Storming outside...

And it will be all day tomorrow too...

way too much rain. I know that some of my potatoes have already rotted in the ground... this is Texas... We're supposed to be dry, right? Actually, 2 weeks of rain as spring turns into summer is typical here... not quite monsoon, but close enough for me!

This morning, before the rain hit, I stopped by a tailgate sale... It's a fairly new phenomenon in the states, but I understand that "Boot" sales, (boot being what the British call the trunk of their cars) have become quite the rage in the UK. The way it works is that you load the trunk of your car, or the back of your pick-up, take it to a parking lot where a whole bunch of other people have loaded up their vehicles, and sell everything in it... The result is a bunch of people cleaning out their closets mixed with a bunch of people who deal in flea markets for a living, selling stuff. Kind of a condensed rummage sale. Usually the person who owns or controls the lot charges a fee for the sellers to park... anywhere from 10 to 20 bucks.

Anyway, I didn't really find much, mostly because I wasn't really in the mood to buy... I was just there to avoid mowing the lawn (didn't work by the way, I still had to mow when I got home) but I did find these little guys...

Here's the story... (bear in mind that it was being told by the guy who was trying to sell them...) The guy grew up in Arizona, and these cactus grew wild at his Mothers house... when he moved to Texas he brought a plant with him, and everytime we get a rain storm, some little pieces break off and he roots them. He said they were called Boxing Glove Cactus. They'll grow a bit, then form a 'Fist' on top, then more little branches will come out the side and do the same thing... and so on and so forth...

Well, if the story and description he gave me is accurate, it's the monstose form of the chain cholla, or Cylindropuntia fulgida var. Mammillata Monstrosa. And while he said he keeps his in a pot and carries it in every winter... it's actually hardy to 15 degrees farenheight, and I can grow it outside here... WOO HOO... they were a buck each so I bought two... one to pot up and bring in this winter and the other to leave outside to test it's hardiness... Supposedly, it can get to 8 feet tall. Hmmmmm

All this rain lately has gotten some fungus going... these actually showed up in my tomato straw bales... I'm not worried about them, they help decompose the straw into somethng the plants can use. And they're kinda cute...

The straw bales are actually working out well in this rain... they do retain water, but they drain well enough to avoid the root rot that plauges gardeners this time of year here...

And my annual battle with these little critters has started... CACTUS WEAVELS!


I've always called them cactus weavels. I don't know what they actually are... all I know is that they show up every year and the pierce the pads of my prickly pears to suck the sap and in the process make them look like this...

See those ugly yellow dots? NOT ACCEPTABLE. They won't kill a plant, but they will weaken it. And once a cactus is scarred, it's permanant. This happened when I tried Grandmas method of dried garlic on the roots to make the plant unpalatable to the critters. It works with most plants, but it evidently doesn't work with cactus. So back to insecticides... I tend to use Pyrethrin, simply because it's less toxic to people and pets than most other sprays. It's made from the leaves of English Daisy, if you have some of those around, you can actually make a tea and produce your own. I don't, so I have to buy it...

If anybody out there knows the exact name of these pesty things, and a totally organic method of controling them, please tell me! These plauge the prickly pear that produces the fruit Mom uses to make jelly every year! And don't tell me to pick them off by hand... you can't pick them off without wearing gloves, and they don't make gloves that allow you're hands enough dexterity to pick them off... God knows I've tried!


Later folks.