Lawn Mowers: Serious Business!

Pesky problem

The invaders

They have been at it again. The pesky earwigs are out in force with their cunning plan to take over the world. Not only the outside world in the garden but in the houses too.

Earwigs in the garden feed on aphids, mites, fleas, and insect eggs so they can be beneficial in some ways. Unfortunately they also munch on dahlias, marigolds, lettuce, potatoes, and hostas. They will also feed on mosses, lichens, and algae so if there were enough of them they could keep your driveway clean and be a natural remedy for mossy lawns.

Our army of earwigs have decided to come indoors for food and to shelter in the nooks and crannies that are dark and damp. They have also been mobilising themselves in the bedroom and taking chunks out of our visitors. The arrogant pests are nocturnally sneaking the kitchen, front room and bathroom for food looking for their next victim. I’m not sure what I dislike about them the most; their ability to jump out of dark corners and scare the living daylights out of you, their attraction to living in my bread bin or the fact that you have to check the bed before jumping in. I should admire them for sticking their pincers up in the air and taunting me for a fight, it’s a bit of a lost cause when I push my size nines in their face.

Just here for the shopping

Earwigs don’t reproduce indoors thankfully, they just come shopping. One way to keep then out is to block up all of the entrances, window seals, door frames and skirting boards. In most houses this is nearly impossible, gaps in doors and windows are inevitable. So how can I keep the invasion at bay? The best way is to keep a clean and dry area around the outside of the house, which again here in Ireland is almost impossible, and then for those brave enough to sneak into the house we can set traps. Get a sheet of newspaper and add a drop of water until it’s damp all over, scrunch it up into a ball and then leave it where you think the earwigs are, usually worktops in the kitchen or any dark corner. In the night when you are asleep they should use these as their home and be curled up asleep when you get up the next day. Do with them as you will, throw them into the compost, set them free or give them a sacrificial burning in the fire, whichever you think most appropriate.

Earwigs are not the only pests that stray from the garden into the house. Ants can be irritating too. I have a constant stream of them coming in from under the door in the hallway and making their way into the kitchen for a few grains of sugar. I’m sure they wave to me on the way out.

Ants

Red and black ants are nuisance pests rather than plant damaging ones. I used to think that the ants were beneficial to the garden because they farmed aphids for honeydew. This has little effect on the greenfly’s ability to suck sap though and the ants fight off the natural predators away from the greenfly. If I see an infestation of greenfly I tend to just cut off the affected stem and throw it away. If the ants are nesting in containers they can do damage disturbing the roots and they can be a big problem in the lawn where they are active from early April to late September. Damage to lawns is caused by ant mounds, where soil that has been excavated for nests appears on the surface. I don’t really come across this problem though as generally our lawns are far too wet for them and they tend to nest under paving slabs or stones in the rockery. If they do nest in the grass, mowing could get a bit noisy as the dust flies in the air and the presence of ant adults on lawns can be unpleasant. I remember sunbathing once and woke up itching. A whole colony of ants was swarming over me as I slept. I have never jumped into a shower so quickly. Ants can make nests in the flower beds too, it’s less distance to walk to the plant stems that have their greenfly farms on and the perennial plants and trees make the soil a dryer place for them to live.

Controlling the ants

Although total removal or elimination of ants from gardens is difficult to achieve and probably very environmentally unsound, it is possible to drive them out of areas you don’t want them in using nematodes that can be applied directly to ant colonies when the soil temperature is 10ºC/50ºF. One application of the small eggs will gain control of ants already present in the soil where the tiny microscopic worms act as an irritant to ants causing them to leave their colonies and nests. I used to spray the nests under paving slabs with paint when I was young. They were my army and I could identify them in the garden, although thinking about it they didn’t live very long after being painted.

For indoor invasions by ants, or for use in between paving slabs and under patios, we can use natures own insecticide – pyrethrum, which is a 100% natural insecticide made from ground up chrysanthemum leaves so is completely organic. A liberal dusting everywhere the ants are keeps them at bay.

OCD - Who me?

I was browsing on the internet late one evening, like you do, and came across something called an Ultraviolet Cleaning Wand. It looked like the latest “must have” gadget and when I found one on ebay for under a fiver, well who can resist a bargain?

The wand manufacturers claim that by simply running the ultraviolet beam two inches away from any inanimate object for thirty seconds it can kill up to 99% of all germs and bacteria. The package was delivered the next day and I took no time getting the hand held magic wand into action. It’s amazing what needs cleaning in the house when you get your eye in. In the matter of minutes I had disinfected the kitchen worktops, door knobs, pillows, telephone, computer keyboard, hair brush, dog’s bed and kitchen utensils in the drawer. We have people visiting at the moment and they and the rest of the family are all convinced that I am coming down with a case of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

I like things tidy

OK I admit that I like things tidy, for example I won’t go to the beach in the car because I have a bit of an aversion to sand on the dashboard and I will check the door handle of the house up to ten times before I leave to go shopping. That just means that I am tidy and organised doesn’t it? I suppose I am not helping the situation by coming up behind people in the bathroom and sanitizing the towels after they have washed their hands. Come to think of it I have got a few hygiene issues. There are a couple of things I dislike when I am in public. One is the fact that toilet doors open inwards so even if you have washed your hands thoroughly after using them you still have to pull on the handle. The other gripe is if someone is serving food to you and they insist on talking to someone over your plate before it’s been handed over to you. Those invisible germs float down onto the food ...gross. This thankfully only usually happens in films and soap operas and when it does the only thing I can do is shout at the telly for them to put the food down on the table in front of the customer before they start to talk to each other. It’s a bit like when I watch football on the TV, I only look at the condition of the pitch and don’t see the game.

It’s what you don’t see

On coming across the new gadget I have also found an ultraviolet device that can detect urine. Oh happy days. Ever since I saw an episode of Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares where the device was used to assess the cleanliness of a restaurant toilet I have thought I need one of those in my life. The UV rays detected stains on every surface; washbasin, handles, toilet roll holder and worryingly the toilet bowl was actually cleaner than the ceiling. I know that allowing contact to germs and bacteria actually helps build up the immune system, but this is a scary thought and one of the reasons I wouldn’t touch the communal mint bowl after paying the bill.

I mentioned light-heartedly to the family that I was working my way up to living in a big plastic bubble and getting a laser beam to zap fragments of glass off of the floor like Howard Hughes did and for some reason (again worryingly) no-one seemed to be that surprised.

Composting tomatoes

I was very pleased to be able to compost the tomato plants that we have had growing on the window ledges of the front room. They were a novelty to start with and because they were in constant visual contact I never forgot to water them. They did make a mess and cut out the daylight though and for the last few weeks we couldn’t see anything out of the windows. I got the same relief taking them down as I do the Christmas decorations and this time I have had a chance to kill 99% of all germs that have collected underneath the pots.

I picked off all of the fruit from the tomato plants and laid them on the newly cleaned surface and with the addition of the fumes of a ripe banana they are turning red very quickly. The supposed cherry tomatoes (as stated on the packet) have turned into large beefsteak type fruit and are really quite unpleasant to eat. They turn into foam when you put them in your mouth, so cooking them up in a big pan is the solution. I placed them in a bowl of boiling water for a minute or two then removed the loose skin and cooked them up with fresh herbs from the garden and a pinch of salt. To finish off I liquidised the mush to get rid of the gigantic seeds the tomatoes have produced. This tasty liquid will make an ideal base for pasta and curries. For handiness I have filled up some old plastic cups that were left over from one of the lad’s parties and put them in the freezer. And yes, before you ask, I did clean the cups with my new UV light sabre.

Seed Saving

Saving Seed from vegetables and flowers

I’ve saved seeds of one type or another for a good number of years. The resulting crops or flowers that come from these can be a bit unpredictable, sometimes good, sometimes a disaster. That’s the main reason that I only set aside small areas for this type of production, leaving main crop vegetables to the professionals and shrubs I find do better from cuttings. I don’t let that fact deter me though. Here are a few pointers I follow for getting the best out of the valuable seed crops at the end of the growing season.

Hybrid plants

I went to a hybrid growers set up a few years ago and they take great lengths to keep any unwanted cross pollination away from their vegetable and flower specimens. Great sealed mesh cages are used in case pollen blows in. The plants have their own sealed units with only filtered air. These hybrid vegetables and flowers can be wonderful but the seed is often sterile or does not reproduce true to the parent plant. Therefore if you do save the seed, don’t expect miracles. If they grew true to type the hybrid growers would be out of business.

Open pollinated

Some plants’ flowers are open pollinated by insects, wind or people. These plants include, beetroot, broccoli, , celery, cauliflower, cucumbers, cabbage, chard , kale , melon, , mustard , , parsley , spinach, squash, radish and onion. These plants cross with others within their family. The only way to keep the original variety is to grow them really far apart, so it’s not really practical.

Disease

Some seeds may transmit certain diseases. A disease that infected a crop at the end of the growing season may do little damage to that crop. However, if the seed is saved and planted the following year, the disease may severely injure or even kill the young plants.

What can you save?

Standard types of seed that have been traditionally pollinated (wind, insects) or heirloom varieties that are not cross-pollinated by nearby plants are good candidates. Many gardeners successfully keep beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and peppers. Plants you know are heirloom varieties are easy to save.

What are heirlooms?

Heirloom varieties are usually vegetables that have been grown in isolation in a particular area, and have been selected over generations (of people and plants) to produce the best crop in that area, the strongest most healthy plants are saved and these seeds go on to be grown the following year. Heirloom varieties sometimes do better in their native growing places but they will adapt well to different locations over a few years. Again cross-pollinating with other compatible varieties causes the plants to wander away from their true type.

How to harvest?

Like with the heirlooms, harvest from the best plants. Choose ones that are disease-free with qualities you are looking for such as large ornamental flower heads or tasty vegetables.
Harvest mature seed. For example, cucumber seeds when we eat them are not ripe and won’t germinate if saved. Allowing the fruit and seed to fully mature ensures that they will grow. Waiting until nearly the end of the growing season to save fruit for seed will also mean they have more vitality.

When to harvest?

Plants with pods, like beans, are ready when the pods are brown and dry. When seeds are ripe they usually turn from white to cream colored or light brown to dark brown. Collect the seed or fruits when most of the seed is ripe. Do not wait for everything to mature because you may lose most of the seed to birds or animals. Some seed heads tell us when they are ready, the poppy sounds like a rattle when you shake it. This tells us the seed are dry and ready for collecting.

Storing seed

Dry cleaning

The drying process is spreading the seed on a screen or tray in a single layer in a well-ventilated dry location, hot presses are ideal. As the seed dries the chaff or pods can be removed or blown gently away. An alternative method for extremely small or lightweight seed is putting the dry seed heads into paper bags and giving them a good shake. Beans, peas, onions, carrots, corn, most flowers and herb seeds are prepared by a dry method. Allow the seed to mature and dry as long as possible on the plant.

Wet cleaning

Fleshy fruits benefit from the wet method of storing seed. Scoop the seed masses out of the fruit or lightly crush fruits. Place these in warm water in a bucket or jar. Let the mix ferment for a few days. The fermentation process kills viruses and separates the good seed from the bad seed and fruit pulp. The seed will separate from the pulp. Some say that the bad seeds float and the good ones sink. This can be true, but not always. You will tell by looking at the seed if they are healthy or not as poor ones will lack the shine of the viable ones. Tomatoes, melons, squash, cucumber and roses are prepared this way.

Storing the seeds

Dry seeds will stay fresh and healthy; if they are moist when stored they could go mouldy. Place the well dried seed in glass jar or envelopes. Label all the containers or packages with the seed type or variety, and date. A hot water treatment can be given to certain seeds such as cabbage, turnip or tomato to kill off diseases they might be carrying. Immerse them in water held at a constant temperature of 50° C for 25 minutes. Small grubs, hidden inside the seed shells can be killed by freezing the seeds for a couple of days, but only after they have been properly dried. The seeds can then live happily in a cool dark place such as the fridge. When taken out, allow them to return to room temperature before opening. The container or water could condense on the cold seeds and activate them.

How long can I keep the seed?

Seed viability decreases over time. Parsley, onion, and sweet corn need to be used the next year. Most seed should be used within three years although they have been known to live for thousands of years.