Friday, June 22, 2007

friend or foe?

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This is a good guy...or shall I say good girl? Note the long ovipositor for depositing eggs outside or (ugh~) inside of a host like a cutworm or tomato horn worm. They sometimes lay their eggs inside of wood boring larvae too. The Ichneumon wasps are a beneficial bug in my garden...a biological means of "pest" control.

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the radishes are ripe for the picking....

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and the lettuce is prime. The heat earlier in the week has caused the mustards to bolt...but the corn and beans and tomatoes are loving it! I also started to thin out the beets, and have been fixing the beet tops with supper. They taste so good when they are young!

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I take the thinning's, and pinch off the bottom...I imagine I could just use them too, but was reminded that they might cook at a different rate over the greens. Once the greens are clean and have gone for a spin in the salad spinner, I put them into a pan with very little water and steam them briefly. They taste somewhat like steamed spinach, only better!

5 comments:

Judy said...

My corn must have grown four inches between yesterday and today. I just started picking pea's (now that is yummy!) and I pulled some carrots to thin it out a little (very sweet, I love them raw). I pulled the spinach and planted beets. I never ate the tops but I will let you know what I think if they grow for me.

Elise said...

I just picked some lettuce and radishes on thursday. I added them to some things I bought at the store for an extra yummy salad. I've had so many gardening failures over the years that I appreciate every little harvest! By the way, my scraggly asparagus is still alive...

Anonymous said...

The other night that wasp was on our screen. I was able to identify it for my son although my pronounciation was probably wrong! You made me look good! lol

cyndy said...

Judy- my corn liked that heat too!

Elise- I appreciate each bit the garden yields too! So glad your asparagus is still going strong!

Kate- That is great! I love it when the timing works out just right!

vanessa said...

i love living through your blog :-)

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