The !#&$%! beetles get to it every year. I have read that besides roses, the fruits of peaches, nectarines and such are among the favorite foods for the hideous beasts. The good news is they are so busy destroying the nectarines that they generally spare the apple trees and roses right next to it. They also have yet to discover the Apricot tree about 50 yards away (crossing fingers behind her back.)

They eat the fruit right down to the pits,or stones. See how this fruit is absolutely covered in the darn things?

Japanese Beetles Eating Nectarines

Japanese Beetles Devouring Nectarine

After the beetles get finished there is not a nectarine left on the tree. The birds wont eat them and they seem to have no natural enemy. These are truly wretched wee beasties my friends!

]]> http://www.herbsinthegarden.com/the-sacrificial-nectarine-tree/feed/ 0 http://www.herbsinthegarden.com/my-garden-elf/ http://www.herbsinthegarden.com/my-garden-elf/#comments Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:29:59 +0000 herbgal http://www.herbsinthegarden.com/?p=264 OK, so he’s not really an elf, but he does great work!
All you have to do is find a 13 year old wanting some cash and willing to work for it. Ya gotta love farm kids!

This is hard work, gang! All the concrete blocks had to be dug up, cleaned off and stacked. You can see a pile in the background. There are several more just like it littering the garden area. Now…what to do with them all. Suggestions?

So, here’s the plan… the goats will eat the rest of the garden down and fertilize it for me over the next few weeks, then we’ll put new wood beds in for the fall season.

I have found a few ambitious youngsters in need of some cash. They are digging out the raised bed concrete blocks in the flooded,weed filled garden. Here is the garden at the beginning of the makeover.

So as not to burn the kids out, the removal phase of the project has been tentatively scheduled to take two weeks,weather permitting…which leaves the next two days out.

It’s almost unbelievable how fast these weeds pop up! This  photo I took not long ago shows the garden devoid of any vegetation.

You can see where some volunteer sunflowers have taken off. I plant them every year for the birds, bunnies, and goats.

Gold Finches come around every summer eat the seeds right off the flower heads. I guess we’ll just work around the sunflowers for the time being.

I have not transplanted any herbs from this little square bed at the foreground of the photo below. They are so happy here that I am going to leave them in place and replace the concrete with a wood bed.

Garden Overhaul in Progress

See all the concrete blocks the kids have cleaned and carried to the back of the garden so far?

I am hoping to get some photos of my shy garden helpers in a future post!