Discussion Board

First day to snow here in Washington State. It is a light snow but it is coming down. I'm thankful it is light because I've got two students coming to my home and we have a fairly steep hill to climb to get to our home.

Anyone else getting snow yet? This question exempts Sam though--who is from Australia and probably basking in the sun!

I just had a wonderful idea. I need to fly to Australia every winter--then I'd only live where it is summer. lol

So what's your weather like ???

We're presently in Hawaii, so it's nice and warm. Have to watch out for sunburn.

It's lovely here further south on the Pacific coast. Sunny but not too warm.

Being in Hawaii would be nice however.

But you can keep the snow.....

I am inland directly across from the Monterey Bay in California and we are having coldish mornings 49-50 warming to 69-72 in teh afternoon.

Really nice weather for the fall. But there is going to be rain this weekend and we will be cooling off over the next few days.

Plum--are you vacationing? How nice to be in Hawaii and worry about sunburn....seems it was just yesterday I was thinking about the same thing where I live...but those few moments seemed to flash by right in front of my eyes...and now it is winter....lol

ahh Kitty---your temps there in California look pretty nice to me considering it is wintertime.

Today we had a huge array of different weather: wind, hail, rain, sunshine and snow. And cold cold cold!! The coldest so far has been close to 25 degrees. Today I put the flannel sheets on our bed--we always open the window at night so our bedroom is cool.

If you are in need of any flannel sheets (sounds like most of you are in sunny climates) you can order the German made flannel sheets in Overstock.com and even thought they are more expensive, they are thick and wonderful!! I loved them so much I bought two more sets for me and one for each of my kids (they're grown).....

Stay warm!!

Sort of. We are retired. We live full time in an RV and have been traveling across the US for a couple of years now. We put the RV in storage for the winter and are exploring life in the islands. It's winter here too. They actually have winter coats with fur and fuzzy boots in the stores here! Honest. I need new shorts, mine are too big. No shorts, just winter clothes. Huh? And no, by mainland standards no way is it cold. Last time I wore my jeans was the day we flew because I am not comfortable in shorts on the plane. Of course, when we go back up to the summit of Haleakala, I will wear my jeans, cold breeze up my butt in shorts!

I remember flannel sheets! No cold spots in the bed!

I can't believe you can't get shorts in Hawaii.

Well, we did have a snow before Halloween.

Lately we've been pretty seasonal. We have been having a lot of rain it seems. We've been within 10 degrees of average either up or down.

Anyway I finally have a weekend off for Thanksgiving. My brussel sprouts are growing so slow that I have to try and get them ready for winter. I am going to put a bunch of hay around there, oh and some black plastic for gardens. Any other suggestions.

Really any suggestions for brussel sprouts too. Two years I have gotten the plants out in March and not harvested until September. So this year I decided to try a fall crop. I put the plants out in August. Mine always go much longer than the days they say on the envelope. I am wondering why mine take so long.

Hi faith i found this about growing them in West Virginia.
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/homegard/brussspt.htm

I have never tried growing them.. I know here in California they are just starting to harvest them...They started having the stalks of them in the stores a couple of weeks ago.
I wonder if you could figure when the first frost is and count backwards and then start your seeds indoors that way?

I know for next years garden i am going to start with when to plant my fall/winter stuff and count everything backwards from there this tiime instead of my usual willy-nilly planting and then hoping I hit it all correctly

Thanks Good Site. That is how I determined when to plant and start. We had a late frost too. Maybe it's the soil not being the right ph. I haven't tested that.

Anyway, I finally gave up on the little guys getting any bigger so had my son chop them down on Monday. I'm soaking in salted water, with a weighted plate on them, to hopefully kill any aphids. My son was great and pulled all the leaves off outside, he said they were covered in aphids.

I am hoping that by not growing them a year maybe the bugs will travel on. Is that a good idea? Nothing seems to get rid of them.

Aphids are kind of tricky to get rid of. Here is a link to different natural remedies. http://voices.yahoo.com/natural-aphid-pesticides-10-eco-friendly-ways-repel-1840538.html
I know the bananas work and neem oil works too. I am going to have to try some of the other remedys too. As we get so many of these at different times. Not in the winter as it is too cold but once it warms up they are bad.

That most likely won't stop them since many other plants in your area will be harboring them. They come in so easily. In my area syrphid fly larvae (little green 'worms', about 1/4 inch long, with pointed ends)(see photo below) and lady bugs are the best natural remedy, but they also come in naturally.

Aphids are why I stopped trying to grow broccoli - they would get up in the buds and no amount of soaking could get htem out. I assume I eat some here and there, but knowing there are so many in home-grown broccoli makes it too icky to eat.

Our weather here is very nice right now. High 60s when the sun is out. I've spent much time in the garden today working the beds, planting and mulching. Over the past week I put out the kale, spigarello, parsley and onions. Still have to plant the chard seedlings. They all should be ok since we are in 'the avocado belt' microclimate, and rarely get frost here - maybe one light one in 20 years.


Syrphid fly larva with sucked out aphid bodies- ours here are about 1/4 inch long, but this one looks larger:

I get those worms too. I pick them off and throw them as far as I can.

I had read once to soak in a salted warm water. That is what I've been doing, several times for items I know had aphids. Though this weekend I cut the kale and it was totally infested. I just threw it away. I didn't have much. I am sure I've ate and inhaled my share of aphids.

I wish the lady bugs would come back. I haven't seen one in years.

Now you know to stop doing that.

Unless they are the similar-looking, but duller colored and much larger cabbage worm larvae. Those I give to the fish.

yeah I thought it was a cabbage looper http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/leaf/cabbage_looper.htm

I am not sure if I could tell the difference.

I need a really good bug/insect book. It's hard to research and figure out the good from the bad.