bluehorizonfarm.com Blog

I just consulted my Fannie Farmer Cook boot to see if there were any actual recipes for crow. (There aren’t.) You might be wondering why I’m fantasizing about eating crow, and I can tell you that there’s a very good reason for it.

Conniving, cawing crows ate almost every single one of my Asian pears right off the trees. I had noticed that the crows had been hanging around the house all summer, but, since they seemed to be busying themselves mostly by eating things out in the pastures, I wasn’t alarmed by their presence. No scarecrows in my garden.

A few days ago, with no warning that I could discern, the crows swooped in and ate hundreds of nearly (about 85%) ripe Asian pears over the course of two days. Their plan of attack must have been brilliant, because although I watched the trees like a hawk once I saw the first sign of damage, I never witnessed a single fruit get eaten. The crows must have been watching my every move.

So, if I never saw them actually eating the fruit, how do I know it was the crows? The flock of crows (urban legend says that “murder of crows” is the correct term. Is it really?) perched in the pine trees adjacent to my orchard, and the peck marks in the few remaining pears told the tale.

Two Japanese Beetles Getting to Know Each Other Better

Japanese beetles seem to spend most of their time doing one of two things: eating or mating. Every time I see one, they’re either eating one of my favorite ornamental plants or busy creating the next generation of voracious Japanese beetles.

Japanese beetles, in all of their iridescent glory, are beautiful creatures. But when they descend on my landscaping in writhing, clustering masses, they lose their appeal.

I have done some research about organic Japanese beetle control, and have discovered that the most commonly employed Japanese beetle control method, pheromone traps, are actually a big no-no. The pheromones lure thousands beetles from miles around, and only the select few who were too dumb to find an actual mate get trapped. The other new beetles just settle right in at your house and start doing the things that they do best.