our town market and although there was a price tag indicating sourdough, there was no bread.  No problem.  I drive to the next town frequently, so I waited a couple of days and then went to the market there.  This market usually makes too much sourdough and there are always several loaves on the “day old” rack.  I checked both locations in the store and neither had any bread.  Later that week I went to the big box store that is associated with the two markets to check for sourdough.  There were several loaves, but none of them were sliced.  I have found by experience that I am not a good bread-slicer (I squish it), so I decided to forego the purchase.  Afterall, it should arrive at one of my stores shortly, right?  That was two weeks and four visits (often going to both stores on the same day) to the markets without finding any sourdough.  I have switched to another variety of bread.  Melissa is still holding out.

THOUGHTS:  The sourdoughs of the Yukon were said to go to great ends to keep their sourdough starter (Hermon) from freezing.  We now know the starter is not affected by cold but can be killed by heat.  My mom always kept her Herman frozen and once when she was gone dad was clearing out the old frozen items.  Finding the Herman, he thought it was spoiled ice cream.  I took him over a week to finish it off.  My dad was persistent in eating the Herman, just as I am still looking for the sourdough bread.  Human behaviors are learned and passed on.  Most of us are “just like my father/mother.”  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 12, 2024

Last week Melissa and I went to eat with friends at a restaurant located in an area that used to be Camp Chaffee.  Camp Chaffee was established in 1941 as part of the US Army’s training and readiness program during World War II.  From 1942 to 1943 Chafee trained and equipped three armored divisions that deployed to Europe.  The camp continued to train armored divisions after the war and in 1956 officially became Fort Chaffee.  In 1958, Elvis Presley was inducted into the army and received the most famous military haircut in the world in Building 803, now part of the Fort Chaffee Museum.  The Fort was opened to migratory groups three times as a humanitarian housing center.  In 1975 to 1976, 50,809 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees processed through on their way to US resettlement.  In 1980, 25,000 Cuban refugees passed through Chaffee awaiting US resettlement.  In 2005, several thousand victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita found refuge at Fort Chaffee for disaster relief assistance.  Fort Chaffee was recommended for closure in 1995, and 7,192 acres were declared surplus and turned over to the local community.  The acreage is managed as a mixed use community which now retains industrial, medical, commercial, and housing sites (and our restaurant) creating wide lawns and groomed roadsides.  As we left the restaurant we were stopped (along with others) by a flock of non-migratory Canada geese strolling across the road.

When I looked online, I found the Giant Canada goose (Branta canadensis maxima) is the largest subspecies of Canada goose, on average weighing 11 pounds (5 kg), and are found throughout central North America.  The subspecies was declared extinct in the 1950’s, but a small population was rediscovered in Rochester, Minnesota in 1962.  Recently, the subspecies have been increasing and are now commonly found in parks and other urban areas in the US.  It is thought that introduced Canada geese in Europe are derived from “maxima” in addition to the subspecies “canadensis”.  The Giant Canada goose was once kept and bred in captivity for use as food and hunting decoys to lure the migratory Canadas close enough to be taken.  The Giant Canada is larger and prefer not to migrate, so many do not.  If adults do not migrate and teach their offspring the migratory route, youngsters will not be migratory, resulting in flocks of urban geese who do not know how to migrate.

The calls of Canada geese flying high overhead in long, awkward V-formation is one of the most lasting signs of the change of seasons.  The southern migration peaks in October as the geese that bred in summer in Canada and Alaska move south to the US.  However, there are other Canada geese who prefer to remain in warmer climes throughout the year.  The birds we call “Canada Geese” comprise a range of geographic populations and subspecies.  Some are larger, some smaller, and most subgroups have distinct breeding ranges north in Canada.  However, other Canada Geese are non-migratory and stay year round.  These are the descendants of birds introduced by management authorities in an effort to revive some of the original wild populations that had been decimated by the 1900’s.  While some Canada geese are migratory and fly thousands of miles each year between nesting and wintering sites, others are non-migratory and thrive on the acres of delectable grass on lawns, parks, and golf courses.  These were the geese who blocked our path as we drove home.

THOUGHTS:  Canada geese have the same problem as other migratory populations in the US.  They are exhilarating as the vast V formations fly overhead, but cause problems as they can overwhelm the limited resources of a particular area when they stop.  Economists tell us it is the population of migratory workers who have (and do) already made America great.  Rather than freeing up jobs, expulsion could result in economic collapse.  Accommodating everyone is not easy, but neither is the mess left behind if we fail to do so.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 11, 2024

When I took the kids out for their constitutional after feeding this evening, I noticed a large insect on the inside of the porch nestled between the window and screen.  I have recently been battling the paper wasps (Polistes major) and the black and yellow mud daubers (Sceliphron caementarium) that nest under the eaves or in secluded places and I was not pleased to see this larger version inside the porch window.  I tried to slide the window back to allow the wasp to escape but it just moved back to resist the sliding glass.  This wasp intrigued me as it was three times the size of any of the wasps I had been battling.  I googled a picture of the insect and found out this was an eastern cicada killer.

When I looked online, I found the eastern cicada killer (Sphecius speciosus), or the cicada hawk, is a large, solitary digger wasp species in the family Crabronidae.  The name cicada killer may be applied to any species of crabronid that preys on cicadas, but in North America it is typically applied to this species.  It is called the eastern cicada killer to further differentiate it from the multiple examples of related wasp species.  The species can be found in the Eastern and Midwest US and southwards into Mexico and Central America.  Adult wasps are large (0.6 to 2.0 inches/1.5 to 5.0 cm) and robust with hairy, reddish, and black areas on their middle parts (thoraces), and black to reddish brown rear (abdominal) segments that are marked with light yellow stripes, and with brownish wings, somewhat resembling yellowjacket and hornet species.  The females are a little larger than the males, and both are among the largest wasps in the Eastern US.  The males are smaller because they are not given as much larval food.  Since females carry the cicada prey to the nesting burrow, they benefit from being larger.  Cicada killers exert a measure of natural control on cicada populations and may directly benefit the deciduous trees on which the cicadas feed.

The eastern cicada killer is a solitary wasp and had very different behavior from the social wasps such as hornets (genus, Vespa), eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons), or paper wasps.  Cicada killer females use their stings to paralyze their prey (cicadas) rather than to defend their nests.  While social wasps and bees will sting to protect their nests, the cicada killer does sting humans unless it is handled roughly.  While the larva feeds on the cicada carcass, adults feed on flower nectar and other plant sap exudates.  While males will aggressively defend the areas around nesting sites against rival males, they have no stinger.  Although they appear to attack anything that moves in their territories, males are actually investigating anything that might be a female cicada killer ready to mate.  They are generally not aggressive towards humans and usually fly away when swatted at, rather than attacking.  Although I do not mind the cicadas, I am glad I did not whack the cicada killer wasp.

THOUGHTS:  It is interesting that while I have yet to find any appreciable numbers of cicadas (genus, Magicicada) during this super hatch, I did find a cicada killer.  While the insect appeared to be a massive wasp (which it is) it will rarely sting humans.  I was wary of approaching the aggressive looking wasp until I read it was fairly docile.  Even knowing it would not attack, I still kept my distance to allow the wasp to go about its day.  Looks are often deceiving, and we instinctively see a scarry personae (yellowjacket) to avoid confrontation.  Humans are known to do the same with our own projections, trying to look scarry so others may leave us alone.  It is only when we move beneath the projection that we are able to understand the worth (and reasons) behind the projections.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 07, 2024

Last year I blogged how our city’s street department picked up limbs and yard waste on the first Tuesday of the month.  They have guidelines governing length, diameter of limbs, and placement, but the service is free.  At the time I suggested reducing the amount of waste by composting or mulching your grass clippings to keep them out of the overtaxed landfills.  Limbs are a different challenge.  One reason I opted for hügelkultur to fill my raised beds this year was because I had two trees that needed serious pruning.  The raised beds took care of most of the pruning debris, and I stacked the remainder by the curb as I had done the year before.  While I am not actively pruning the trees in my yard this summer, branches do fall or get in the way (i.e., grow) and I stack them by the curb and wait for them to disappear.  I had always wondered about the process for removing the tree limbs but assumed they were collected along with the trash.  As the kids and I returned from our walk this morning I found I was wrong.  A backhoe loader was parked along the curb picking up the limbs from my neighbor’s yard and loading them onto two dump trucks.

When I looked online, I found a backhoe loader, also called a loader/tractor excavator, or just a backhoe, is a heavy equipment vehicle that consists of a tractor-like unit fitted with a loader-style shovel/bucket on the front and a backhoe on the back.  It’s relatively small size and versatility allow the backhoe to be used in urban engineering and small construction projects.  The machine is similar to a Tractor-Loader-Backhoe (TLB), which is a larger agricultural tractor fitted with a front loader and rear backhoe attachment.  The development of the backhoe began with the inventors at the Wain-Roy Corporation of Hubbardston, Massachusetts.  Wain-Roy developed and tested the first backhoes in 1947.  In April 1948 Wain-Roy sold the first all-hydraulic backhoe, mounted to a Ford Model 8N tractor, to the Connecticut Light and Power Company for US$705.  Digging while on tires causes the machine to rock and the swinging weight of the backhoe could cause the vehicle to tip, so most use hydraulic outriggers or stabilizers at the rear when digging and lower the loader bucket for additional stability.  Raising and lowering the outriggers to change position reduces efficiency and many offer small, tracked excavators (skids).  These sacrifice the loader function but increase digging efficiency.

When the kids and I pulled off the main street one of the city trucks was leaving full of tree limbs.  When we pulled into our subdivision the backhoe was parked along the curb picking up limbs and depositing them in the back of another truck in the lane beside it.  The backhoe had its stabilizers down, so I knew there was no way it was moving.  The workers continued to load the limbs.  I thought about going around to the other entrance to the subdivision, but I was in no hurry and watched them work.  Shortly after, the backhoe stopped loading, and the dump truck backed out of the lane to let us pass.  As I pulled into the other lane, I noticed there was another car stopped and waiting on the other side of the workers.  Technically he had the right-of-way, but I had not seen him before I proceeded.  I waved thanks as I drove through the work zone, but everyone ignored me.  I guess I was just another obstacle in their day’s work.

THOUGHTS:  I had the opportunity to watch a backhoe when I was director of a camp in Kansas.  We had bought a used tractor with bucket and mower attachments which we used often.  A volunteer owned a newer small tractor equipped with a backhoe.  He brought it out and quickly dug a trench and replaced the culvert under the road between two of our small ponds, something we had been unable to do.  Having the right tool for the job makes a tremendous difference.  The secret is knowing what you can do and doing it well.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 06, 2024

Everything began to die off in my front flower bed with the hot summer temperatures (95F⁺/_– or 35C⁺/_–) while we were on vacation.  I had contracted the neighbor kids to water my vegetables, but the flowers were on their own.  When we returned, I decided to begin watering the beds to try and maintain the garden phlox (Phlox paniculata), elephant ears (Philodendron giganteum), and hasta (Hosta plantaginea) we had planted there.  Now they are all doing well in spite of the summer heat.  When I went out to water the raised beds this morning, I noticed something flitting from flower to flower on the phlox.  It was moving so fast it was hard to get a good look at it, but it was clearly collecting nectar from the flowers that are now in full bloom.  On closer inspection I knew I had seen this creature before.  It was a hummingbird clearwing moth.

When I looked online, I found the Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) is a moth of the hawkmoth family (Sphingidae).  Coloration of the clearwing varies between individuals, but typically the moth is olive green and burgundy on its back, and white or yellow and burgundy on the underside.  Its wings are transparent (i.e., “clearwing”) with a reddish-brown border.  Its legs are light-colored, which combined with the lack of striping on the underside is a diagnostic for the species.  The clearwing range extends from Alaska to Oregon in the west and from Newfoundland to Florida in the east.  It is a migratory species and is most common in the eastern US and southern Ontario, Canada.  The moth beats its wings quite rapidly and has a wingspan of 1.6 to 2.2 inches (4 to 5.5 cm).  The clearwing has two broods a year in the southern portion of its range, but only one in the north.  The clearwing lives in second-growth forest, in meadows, and is commonly found in the cultivated gardens of suburbia (like mine).  It has minimal economic impact to humans, being neither a crop pollinator nor pest.  The moth does pollinate several cultivated flowers and is the primary pollinator for some species of orchid.  The species is not endangered or threatened.

The Hummingbird Clearwing has often been mistakenly identified as multiple distinct species for its color variation.  The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775 as Sesia thysbe in his Systema Entomologiae.  The species name (thysbe) is likely a reference to Thisbe, half of a pair of ill-fated lovers in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and associates the blood-stained scarf of Thisbe to the reddish-brown coloration of the moth.  Due to the variable coloration and wing patterning of the clearwing, it and other members of Hermaris were described as different species during the 1800’s.  The various forms of clearwing were examined in detail by entomologist Ronald Hodges in 1971.  He dissected a number of specimens representing the range of coloration and geographic scope and found no differences in their reproductive organs and concluded the many variations represent a single species.  The nine defined species were all collapsed into the single species of clearwing.

THOUGHTS:  The common name for the Hummingbird clearwing comes as it closely resembles a hummingbird as they hover over flowers, sipping nectar with their long proboscis during the heat of the day.  The clearwing also resembles several species of bumblebee (genus, Bombus) in both appearance and behavior.  This is an example of convergent evolution where analogous structures are established that have similar form or function in different species but were not present in the last common ancestor of either group.  Analogous traits arise when different species live in similar ways and/or a similar environment.  When occupying similar ecological niches similar problems can lead to similar solutions.  This can explain why dispersed human cultures come up with similar stories and technological solutions.  It does not have to be the result of alien contact.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 01, 2024

When we were in Maine, we were amused with stories of the odd behaviors caught on the video cameras surrounding our niece and nephew’s house.  They purchased an abandoned restaurant situated on a lake and for the first several years they were constantly visited by folks thinking the restaurant was still open.  Since the property is on a secluded dead end road anyone who makes it past the fence and onto their yard has no business being there.  Still, there have been several visitors (mostly intoxicated) who have arrived while they have been at work.  That prompted my nephew to install video cameras on the property to alert them if anything happens while they are both gone.  Since their monitoring service records and saves the activity, we were able to watch the antics.

When I looked online, I found the smart home monitoring and security market is one of the most important smart home market segments and was expected to reach approximately US$32.5 billion in 2024 in the US, before nearly doubling in size by 2029.  In 2023, smart home monitoring and security devices constituted the second largest segment of the smart home market in terms of shipments, estimated at around 252 million units.  Connected cameras and doorbells are the most common home security products.  These products are usually designed as part of an integrated smart home ecosystem and are able to generate ongoing revenues for the manufacturer in the form of a subscription fee to access saved recordings.  In 2023, the market for smart doorbells worldwide was valued at around US$16 billion.  In 2024, global spending on information technology is forecast to exceed US$200 billion, with the largest segments being security services, infrastructure protection, and network security equipment.  Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, presents an immense potential to improve analytic accuracy, reduce processing in the cloud, and make the system more reliable.

It was somewhat ironic that after we returned home, we had our own home incident.  Melissa had noticed a man lurking around the shop in our back yard and asked me to go see what he was up to.  Our yard backs up onto a large fee space that is lightly forested on one side.  I let the dogs our back and then went with them to see if I could find anything.  I did not.  The next day Melissa heard the front door rattling and went to check.  She opened the door just as the same man was reaching to open the screen.  By this time the kids had arrived and were providing a “friendly” greeting.  She asked if she could help him, and he mumbled something and left.  Melissa began to research camera monitoring systems and reached out to our nephew to see what he recommended.  We now own four cameras for monitoring our two entrance doors, my raised beds and the shop, and our living room.  The living room is for monitoring the kids when we leave them on their own.  A pig’s ear will only keep them occupied for so long.

THOUGHTS:  Between the kids and our new monitoring system we both feel safer, but some warn about how the stored information from the cameras is potentially used.  Shoshana Zuboff, the author of “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,” warned passing laws that allow police to access stored video creates an environment that fuses government power and private power.  As long as the government depends on the tech companies for access, there will be no laws to stop unwanted data collection.  A security camera can act as a useful deterrent to prevent property crime (break-ins and porch thefts), but will do little to prevent violent crime, although it could help a police investigation.  Both the cameras and the audio alerts can be turned off or set for specific hours.  This allows you to choose when you want to be online and how you are monitoring.  Every advance in technology can be both a bane and a blessing.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 25, 2024

I have tried to learn (and struggled) a number of different languages during my academic career.  It started with German as an undergrad in an attempt to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.  I took German 101 three times over the next three years and got no higher than a C.  I ended up taking Statistics and settled for a Bachelor of Science.  As a graduate student I took Spanish (several times) to fulfill the language requirement for my Master of Arts.  After getting a D on the mid-term during my second try I threw myself at the mercy of the TA (a fellow grad student) and asked what I had to do to pass.  He saw my pain and suggested if I came to class every day, turned in my homework, and tried to interact as best I could, I “might be able to pass”.  While I will never know how well I actually did, I received the required B to pass my language requirement.  My Doctorate required a second language “proficiency”, and this time I struggle through French.  The only time I did passably well was when I studied Arabic during a semester in the Middle East.  That was when I realized as many do, immersion creates a necessity to survive.   

When I looked online, I found language immersion is a technique used in language education where two languages are used for instruction in a variety of topics, such as math, science, or social studies.  The languages used are referred to as the L1 and the L2 for each student, with L1 being the student’s native language and L2 being the second language to be acquired through the immersion program.  The type of immersion will depend on the age of the students, the class time spent in L2, the subjects that are taught, and the level of participation by the speakers of L1.  While these programs differ by country and context, most language immersion programs have the goal of promoting bilingualism between the two different sets of language-speakers.  Biculturalism is often another goal for speakers of the majority language (spoken by the surrounding population) and the minority language (not the main language).  Research has shown that bilingual education gives students greater comprehension and teaches the secondary language in a native-like manner.

I still periodically dabble in learning another language, especially when I am considering a trip to another part of the world.  When we went to Europe several years ago, I attempted to learn French (again).  I gave up after a month when I realized my hearing kept me from comprehending what the on-line tutorial was saying.  Now that we are considering a trip to Greece, I was again bitten by the language bug.  Knowing that immersion is the best way for me to learn, I decided to see if I could use my iPhone to help.  I went to Settings and found one of the features would allow me to change the language of the phone.  Without (careful) thought, I changed the phone settings to Greek.  Everything on the phone shifted to Greek as the primary language.  It was not even transliterated but used the Greek alphabet.  I did not know what the settings on the phone were or how to change them back, especially as my phone had Latin alphabet symbols while the instructions were now in the Euclide alphabet.  I was finally able to switch back by comparing Melissa’s settings placement to mine.

THOUGHTS:  Another language course I took was English as a Second language (ESL).  This was offered to teach English speakers how to work with non-English speakers to help them with their language proficiency.  I did complete this course, but it was probably good that I was transferred from California to Kansas.  Who knows what damage I might have done to the students (lol).  It is said once you learn a second language it is easier to learn another.  That is not the case when you fail to learn the first one.  Language is central to understanding the ethos and culture of others.  Without knowing the underlying vocabulary of another, you will never truly communicate with them.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 24, 2024

The weather has been perfect for the vegetables growing in my raised beds.  It has been cooler (10F/5.5C) than normal for the last week along with several soaking rains.  The vines have taken off and overflowed their raised beds.  I tried to plan ahead concerning the placement of the vines in my beds.  The taller raised bed is dedicated to the three rattlesnake watermelon seeds and one wing of the u-shaped bed is dedicated to the three cantaloupe seeds (both as suggested).  I had not been as discriminating with the cucumbers, but I had planted them the suggested 2 feet (0.6 m) apart.  The   vines have grown beyond my expectation.  I had already scooped the vines of all three overspilling on the ground and placed them back in the bed.  The overflow has also enticed a small eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) to visit my beds, and I see it scurrying away most mornings when I water.  Today I decided I would prune the vines to help keep them in the beds. 

When I looked online, I found watermelons (Citrullus lanatus) require significant space not only for the vines but also for the fruit.  The vines reach 30 feet (9 m) and the fruit itself can weigh as much as 200 pounds (91 kg).  To curtail the size of both the vine and the fruit, the vines can be trimmed.  Pruning watermelons promotes healthier vines and may increase fruit size.  Irregular or rotting fruit should be pruned to enable the plant to focus energy towards growing bigger, healthier melons.  The downside to watermelon trimming is that it may affect pollination as the plant needs both male and female flowers to set the fruit and cutting back the vines may reduce the female flowers, which are fewer than the male in a 1:7 ratio.  Cutting back cantaloupe (Cucumis melo) plants is generally not necessary, and the more leaves that remain on the vine the sweeter the fruit.  Still, pruning cantaloupe plants has some benefits and results in fewer fruit which enables the plant to put all of its energy into fewer fruits which will become larger melons.  Another reason to prune cantaloupe vines is to make them easier to trellis, either using a net trellis or string and vine clips.  Although I did not trellis my melons, it seems like my decision to prune was (possibly) a good one.

The next question was the best way to prune the different vines.  Pruning watermelons can be done simply with a good pair of gardening shears to remove any dead, diseased, yellowing, or infested leaves or shoots at the joint where they connect to the main stem.  Also, remove any secondary vines that are not bearing blooms or look scrawny.  Do not prune the vines while wet as watermelons are prone to parasites and diseases and damp pruning will encourage their growth and spread.  If you prune your cantaloupe to produce larger melons, you should retain the primary stem.  The idea is to retain the primary vine, remove the first lateral, and reduce the size of all the additional secondary branches.  This probably would have been good information to have before I pruned.  I just cut off the vines that were overhanging and pushed the others back onto the beds.  Unknowingly, that also meant I cut off several large cucumbers that were close to being ripe.  We will see.

THOUGHTS:  While I knew the vines of the different melons and cucumbers would spread, I was not prepared for the extent of their spread.  I had tried to grow both types of melons in the ground bed where I now have the three sisters and neither of them took off to the extent of the raised beds.  That is probably because I had amended the soil before planting rather than just placing them in the ground and seeing what happens.  Every year I find raising vegetables is a combination of what I know and reaching out to others to augment what I do not.  Pushing ahead to “see what happens” rarely creates a positive result.  The same is true when interacting with different groups of humans.  Listening to find common ground is always the best way to achieve positive results.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 22, 2024

We have had enough rain the last two days that I have not needed to water my vegetables.  I still go check on the beds to make sure the plants are doing ok and to harvest whatever is ripe.  That was mainly tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), but I have also picked two cantaloupes (Cucumis melo).  We ate one and took the other to our elderly neighbor.  We have shared my fruits with her in the past and she has always seemed appreciative.  For the last two weeks every time I go out, I thump the two large watermelons (Citrullus lanatus) to see if they are ripe enough to pick.  While they should be ripe, I have never been good at selecting a ripe melon, either in the store or on the vine.  My other task this morning was to take the reduced compost from my kitchen composter to place in the in-ground composter in my raised bed.  Yesterday I noticed spider egg sacs on top of the compost and did not think too much about it.  Today when I opened the box there was a large (1 inch/2.5 cm) spider guarding her egg sacs.  It was a black widow spider.   

When I looked online, I found there are several species of Black widow spider (Latrodectus species) found in Arkansas, but the most common is the southern black widow (Latrodectus mactans).  The defining characteristic of the widow is the shiny black color of the adult female’s body.  Females also have a distinctive red hourglass-shaped mark on the underside of their abdomen, which serves as a warning sign to potential predators. The males, on the other hand, are smaller and have lighter color. Black widow females measure around 0.5 to 1.5 inches (12 to 38 mm) in length while the males are significantly smaller at 0.25 to 0.75 inches (6 to 19 mm).  The black widow is a venomous spider, and the female’s neurotoxic venom is potent enough to pose a significant threat to humans.  They do not generally bite humans unless they feel threatened or provoked.  These spiders are most active during the night and prefer to stay hidden during the day.  Black widow spiders play an important role in controlling the population of small insects, with a preference for fire ants (Solenopsis Invicta).

Female black widow spiders are notoriously known for their tendency to eat their mates after mating, but this behavior is not always (or usually) observed.  The name “black widow” has been used to describe the spider for over a century.  It is unclear who first coined the term, but it is believed to have originated in the US.  These spiders are cannibalistic, and the females will sometimes eat the males after mating.  This behavior gives rise to their name, and it was once believed that the females always killed and devoured their mates after copulation.  However, this behavior is not observed in all situations and is relatively uncommon.  The male, who is less than half the size of the female, will spin a small “sperm web” and then deposit some semen into the web.  He then coats two appendages near the mouth (palps) which resemble tiny claws or thick antennae with sperm.  On occasion these palps will become lodged in the female and will tear off as the male retreats, often killing the male.  He is later eaten by the female of his species.  More often the male will scurry away unscathed.

THOUGHTS:  A new study has found a proposed reason for the black widow’s red hourglass marking.  Duke University researchers showed the iconic hourglass on the abdomen of the black widow can only be seen by potential predators but remains invisible to the spiders’ prey.  Birds can more easily identify the wavelength of red than insects.  Black widows also hang upside down, heightening the effect of the warning to aerial predators.  Birds would see a spider model with red markings and get startled and jump back.  I had a similar reaction when I opened the compost bin.  Humans tend to react based on “what is known” more than what is fact.  This is compounded by an unwillingness to take time to find the truth.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.