If you listen what the internet has to say about improvised pest control, you might have run across this gem. Purportedly, common, Ivory brand soap will reliably repel flies. Supposedly it has something to do with the fragrance, or other ingredients depending on who you listen to, but the assertion is that flies won’t come … Read more
Ask anybody that is afraid of bugs what their number one most hated bug is, and they will probably answer roaches. Even among people who aren’t skeeved out by bugs, roaches tend to evoke disgust and nothing else. Whether they are scuttling out from under the refrigerator at night or infesting the shed behind your … Read more
If you don’t care for plants in any capacity, seeing a rabbit in your yard is probably just a fun distraction. Watching them hop along, nibbling on grass, before bolting at the slightest disturbance can certainly be a heartwarming sight. However, if you are a gardener, or even if you just take care of decorative … Read more
Chipmunks, just like their squirrel cousins, are basically rats with good publicity. From those adorable chubby cheeks that they use to stash food to their distinctive striped fur, you are rarely going to see a cuter critter out in the wild. Or in your backyard. Or absolutely destroying your prized decorative plants or fruits and … Read more
If you own a livestock farm or just have a homestead with a few animals running around on it, you know how troublesome snakes can be. They steal eggs from chickens, pick off chicks, and panic larger animals. A few snakes are dangerously venomous, capable of hurting or killing man and beast alike. Snakes might … Read more
If you run a farm or just tend a garden, you know you always have to be on the lookout for harmful insect pests. If you live anywhere but in one of the driest climates, you have probably already had a run-in with the Mexican bean beetle, particularly if you grow any sort of bean … Read more
Bugs can be a major source of irritation, and we typically squish or spray every bug that we can get. Unfortunately, that includes the ones that help our gardens. This leads to further issues, and possibly adds more damage to your yard. Letting nature run its course is often the best course of action, despite … Read more
Mosquitoes, biting flies, and other pest insects are always around and ready to ruin your time outdoors, whatever you happen to be doing out there. Fending them off seems like a full-time job, but lately there has been an uproar about relief from an unlikely source. There seems to be a growing clamor around the … Read more
If your tomatoes are looking a little less than healthy as they begin to ripen, it could be an early blight to blame. That’s the bad news. The good news? If you’re looking for tips on how to eradicate early blight in your garden, you’ve come to the right place. Early blight can appear early … Read more
Also known simply as the fisher, the fisher cat is a forest-dwelling mammal found in the northern United States and Canada. If you’ve never heard of this creature before, its unique nomenclature might confuse you. Is it a cat, or is it some other kind of mystical creature that hunts for fish? The short answer … Read more
I’ve always been quite lucky to not have to worry about too many pests in my garden. I’m not sure how I’ve avoided this common predicament – it’s something I hear echoed by so many gardeners near me. They struggle with all kinds of garden pests, including cabbage worms, cutworms, and of course – aphids. … Read more
Damping off is a plant disease that develops from fungi or bacteria in the soil. Also commonly referred to as “dampening off” this crop disease almost exclusively afflicts only seeds and the newly sprouting plants they yield. Damping off disease typically targets vegetable plants and flowers, not fruit crop seeds. Damping off disease causes the … Read more
An assassin bug infestation is no laughing matter. If you’ve ever dealt with these pests before, you know how frustrating it can be to have them on your property. Although some types of assassin bugs are completely harmless to humans and would rather spend their entire life cycles outside in your garden, munching on garden … Read more
Leaf miners are a destructive variety of insects that can destroy a garden or orchard in a single season, or harm plants enough to drastically reduce their yield. These tiny black fly larvae leave pale lines or blotches on the plants they carnage. These bad bugs are the larvae of the Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera Diptera … Read more
Moles, those burrowing little buggers can destroy your yard in a day. I have so many raised tunnels in my yard, we have made a game out of who can stomp them back down the fastest. They also drive my dogs crazy. They occasionally catch one but, my yard sure gets destroyed in the process. … Read more
Keeping the livestock safe on the homestead, no matter how large or small the land, can seem like an insurmountable chore. Barnyard and even backyard livestock live under constant threat of attack. Before you can adequately protect your animals, you must discover what predators are lurking about and likely to attack..and then what you can … Read more