Our climate is changing.
Well, everyone’s climate is changing but our own is the only one I have personal knowledge of.
Two years ago we had a stink bug invasion for the first time. They had been around in the past – an occasional nuisance, nothing more, but the last 2 years we’ve been inundated with them. This time of year they’re looking for places to spend the winter. When I open a window they rain down on my head. I finally realized that the little yellow pinpricks on my tomatoes in the fall are caused by stink bugs. I set my coffee down and 2 seconds later there is a stink bug crawling around the rim. Luckily they’re easy to catch and after a brief, refreshing swim, get flushed.
I had tomato worms for the first time this summer. And the weeds are much worse lately. I attribute all of those problems to not having a decent frost during the winter. We haven’t seen snow in years. (Wait…. this is 2020. We’ll probably have a blizzard tonight.)
On the good news side, my hardier herbs survive all year. The frail basil doesn’t and the oregano and marjoram usually take a break in January, but the sage and parsley are great.
I just need to remember to cut them while it’s still daylight out.
The recipe, Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Parsley, has been updated, nutrition information added, and re-posted here: Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Parsley and Ham.
I have a sore thumb.
Poor, poor pitiful me.
We have brambles here. They grow very long branches very fast that, eventually, bend down to the ground, root, and start new shoots.
They could star in a horror movie, completely enveloping a house or woods or farm practically overnight.
This is where they were:
The photo is before trimming. If you look very closely you can see bits sticking up on top of the sumac and hanging down from the edges of the sumac just at the corner.
Those are brambles. They start in the middle of the sumac trees and grow both horizontally and vertically, winding their way around.
After cutting a path for my arms, I tried to cut them off as close to the ground as I could using the long-handled cutters. Then I pulled. Some of the brambles I pulled out (with great effort) were 30 or 40 feet long.
The thing about brambles is…. they’re brambles. They have thorns. Really thorny thorns. I would have one branch in my hand that was stuck in my glove. By the time I freed my glove it had also been stuck in my sleeve, my other glove, my pants, sock and back in the same glove, sometimes 3 or 4 places at the same time.
I was very careful but my hand slipped and a big thorn went into my thumb.
Such a silly thing but it’s really painful.
I’ve heard wine helps….
Last updated:
Today is 40mph wind gusts and white outs. And it’s only November 1.
I see that same thing often with the bugs and such. Several years ago now, we got down to 24 below here. Fahrenheit. We had very little bug activity that following summer and fall and also about half the weeds we usually have. Last year, we had a very mild winter and the weeds and bugs have been exhausting.
I like this recipe. Not too much parsley, which I don’t mind. It’s not that I don’t like it, but because it’s part of the cilantro family, if there’s too much, it overwhelms the dish for me.
I’m just sitting here freezing…
Brambles grow regardless of the weather. We had a bramble hedge in the Vendee which was fine as it produced a lot of berries and could be contained. I think it was planted deliberately. Here they are all wild and no berries. Just a menace to bare arms. I hate cilantro – love parsley. 😉
Maybe the stink bugs could go hang out in the brambles instead if your house and coffee…perfect winter spot for.them !!@
I’ll mention it too them…, Luckily they are slow moving to easy to dispatch. and they flip themselves on their back and can’t turn over. Silly things