Garden Wearables Plus

That fuzzy thing hanging from a stone ceiling is an Eastern Pipistrelle bat. This one's a loner.  Normally, it can hang out in groups of 1000 or more.  As you can see, no crowd there.  It weighs in at only 0.12 to 0.30 ounces. Small. However, the Eastern Pipistrelle's wingspan ranges from 7.1 to 9.8 inches.  That's big enough to spark a little fear in me when flapping around my head. I was allowed to take that shot (without the flash), while visiting the  Longhorn Cavern State Park in Burnet, Texas. We wouldn't want to awake it. Bats are bug-eaters, even the famous Vampire bat. One Eastern Pipistrelle will devour 3000 gnats and moth-like bugs per night. A bit of a weird trade-off.  Bats or bugs? Consider this: they'll work all night for you. I've experienced them darting around feasting high in the atmosphere at about dusk. They're so fast you could miss seeing them. Therefore, when you awake to workout in your garden spaces, you'll experience less fly

This picture was posted on Facebook by one of my Soil Sisters. Information we all need to remember.  Presently, we have Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac in our yard, so having this detailed picture is very helpful.  In Tennessee, we had all three in our yard, as well. Therefore, I taught my children early on about the Poison Ivy that ran up many of the older tree trunks around our property. And thankfully, for 21 years the children never witnessed an incident.  Strangely, one of our male pygmy goats, Festus (below), loved pressing his head against the hard poison ivy stems that ran up the trees. Never knew why. However, all our goats loved to eat poison ivy leaves .   According to the National Wildlife Federation, goats are able to eat poison ivy because of their split hooves. This allows them to spread their weight more evenly, which prevents them from getting blisters or burns from the plants. In addition, their stomachs are able to down the plants better than other animals.  All Anim

Yes, mosquitoes are drawn to us when we exhale carbon dioxide.  However, I try not to go the extra mile by looking like a walking streetlight at dusk. I avoid looking like things, I can plainly see them being drawn to.   Dusk is an unusual time for a morning-person to do yard work. However, I headed for the field wearing all grays with my head wrapped in a blue scarf.  I used my heavy loppers (long handled pruning shears) to chop down the milkweeds under bushes around the field instead of uprooting them, which would've been best.  The loppers were definitely over-kill, but heavy enough for a good workout. On my way back to the house I looked down and there was a fat gray striped female mosquito on my thigh. I slapped her dead. I've read, mosquitoes like hanging out under bushes (shrubs) and such like. I probably brought her back with me from the bushes.  Also, I remembered, spraying perfume on myself after my morning shower. Had no intentions of going into the yard that day.  H

Many people have tried hanging multiple bluebird houses around their gardens and houses. One lady hung them in a single tree like ornaments.  Whimsy. I hang one in my front yard and one for the back. The rest of my whimsical birdhouses are only for aesthetics, but could possibly house other species of birds between seasons of bluebird procreation. You can hang another bluebird nesting box after a single family of bluebirds grows up and flies away.  Place it yards away from the first house you hung.  And it'd be best to have a building between each house. Why?  The Bluebird is very territorial.  Best they don't see each other hunting or just hanging around.  Nothing's coming near their nests unless the bird is from their own family. When you see a bluebird constantly peaking in the holes of birdhouses. He's not looking in on the eggs yet.  God didn't give them the ability to build a nest.   He's waiting for another bird to build. Then the bluebird squats. The in

I read recently that there are debates on whether blue or yellow clothes repel flies.  Well, the answer is simple.  Ask yourself, which bugs bug you the most?  If your answer is a certain type of fly, then you need to dress accordingly.  By all means, wear yellow. I was watching television lately and saw a young scientist sporting a bold blue long-sleeved shirt with bright yellow wide stripes down the sleeves over a pair of gray shorts with burnt orange half circles on the sides of his shorts. The other scientist wore the traditional light gray and blue uniforms with logos.  I thought the younger guy could've been doing a sunrise-sunset look or something.  No.   Scientists have found that wearing yellow as opposed to blue will repel a certain fly.  Now that I know that, I can say that the young scientist knew exactly what he was doing.   However, flies are not my problem in my garden spaces.  The West Nile virus bearing mosquitoes are.  Plus, there are enough poisons being rained d

Please, don't ask me what variety of dragonfly that is. I thought maybe a green darner. Now, I don't think so.  According to Google images the green darner sported other beautiful colors and designs.  That one's all green.  Whatever it is, it's cleaving to my unproductive tomato plant. I'll give it my own scientific name, "Aliena Tamata Luva."   Are those eyes? It seemed to be looking right into the camera lens. Nevertheless,  every few months, I have to throw a natural pesticide doughnut into an old nearby well.  Unfortunately, if I forget to do so, mosquitoes swarm between the well and our home.  Many coming to the screened in porch windows slamming their bodies against the screens and whining for us to come out and play. Thankfully, their high-pitched whining attracts their predator: dragonflies. They'll also swarm with their meal zipping back and forth in a hefty feast of old and young mosquitoes. It's a massacre. Each dragonfly eats from thirt

This sonic aqua golfing ensemble is great for gardening in cooler climates, because the aqua is one of my proven blues. Both blues are perfect.  Every golfer should know about wearing the right colors. I've not learned to play golf yet, but what I know about golfing is that distractions from flying bugs can throw off your swing and lead to you breaking your golf club over your knee in frustration. 😖 Fresh off the course?  Head for the garden to get more fresh air, Ladies.  You'll experience a c omfortable time in your garden wearing this ensemble or one similar to it.                                                  Happy Gardening/Shopping today!                      What Adidas has to says:                "Comfort. Movement. Feel."