So true! I had two huge mangoes and one breadfruit outside of my house, and one very bitter, sour orange. Those are my all time favorite banana ! Loved the old restaurants!
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I dream a lot about Ricomini bakery in Mayaguez 
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I took a day off work yesterday to complete my project of irrigating and covering my larger garden. I made this garden last year by ripping out the grass and covering with two inches of compost, no tilling, no other prep. I then laid the woven fabric down and pinned it to the soil. It did great, but I think it could have been better if irrigated. I had a hard time judging the moisture under the ground cover and going little hole to little hole with the hose because irksome very quickly.
This year I ran the drip emitter tube every three feet to cover the entire area. I had already laid the compost last fall, so I pinned the woven fabric down. Hopefully it works a little better.
Also,.here is some over wintered spinach.
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I gotta set up an irrigation system at home too. Do you find any difference in weed and pest pressure with the fabric vs without?
The year before I put the row cover on, I tried to garden that area in open ground. I lost most of what grew there to weeds, and in that forest the bugs were uncontrollable.
Last year with the cover, there were no weeds and I was better able to control any pestS with spray and row cover. I just had a hard time judging when the soil was dry and when I did water, it took at least an hour spraying each hole with a hose.
I already had irrigation on the raised beds, so it took me a few hours to run another setup off that. Around $80. Glad I did it so far.
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What sort of things you plan to plant in those holes?
tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, broccoli, cabbage, pumpkins. Did the same last year with the addition of peppers. Everything did great except peppers, so they go in a raised bed this year.
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Well, the yard work has slowed down a bit as of late, particularly with the recent rains. But in the meantime, some of my other projects are picking up steam! I’m back to brewing Kombucha, and I actually managed to set up a bug terrarium! Zebra Pillbugs, Little Kenyan Roaches, Shiny Spider Beetles and Springtails. I haven’t taken a good shot of the inhabitants, but here’s some blurry ones through the plastic, as well as the setup:
I’m as giddy as a schoolboy, I’ve wanted to keep bugs since I was a kid! And I’ll be throwing aside my fear of the big ones and getting some Halloween Hissers when circumstances allow.
Back to the yard, I‘ll be visiting a metal shop with my father in the weekend, to get started on the table beds. Once those are finished, the rest of the projects are fair game.
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i have 3 kinds of tropical roaches i raise for my chickens as a protein supplement. i split my scraps between them and my compost worms. they breed like crazy and i feed them every 3 months. the chickens absolutely love them! i mix their frass with my worm castings which is also a excellent fertilizer. in the winter i also feed them dried comfrey i saved from summer. both roaches and worms get fat off of it. they make for a great source of quality fertilizer as well as a protien source for the chickens…
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That sounds awesome! I think I’ll give feeder roaches a go when I get my birds. What other species do you have? I had once considered Surinam Roaches for composting (especially since I’ve read they can thrive off grass clippings), but re-considered after hearing a rumor (haven’t confirmed it yet) that they can attack certain starchy crops, as well as that particular species being a host for a chicken parasite. Still, there’s other species to trial, and the idea of Dubia roaches is growing on me. I do have one comfrey plant thus far (in a shady corner); if I plant more, could that be a viable staple for them?
they eat anything except meat. if theres only cardboard in there they will eat that. i give them some dry dogfood occasionally but mostly leftover veggies or some fruit cores. whatever you got laying around they will eat. they breed like crazy. i stack about 10 egg flats on their aides in the totes and put a 2in wide ring of petroleum jelly around the top to keep them from getting out. a sponge siting in a bowl of water works for a water source. nice thing is they dont smell at all. wouldnt even notice they are there. i have dubia and lobster roaches i bought through Roachcrossing.com . check out the link on blatticomposting under the ivory head roach listing.
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Then I can compost my kitchen scraps with them, excellent!
And that’s where I got mine. I just placed an order for the Halloween Hissers, with the Montenegro Armadillidium, A. nasatum and Alloniscus perconvexus. I think the standard composting Isopod is Porcellionides pruinosus, but I want something less invasive (and more edible). I got a big transparent gasket tub, and will soon be drilling the sides for ventilation. Will hot glue keep aluminum window screen in place?
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it should . if not try silicone. keep in mind though they like it dark.
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I’ll give ‘em plenty of cover. If that’s not enough, I do know where to find opaque gasket tubs.
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My Kwai Muk tree is blooming. Didn’t expect it, that tree is barely taller than me. And I got a bloom from my white Zephyranthes.
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A few weeks into this, and I’ve been sucked into the bug hobby. With the success of my first terrarium, I’ve set up three more, have gotten several new species, and am plotting to get more later in the year. I got my Halloween Hisser nymphs into the big tub (where I had placed many Bumblebee & Rusty Red Millipedes a few weeks ago). I also added springtails, Orange Nosy Pillbugs, and Buffalo Worm Beetles. Unfortunately, something hitchhiked grain mites into the tub, and they’re currently infesting the millipedes & isopods to a concerning degree. I hope the Springtails outcompete them soon, or the animals could be in trouble. In the small tubs, other than Springtails, I’ve placed Clown Pillbugs and Commando Isopods (Alloniscus perconvexus). The girth on that second species! They’re so impressive, and outgoing. Every night they travel over the leaf litter, and turning on the lights doesn’t scatter them into hiding. I also got some Wissman Mealworms, and am hoping they turn into beetles soon so I can get a colony going. Next I’m hoping to get Question Mark Roaches, Gestro’s Pillbugs, Titan Isopods, Harvestmen and more.
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My worm bin in now facing its biggest challenge. I just started feeding it veggie scraps and old fruit, and it came alive with an infestation of Wassmannia… Electric Fire Ants! The bane of my yard, and a nasty little exotic pest. Given the damage it can inflict and the fact that it’s not even native, I’d like nothing more that for it to go locally extinct. A friend recommended I flood the bin. If that doesn’t work, then I’m trying the borax method. It’s insanely difficult to find control solutions for this pest online that don’t involve the use of poison (I’m unwilling to budge on this, I won’t use them). I hear some researchers recommend the use of Phorid Flies, but there’s no way to get them here.
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On a sad note, my Allium triquetrum order was destroyed by the USDA. On a brighter note, I got the metal for the raised beds! The hard part comes soon.
You all have likely heard this many times but why not use goats to clear the brush? Milk or meat would be good. Pheasants in my opinion grow much faster than chickens and are delicious. My experience with pheasants was very good. They can eat any grain eg. Sorghum and gain weight. My chickens did not like sorghum and did not do well on it. Chickens are great for eggs everyday. Qual are also very delicious.
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have you tried diatomaceous earth for the ants? it cuts thier exoskeleton and they die. quite the collection of insects. the ivory head cave roach can process meat scraps if you ever want to go that route. called blatticomposting. my roaches process food scraps alot quicker than my compost worms so im getting rid of the worms and turning their totes into more roach bins. my chicks and ducks will be really happy about that as they get the over stock of roaches every few months. dubia and lobster roaches breed like crazy.
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I was just going to recommend DE but you beat me to it Steve. I sprinkle it on the ones that scavenge my kitchen crumbs and they usually don’t come back for a few weeks. The powder is great for this, and the chip forms like optisorb/Napa floor dry that @Drew51 raves about have both quickly become staples in my pest control/ soil mix routine respectively.
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I don’t think I could get away with having a goat here in the suburbs, but I love the idea. My dad tells me goats can be finicky in the worst ways, ignoring guinea grass and going straight for the fruit trees and banana plants. Guinea grass in my main brush (though there’s plenty of velvet beans and other vigorous weeds as well).
I finished preparing a mixed use room, and have two big racks to keep a bug collection, ferments, mushrooms, seeds and other associated stuff (also bought a small freezer for seeds). Besides my stuff, theres the clothes hampers in the closet, a smaller rack for kitchen stuff, and a treadmill. It’s a bit of a mess right now, but I’ll be organizing it soon enough.
I dropped plenty of Diatomaceous Earth around the base of the racks ‘cause I have 3 different kinds of stinging ants finding their way into the house, and I can’t afford to let them near my bugs. I’m hesitant to use the DE around the yard ‘cause I have a thriving millipede population, and I don’t wanna hurt them or any other beneficial bugs, even if it gets rid of the bad ones.
Blatticomposting is the future!!! I’ll be trying it with the hissers, but I also wanna give the Ivory Heads a go.
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