We are having some rare cold weather this weekend, then it will be back up into the 40′s again.

Stink Bugs are not new to us, but are much more prevalent this year than ever before. We have seen more than usual of them…right into January. In fact I’ve read reports stating that they are on the increase in other areas, and are causing damage to gardens and crops. They get their name from the odor they put out when crushed, so we do not get rid of them by stepping on them or crushing them in the house.

[image credit: wikipedia commons]

Since reviews on Stink Bug Traps are just so-so depending upon how much area you want to cover, I’ve been thinking of getting a handheld bug vacuum to use around the house. I am tired of running to get a container to catch the bugs in.

Most of all, in spite of not liking the cold that much, we could use a good hard freeze to get rid of the insects and because it’s the natural course of things in the winter.

My tulips are beginning to put out their buds, and when they flower I’ll be doing what I can to keep our cute but rascally squirrels from eating the flowers.

Deer are not a big problem for me unless they are making their way down to our lake during a drought, I believe I shared a story on this blog once before about how they came down from the woods on the way to the water and ate every one of my beautiful orange triple-flower Day Lilies. That was a major but rare disappointment, at least here on our property.  But deer can be real pests in many gardens…I have watched them grazing in yards and gardens very early in the morning when driving, while the homeowner/gardeners are still sleeping and unaware.

They are beautiful, but also do their part spreading Deer ticks that cause Lymes Disease, a disease that started here in NJ if memory serves me correctly?  Definitely somewhere nearby in the Northeast. It is quite common here, as are the ticks, I’ve found them on myself and my dog on a number of occasions.

“Deer Off”® is an organic/natural repellent that you can safely spray on your plants and in the gardening area to keep Deer away, after all that work, a deer repellent like this will save you from waking up to a great disappointment like the people that I just mentioned must have found.

havahart.com has a wonderful Havahart® Deer Off ® II Battery-Powered Sprayer that has a patented Dual Deterrent System™ formula that provides both scent and taste barriers to repel deer, rabbits, and squirrels…so not only will it take care of the Deer, but those squirrels I was telling you about that like to eat my tulip flowers.

But I had never taken time to think about the importance of the dark, night sky to all wildlife. Seems surprising since I am what many call a “night owl”. If you want to learn more about this, you can visit the Dark Sky Festival website, this is an annual event that takes place in Harmony, Florida, but even if you can’t attend the event, the site is interesting and will give you some things to think about that you may not have considered before.

Obviously a beautiful night sky in an area that doesn’t have a lot of artificial lighting is wonderful for viewing stars and planets, but “light pollution” can also have a negative impact on the natural order of things that God created. This event and some of the things at the site can help you learn to lessen the impact…in fact they give a good example of how they influenced change in their community.

Personally, I appreciate the fact that our rural area has little artificial lighting, and our night skies are quite beautiful, we love to lay out on the deck when there’s a meteor shower and watch for falling stars, and look at the constellations. I can’t imagine not being able to appreciate this part of God’s creation.

The 6th Annual Dark Sky Festival is next weekend, April 25th, at Harmony, Florida, and it is a bit out of reach for us this year, but it’s free, and I’d be there if I could…if any of you visiting happen to go, please tell us about it in a comment!

• Gardening in Containers – this post contained some thoughts and ideas for those who don’t have space for a garden, or just like the idea of gardening in containers.
• Keeping Deer Out of the Garden – another post with some ideas and a helpful article, we have only had trouble with deer during droughts when they try to make their way down to our lake.
• Tropical Climate Gardens – for those of you fortunate enough to be able to grow tropical gardens, this is another helpful post.
• Vegetable and Organic Gardening eBooks that you might find helpful.

Do you have any favorite gardening articles or posts to share?  Please let us know in a comment!

I have an extra-special special to tell you about at the end of this post, but first…Florida!  This is the place that many escape to during the Spring, right on through the summer, and into the Fall months.  But Spring is when most of the people from our part of the US head down to Florida.

For many, the first thing that comes to mind is theme parks, we’ve done them and enjoyed them, but if/when I go down again, it will be for a quieter visit…no rides this time, I’d love to take in some of the natural beauty of the area.

Here is a list of things that you can consider if you, like I, would like to take in some natural beauty in Kissimmee:

• The Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens
• Florida Eco-Safari – in 4700 acres of Florida wilderness, on horseback, through land and water, exploring beautiful natural ecosystems of Florida.  There are MANY
• World of Orchids – those beautiful flowers, so many varieties to explore!
• The Heritage Trail – because I love to learn more about the history of the places I visit, this would be something I wouldn’t want to miss, with many museums and things to see along the way.
• The Bok Tower Gardens – I first saw this historic landmark an old linen postcard when sorting through some things obtained at an estate sale, and found it intriguing.  It would be a beautiful spot to visit.
• A Glass Bottom Boat ride at Silver Springs
• Bird Watching…this is something that doesn’t cost anything, and is so much fun, the unique birds in the area are so beautiful! You can do this at places like Lakefront Park, Peghorn Nature Park and Trail, Bull Creek Wildlife Management Area, Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area and more beautiful locations.

There are so many things to do, that the next time we go to Florida, we’ll plan much better, our last trip was with children, so mostly amusement parks and rides, but this type of trip will take more planning….and the www.visitkissimmee.com website seems to have all that’s needed to discover places to visit and plan.

Oh, the special I mentioned, it’s a Sweepstakes…..Kissimmee is giving away three (3) weekend getaways (3 days/2 nights) for two (2); and two (2) week-long vacations for four (4). 2 more drawings will be held on or around 5/1/09 and 6/1/09 (the first one has passed). Visit the site, and enter the Sweepstakes today, then look around at all the beautiful pictures and things to do.

I looked again, and saw another robin, then another, then realized that every bird, about a dozen or more of them, on the lawn was a robin.  They were doing their very best to listen for those worms, but the ground is too cold and frozen yet to provide them with much to eat. Since it’s unusual to see so many at once, I can only think that they are migrating into the area.

Finally!  A sign of Spring…and this year, since we’ve been having the coldest winter in 25 years, give or take a year, I can’t wait!

Picture above from this link at Flickr

Living in New Jersey during this cold time of year, as the holidays end, and we look into a couple of months of cold weather before Spring, it is fun to dream of beautiful days at the Jersey Shore.  You may remember some of the posts I put up on this blog showed some plant life that we saw when we traveled down the Jersey coast stopping at various shore sites in the Spring of last year.  The sand dunes, like those pictured in Wildwood above are always covered with interesting plant life that can only survive in sand, mostly tall grasses.

These days my husband and I can take off on vacation alone, without the children, and they are wonderful, but sometimes we find ourselves missing the activities that we would fit into our vacations when we had young children….and back when we had young children we wondered what it would be like to be just the two of us.  We’re so happy to have had the opportunity to enjoy the best of both worlds.

When you are planning a vacation and want to enjoy the beauty of the shore, the wildlife, the sand dunes, the plant life…but have children that you want to entertain as well, then you will need to do a little planning. We have been to the Cape May and Wildwood Jersey shore areas at least a few times, and regret not visiting a place that I know our children would have loved, Morey’s Piers, with all of the park rides and boardwalk attractions. They are offering good holiday specials right now, in fact I’d check the link to Jersey Shore and Wildwood hotels fairly quickly because there is a good special going on right now.  Plan ahead while you can save up to 40% on season passes to their water parks.  Also, while you’re there, look at the many “drop down” menus along the top of the page for information about events and so much more in the area.

——

This is actually my first attempt at putting together a little video, what fun I had learning how to do this, it took time, and some of my pictures are just a little blurry, but I’m learning! You’ll see our Ruby Throated Hummingbird, a little Goldfinch (a rare treat here), of course sparrows, we have no shortage of them, and finally, a very rare treat, a Rose Breasted Grosbeak that spent a few days coming to the bird feeders during the Spring migration.

I’ve learned a new BIG word, that I may be an Ornithologist of sorts? Actually, Ornithology is a branch of zoology that involves the study of birds, a little more scientific than I am, I just love watching them and feeding them all year round.

I am in need of a new feeder, I miss the one I used to have that had metal posts for the birds to stand on. As of today, there are only 3 of the plastic posts left on the feeder you see pictured in the video, the squirrels have chewed off the rest. I also miss having a tray attached to the feeder to catch the seeds that fall, so that I have a nice collection of birds sitting around the tray eating, instead of out of site on the ground below, so I’m going to look right now for a feeder at birdfeeders.com.

Happy 4th, celebrate our Nation’s Independence.

It was a rare treat to have this visitor at our bird feeder today, very rare! But spring is in the air and we have had more uncommon visitors as the birds migrate, and also we live in a very wooded area of New Jersey. With all the development, it’s wonderful to live where a lake is in back of your house and a State Forest backs the country cabins and bungalows across the street. We captured this quickly, no time to worry about the screen.

Below is a picture my son captured later…there were 2 Grosbeaks that spent the whole afternoon feeding here. I imagine they are migrating, and according to what we read in one of our field guides, this is the time of year that they are most visible. So we’re appreciating them while they’re here.