We are headed down to Kenai, Alaska to catch our winter's supply of red salmon and halibut.
I will give a report of our adventures when we return!

How to keep your water in your bucket!

I was headed over to our corn & potato field to irrigate and fertilize the sweet corn. I was driving a 4-wheeler with a trailer full of 5 gallon buckets with no lids. My brother-in-law, Andy, shared a little secret with me. He said, "If you float a piece of wood in your water buckets you will find the water rarely splashes out of the bucket." I tried it and he's right!! When the waves slosh around they break on the piece of wood instead of the rim of the bucket. Thanks, Andy!!

Gardening Tip: Turnips

Did you know that if you plant turnips after the 4th of July, they will have little to no worms and still have enough time to grow before harvest time? My family loves to eat raw turnip as a snack and so do I but I like to boil the greens and add a little sea salt and apple cider vinegar.

So, with regards to the baby lady bugs . . . My good friend, Kirsten, proclaimed, "Wait a minute, lady bugs don't have a "baby" stage! But these bugs look so much like ladybugs." I responded, "Maybe I'll call Cooperative Extension here in Fairbanks and ask them." I did call and met with the "insect lady", Diane. She said these "babies" are actually the nymph stage of the stink bug. Ladybugs are actually beetles and not bugs at all. So, naturally, we should all be calling them "lady beetles." Here's a neat link about stink bugs: http://ipm.ncsu.edu/ag271/soybeans/stink_bugs.html When you click on this link you will see why we thought they were ladybeetles. Picture A really looks like a ladybeetle and the "babies" we found are bright red, just like the ladybeetle. We put a leaf under our microscope here at home and these insects look so amazing!

URGENT MESSAGE!!! Right now is the best time to observe ladybug eggs, pupae, larvae and adults on the underside of birch leaves!! We found thousands of them tonight when I was exploring my neighborhood. You see, I have an aphid problem in my greenhouse so I thought, "Why buy ladybugs when I can take the kids out and capture them?" We hit the jackpot when Anna found the birch trees in front of Monroe infested with them in all four life stages! What a blessing!!

For a ladybug unit study, click on the following link: http://www.ladybuglady.com/LadybugsFAQ.htm