Things That Work: Petal & Twig Organics

Flies are a fact of summer.  We had issues with them in Albuquerque and we have issues with them here in Colorado.

The flies really like Porkchop's ears and Gunnar's nose.

We initially used Neosporin on Porkchop's ears with little benefit.  Then when Gunnar's nose was being affected we started using Swat for both which helped a lot.

However, Gunnar does not like having ointment on his nose.  No matter how much we rub it in, he wipes it off .... with his foot, the ground, the side of the loafing shed, the fence or even the side of his food bowl... basically anything he can use to get ointment off his nose he does.  Which ultimately causes a gash that the flies like even more than his sweet, soft, velvety nose.

So last weekend I asked one of the Farmer's Market vendors if she had anything that might help.  She suggested that we try her bug spray and said that she uses it on her Great Dane.  I have bought other products from her over the years, so I decided to give the bug spray a try.

Well, just a week into it so far, I am happy to say that it appears to be working.

• First, and foremost: Gunnar doesn't hate it!  It might help that I spray it on myself before I put it on him.  As I mentioned, he's not crazy about me rubbing stuff on his nose, but he does not run from me like he did with the Neosporin and Swat.
• Secondly: It smells good. It's made with all kinds of lovely essential oils.  It has a pleasant, subtle smell which I like, a lot.
• Finally, as a wonderful side-effect of using the dogs' bug spray, I also have fewer bug bites.  ;-)

Gunnar's nose looking much better than last week

I plan to get another bottle to take to the day job, so I can apply it before our lunch time walks near the marsh.  I also think we'll be using it on all of the dogs and alpacas.

Porkchop's ears looking great

Petal & Twig Organic Bug Spray is definitely worth a try.

Garden: Squash Bugs

I have been very lucky in that all of the vegetable gardens I've had, I've never had an issue with bugs... late freezes, hail, dogs and birds but not bugs.  Until Saturday.  :-/

Miss A was helping me harvest a few veggies when she very calmly told me there were "bugs on that plant over there" and continued checking the other plants for things to harvest.

I verified there was a lot of squash bugs and then quickly had a brain fart about what to do.  So I consulted a few friends and was reminded that dish soap and water should do the trick.

I cut out the affected parts of the plant.  Sprayed a very non-scientific mixture of dish soap and water all over and started looking for the copper colored eggs on the underside of the leaves.

All of that went into the garbage and I sprayed the plant again a short time later.

I also gave it a sprinkling of Diatomaceous Earth (DE) for good measure.

It's a few days later, and it seems that we are now squash bug free.  But I'll keep checking over the next several weeks, just to make sure.

It got me thinking though, how is it that I haven't had an issue with bugs before?  I remember my neighbor saying that she had squash bugs last year, but we did not.

The only thing I really did different this year is the arrangement of the plants.  So perhaps the fact that chiles are not amongst my the other plants is the reason I have bugs this time?  Or maybe there were eggs on my seedlings?  Or perhaps the drought and mild winter have something to do with it.