bigugli

Before I retired I had done crop assessments and quality control. The focus of pest management in Ontario has been on the concept of integrated pest management where a greater reliance is put on more natural controls, but does not exclude chemical alternatives when things get out of hand. On the use of predatorial insects, there are so many to choose from depending on crops planted on your property and the neighbouring area. There are a number of braconid type wasps in use for soft skinned pests. Spider mites like Orius for controlling aphid and whitefly. Mantis and ladybug also have their place. While the predators are in play, other controls will hinder effectiveness. We have also found that predators need to be introduced into our crops twice in a season. I know that we get our predatory mites from Global, but I'm not sure where my buddy gets the Braconids from. Unfortunately, a number of sources are wholesale agricultural suppliers. You might try a company called NIC in Stevensville. Also talk to the local co-op On tomato blight, we have had some problems with some tomato varieties, as well as in late season. Spores are soil, water and air transmitted. The cooler your nights, and the more overnight moisture, the greater your rate of spore germination. Last year was cool compared to others. Our San marzanos and other Roma variants were hit hard with an 80% loss. Other plum varieties remained far more resilient. A soil drench prior to planting followed by another drench a few weeks after planting, with a fungicide is your best defence in slowing the blight. As a preventative, avoid evening watering like the plague. Bacterial and fungal spores need only 20 minutes of moisture contact and cool temps. to germinate. The longer the plant is wet, the worse it gets for your plants.

You can also resort to biological controls. We've had good success using various strains of braconid wasp to help control caterpillar populations in out tomato plants. A completely natural insect predation.

I usually find one crawling on me everyday for about a month until it gets really hot and dry.

I am glad your son was looked after quickly and effectively. It's the type of outcome we would like to see and hear all the time.

Better have some plastic sheet handy to cover over your plants, or a good fan to create air movement. There is risk of frost again in the long range for the week. They are expecting another polar down draft from the jet stream like the one that hit southern Ontario last Thursday. I'm 2 1/2 zones south of Ottawa and I'm waiting a few more days before I start planting out peppers and tomatoes. A lot of people were at the market Saturday buying replacement plants for those killed in last week's frost.

Pretty soon none of my musical idols will be left to thrill me. The joys of getting older, but not as old as the Mrs. Lol

That was our potato gun. Wire wrapped and duct tape. Could launch a spud the length of two football fields.

Kinda like when we used to play chicken with our pocket knives. Toss it tween the other guys feet to reduce the gap, or til someone cried chicken. No one ever got stuck.

They hit us last week with the $.15 jump from 98.5 to 113.5.

There is good in this world. We just happen to have a healthy portion of it with many of our members.

A number of hospitals do have patient advocates of some sort or other. Effectiveness is a totally different matter from hospital to hospital. Some hospitals will work with them, some treat them as the enemy. Don't shy from contacting and pressuring every avenue available to you. Call the director of nursing and the hospital administrators. Start calling the ministry of health. Get a hold of CH news and see if they want to run with this story of neglect. Forget the Spec, their management is hospital friendly. You have POA. Demand that the hospital staff respect your wishes and concerns regarding your family's care. OF course, if your Dad takes your Mother home, there is not much you can do.

Negative press directly affects a hospital's bank account. Every bad story about poor care and neglect that hits the news impacts on the dollars donated to the hospital. many years back when I worked in Hospital admin, an affiliate hospital had a number of incidents where patients had escaped, wandered off, got lost, from the facility. The news had a field day and public donations to that hospital shrunk by more than 50% over the next 6 months. All too often it takes being a squeaky wheel to ensure a patient is cared for adequately. I am not shy when it comes to advocating for my family member's care. By all means make as much noise as you think necessary.

Caught myself a decent spinning combo trolling on Six Mile some 10 years back.

A lot of CO's still patrol solo. In some areas where CO's are stretched thin, and in trouble hotspots, I have seen them paired up with OPP officers.

Great news.

Port Maitland is a gong show on the weekends. Lots of cats, carp, white perch or white bass to be had from the pier if the water warms up enough.

It means the way it was raised, fed, grazed, harvested. Ethically raised livestock, like organic produce, have a lot of gray areas in the definitions and rules. and certification is nothing more than a $4000 rubber stamp on a piece of paper.

The entire boardwalk has a number of fishing spots. There is also the island on the other side of the old canal. I used to fish from the breakwall above the lock.

Only in the land of dope and rose coloured glasses.

So far we have not seen too many yet.

Nothing like having a wee honey hole right in your backyard.

Nothing like a little hair of the dog. I did not think about a picture. I was more concerned with getting it back in the water PDQ. Besides all the "women" in the bunch were squealing because of the slime and how it kept trying to wrap around their arms.

. Too dark to tell. I have angler diaries that are turned in to the conservation authority every year so they can gather catch info.

Finally went for the overnight catfish session with the son and some friends. We had a blast despite not catching any large fish. We certainly made up for it in numbers and variety. Lots of bullheads and small channel cats. I was Mr Variety. Managed to catch a rather large mudpuppy, and a 2+ foot long American eel. I have not seen one since the days when my one uncle would trap them, back when I was a boy. This was the first I had ever caught. The way they fight, I thought I had a good sized fish on the line. I forgot just how slimy and how strong the smell was. While all of this is going on we had us a fine camp dinner around the fire. Rob got a little carried away on the smoker during the day. We ate smoked chops, smoked bacon, double smoked sausages that looked more like smoked turds. Lol. Fried taters, onions, and more bacon cooked over the fire. I'm struggling with the meat sweats at the moment. Might have to stick to eating greenage today. The plan was to stay out til sunup, but the bite died around 1 am., and the women were getting cold, so we managed to drag ourselves home by 3 am. It was fun, but I'm hurting this morning. Time for a brandy.

Picked it up last year on sale. Works great for us. Chips or chunks will catch fire if they are dry, or if the heat is cranked. We cut and soak our wood a good 48 hours or more. In other words, we have a 5 gallon pail always full of soaking chunks of fruitwood, maple, or hickory. The bottom pan can also double for use with charcoal as well.