Garden Journal: 15 November 2023

Time: 1458

Location: Suffolk, VA

Weather:

14°C (57°F)

Partly cloudy becoming cloudy

0 cm (0 in) precipitation

Very Light E to ENE wind

Solo working in the back garden bed

Work & Observations

Brought some more leaves from AJ's house to mulch the beds. Completely mulched beds 1, 3, 4, and 7. Partially mulched beds 5 and 9 were plants have sprouted making sure not to cover the sprouts.

Solenopsis invicta ' Red Imported Fire Ant'

Spotted an ants and got some good pictures to help me ID them. Hoping to figure out if they are the same ants I am seeing all over the property. [UPDATE: Ant was identified as Solenopsis invicta 'Red Imported Fire Ant' using the site iNatrualist]

Pulled the peppers off the remaining outside Capsicum annuum cv. 'Pimento' as well as the buds. Hopping to to make it conserve some energy. Noticed that the the ants were all over it and they seemed to be eating the honey dew from a small amount of Thrips. Will have to read up on how to proceed since the white onions that John gave me are planted in this bed.

While I was out working I had a couple of Corvus brachyrhynchos 'American Crow' fly over the storm water pound and the front entrance to the neighborhood. I was lucky and got a good harsh "Caw" call out of them which made it super easy to Identify.

Earlier this morning I had to move the C. annuum cv. 'Pimento' and C. annuum cv. 'Cayenne' out to the garage for quarentine and treated them with pesticide due to a massive thrips infestation that had started to spread from the Pimento to the Cayenne. Picked all pepers off both.

Started moving some of the indoor plants to the drier front bedroom. The Zamioculcas zamiifolia 'ZZ Plant' needed to be bottom soaked to rehydrate the soil in the pot because I had let it get so dry. Ofcourse, this plant likes to be somewhat dry, but not THAT dry. Hopefully, this does not make it sick. The big Aloe vera needs to be repotted soon. The pot it is in can not be easily leached and there are alot of minerals built up on the top of the potting soil.

Personal Thoughts, Sketches, and Photos

What type of trees are the leaves I'm getting from AJ coming from? I should record this so I know what kind of neautrience they are putting in to the beds.

I need to figure out a good plan for dealing with the S. invita. Including a link to the sound ID site used to ID the American Crows.

1 - Cymbopogon schoenanthus 'Lemon Grass'; 2 - Grass like plant from SMG Class; 3 - Chamaemelum nobile 'Chamomile' 4 - Achillea millefolium 'Yarrow' 5 - Achillea millefolium 'Wild Bergamont; 6 - Salvia officinalis 'Common Sage; 7 - Anethum graveolens 'Dill'; 8 - Ocimum basilicum 'Sweet Basil'; 9 - Coriandrum sativum 'Cilantro'; 10 - Salvia rosmarinus 'Rosemary; 11 - Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum 'Greek Oregano'; A - Hummingbird Feeder

S. invicta 'Red Imported Fire Ant'