Grasshoppers... go ahead... I dare ya...

Last year those darn grasshoppers ate my whole box of beautiful burgundy beans then my pepper plants...  they hopped all over the place jumping out at me as I walked... ewwww!

I watched them grow from little buggers to big buggers all the while fighting with myself over how to control them....

One year they totally defoliated my raspberry bushes... no raspberries for us!

This year... I TAKE REVENGE and let the natural order of things prevail!  This year I'm getting critters that will eat those darn hoppers, oh... and flies too..  among other bugs.

Welcome to our little homestead Muscovy Ducks!!!!

Next week my little muscovy ducklings will arrive.

I'm actually a little nervous about this adventure, well, because I've never had poultry before!  The extent of animal experience ends at cats and a dog!  But hey, I'm up for the challenge!!!

So, I've been searching and reading tons of articles online...   If you have experience with these wonderful animals, please do share your wisdom!

Is that a bee?

A pretty hollyhock just outside the door of our little rental house. Anyone want hollyhock seeds? I'll be happy to share! Just shoot me off an email (wyomingmom@mac.com).
We're having a terrible grasshopper problem again this year. No raspberries for us... they've defoliated all of my plants...
This is my female cat, Katie. She follows me everywhere! She even eats grasshoppers... but NOT enough.

Got a favorite way to deal with these buggers?

PS... sorry no garden overview video today. It's turned stormy with lots of wind... and hopefully some rain! Maybe later...

Die Grasshoppers...

We're beginning to see ripe raspberries!!! Yummy! However...

Grasshoppers are decimating the foliage in my raspberry patch... Grumble... grumble...

TONIGHT, I shall apply DE... Grasshoppers... BE GONE!

Wish me luck...

**UPDATE**

My raspberry plants are all dusted... they look like they've been dusted with powdered sugar. Oh my goodness do we have a bad infestation of hoppers!

No more Onions Aaron!

Welcome Red & Green! Thanks for following my blog!

Baby Romaine... looking good!
After I read Granny's blog post earlier today about all the stuff she was getting done... I thought that I'd better kick it in gear!

So... out to the garden this afternoon!

Popping Corn planted...

Finished filling my last 4x4 box and planted some hull-less popping corn! This should be a neat experience... never planted popping corn before... but my family LOVES popcorn!

Flower Boxes...

I have a few smaller boxes that I made up from scrap wood that I will use for flowers. I have Shasta Daisies and Black Eyed Susans sprouting in the inside greenhouse. It's really time to plant them! So will need to get a bit more soil mixed up.

Mel's Mix... My Mixing Station

Here's a photo of my Soil mixing station. I picked up the big red silicone (I think) buckets at Costco. I put my compost mixture in the wheel barrow, slice open a brick of Peat Moss, and dump about 1/3 bag of Vermiculite in one of the red buckets.

Then I dump a shovel full of each component into the middle red bucket... and... mix... mix... mix... then repeat until bucket is filled!

My Helper Today

My son Aaron, age 11, helped me today. I had to keep shooing him out of the onion bed!

Aaron planted 4 broccoli plants and 4 marigolds tonight. Broccoli is one of his favorite veggies... well... maybe 2nd to onions...

BUGS Update...

As I was watering my SFG, I found hoppers... GRASSHOPPERS... little ones... but I am concerned because last year we had hoppers really bad... they ate the folliage from my raspberry bushes! And munch on my Hollyhock leaves... bad... bad... hoppy bugs!

So I googled... and found out that Grasshoppers do not like Cilantro! So tonight I planted bunches of Cilantro in my beds! I went right down the middle of my 4x4 and 4x8 beds with it... running along one of string dividers. I love cilantro... so... it'll work for me!

And I read about putting a molasses/ water mixture in cups to catch them... so I added some cups of this stuff in some of my beds. I caught bunches and bunches of grasshoppers with this mixture last year.

Question...

Do you have a grasshopper solution?