I fought the bear and the zucchini won.  In Montana a zucchini can whoop a bear’s behind!  From PopFi,

She saved her life with a summer squash.  More importantly, if you pelt a bear with vegetables, it will leave and you won’t have to shoot it on your back porch.  No need to grab a knife or hurl a butcher block, just grab some veggies and start chucking!  The woman did not need medical attention.

We went on vacation several years ago in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.  One damp morning we saw bear footprints on our front deck.  That was enough to give me a healthy respect for how close wild animals can easily get next to you.

Photo by La Grande Farmers Market via Flickr Creative Commons.

If it’s not mosquitoes or bedbugs, it’s something else that sucks the life out of you!  Except stink bugs are not dining on you, they’re just a nuisance.  We’ve been seeing that because of the reduction of pesticide use, stink bugs have exploded back into our psyche – and into our yards and houses.

We had a lot of comments from a Shak Yard article two years ago.  It seems stink bugs were a problem then too.

I remember seeing them as I was growing up, but never really thought they smelled bad.  Rumor has it that they don’t unless you squish them.  My solution to the problem?  Don’t squish them.  But there are other solutions, too.  From Home Turf War,

Lorigami writes that she has plans to deal with them.  Next year.

I guess the best solution for next year is to be extra vigilant with checking the undersides of leaves for their eggs, since they only breed outdoors. I went out of town a few times at the start of the season and I know that’s pretty much went everything went to hell. Maybe I’ll coat all the leaves in soap before I go next year!

We haven’t had to fight stink bugs so much where I live.  Just the black beetles and spiders.

Photo by jcoelho via flickr creative commons.

From The Painted House, A Ranch Original features a neighbor’s view of her neighbor’s back garden,

H/T Blonde Mom Blog.

I know I should be more fearful when storms blow in, but I never have been. Perhaps it’s because when I was but a wee lass, we had tornado activity in our area.  My Mom made all the children huddle in a closet, but she stood at the front door and watched the storm wreak havoc across the street from us.  (Like how I blame my Mom on my own shortcomings?!  Ha!)

To this day, if bad weather threatens I do prefer to be inside.  However, I want to know what’s going on outside even when I’m safe.

That’s why the lessons learned by What I Want My Kids to Know after the tree fell are very important.  You’ll have to read these lessons yourself when you click through, but here’s what happened,

It turns out there was a super cell in the area and hundreds of trees were down in a 2 mile radius of our house. They all eerily fell in exactly the same direction ours did. There were several old trees on our street but we happened to have a double lot and the tree fell in the lot and did damage to the house but not damage that required us to move out of the house. If any other tree would have fallen someone could have died and houses would have been ruined…

That must’ve been a monster storm if it took down a tree that size… it was no bradford pear for sure!

PS – Listen to the dogs when they whisper to you!

This is my kind of compost pile!!

Chicory is one of those words that when spoken, should be savored.  It’s a fun word.  Like paradox.  Ultimatum.  Bunion.

Therefore today’s Shakyard word is Chicory.  And Knapweed.  Because it’s a pretty awesome word, too.

From Jomegat’s web site,

As it turns out, this is Brown Knapweed (Centaurea jacea), and it is not native to North America. It was borrowed from Europe, and according to what I read about it, it is a highly aggressive invasive species. Maybe I should go pull it up tomorrow.

Chicory.  Knapweed.  Because it’s plain fun to say.

Of course in my book EVERY season is spider season – and not the spider tingle cool season of the superhero variety.  I’m talking creepy, crawly, bite-you-until-you-die spiders. My friend Christian recently encountered a brown recluse and here are the results.

I visited my doctor Tuesday after noticing a black spot on my right forearm that wasn’t a scab and would not come off. Over the weekend I moved some stuff around in the garage and mulched bushes. So, I immediately thought it was a brown recluse spider bite, and my doctor agreed.

If you suspect you’ve been bitten by a brown recluse spider (or any other poisonous spider), seek medical attention.  In many cases, they are treatable with antibiotics or anti-venom depending on the type of bite.  Depending on the pain and the emotional state, treatment could also be treated with warm compresses or other natural remedies.  This link discusses brown recluse bite treatment using basil oil and lavender oil.  Me? I’ll go to the doctor.

Today’s photo of the bite is from his Flickr page via Facebook.

During the Labor Day weekend, we invited company to our house for a pot-luck cookout.  That Saturday was perfect.  Temperatures were in the mid-70s, humidity was low, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  The worst part were the mosquitoes who seem to have set up their own private Alamo-type seige at our house.  I blame the house next door that sat empty for 5 years – along with a swimming pool filled with green water, toads, and other scary things.  Now that people live there, the mosquitoes have moved to our place to stalk our red veins.

Even with mosquitoes, the presence of hummingbirds had our guests oooh’ing and ahhh’ing.  We love watching the territorial males fighting over the nectar.  It’s also quite enjoyable seeing the birds splash in the bird bath.

I plan to expand the number of birds we attract in our yard by building a bird feeder wreath.  The Old Farmers Almanac has a how-to tutorial, but briefly here’s how you do it.

• Get a base for the wreath (you can make your own using grapevines or buy one from you local hobby store), and pick up some sunflower heads, herbs, tall grasses, and flowers with seed heads.
• Starting with the sunflower heads, attach using floral wire.
• Poke the other flowers (e.g., coneflowers, black-eyed Susans) in between.
• And according to the almanac, finish by putting in the herbs and grasses.

The Almanac assures that the birds will find this beautiful wreath.  I hope while they’re dining on the flower seeds, they’ll also take out a mosquito or a thousand.

Image by Farmers Almanac.

After you’ve trimmed your trees up, go back inside and relax for a few days – especially if there are heavy branches.  By keeping the branches out for several days, they’ll dry out thereby will be lighter to move when you dispose of them, mulch, or put them on the curb for city pick-up (if your city does this).

Happy September!