Columbia County Beekeepers Monthly meeting has been cancelled for July since it would have been on July 4th.
The seedcorn maggot can be a real problem with bean, corn, and squash family seeds. By the time the gardener realizes that something is wrong and looks in the seed furrow, the damage is already done. The maggot and seed alike may have disappeared. That happened to me this year with a planting of winter squash. Recent experiments in the Midwest demonstrated that soil temperatures play a major role in the degree of damage. At soil temperatures below 64 degrees, seed destruction increased significantly. It will pay the gardener to wait until the soil is well-warmed to plant these crops or to warm the soil with clear plastic for 3-5 days before planting and to keep the plastic in place if conditions are overcast until the seeds start to emerge. A soil thermometer can be a useful investment.
Why are crows sometimes seen chasing owls during daylight hours? A roosting crow is quite vulnerable to night predation by owls, so crows certainly view them with a jaundiced eye. When an owl is flushed from its roost during daylight hours, the crows see it as a threat and gang up to scare it away. The owl is no good at aerial combat and so will flee the irritated crows. But one suspects the owl will have the last word.
Nitrogen deficiencies are the most common nutrient issue that I see in home gardens. Our 40+ inches of rain in the winter and spring washes any remaining N in the fall out of reach of your plants for next year. Can cover crops capture some of that nitrogen before it disappears? Without a doubt, the answer is yes. Legumes like clover both capture N and fix “new” N from the air. But much of the nitrogen from cover crops that are roto-tilled in the spring, may not be available to the garden crops until mid-summer. You have to supply enough “other” nitrogen in May and June in an available form to get vegetables and flowers off to a good start.
Some gardeners and farmers are experimenting with alyssum as a summer cover crop for certain transplanted vegetables, especially cabbage family plants like broccoli. The alyssum isn’t extremely competitive to transplants and it is very attractive to predatory insects (beneficials) that may help to control aphids and other insect pests. In addition, it may help to reduce weed growth.
Large ant mounds
In my years in the Extension Office, I got a lot of calls about the large ant mounds created by the western thatching ant. The mounds are created from plant debris consisting in our area mainly of grass stems, fir needles, and small twigs. In my experience, most of the mounds are constructed on the edge of a forest/hedgerow and pasture. Sometimes, they can be found deep in a forest but that is less common. The western thatching ant (Formica obscuripes) is responsible for all the work. The mounds start small, as all great construction must, but can rise to significant stature. We had one mound on the edge of our forest that was about five feet tall and at least four feet across. Then one year, it was completely abandoned. Another mound I am watching is smaller but at least seven years old.
The queen is kept deeply hidden in the structure. As the weather warms, the worker ants go into high gear, collecting juicy bits from any stray caterpillar or dead mouse in the vicinity. They are also aphid ranchers, tending “their” aphids as they suck the sugars from plants like Canada thistle and a variety of trees and shrubs. In turn, the ants protect the aphids from lady beetles and wasps that want to eat them. The ants eat very small amounts of fresh plant material.
The black bodied, red headed ants will bite when provoked. Their strong mandibles deliver a formic acid-laced bite that can be quite painful. But that response generally happens only if you mess with the nest. Otherwise, these clever ants are considered the garbage detail of the forest. They consume pests, recycle small carcasses, and capture termite queens in August. There are hints, though no definitive research, that thatching ants compete with carpenter ants for the same food sources and may reduce the carpenter ant colonies where they overlap with theirs. Thatching ants do not invade your house and chew wood like carpenter ants.
They are beneficial and unless they make the mistake of putting their nest in a very inappropriate place (like in the middle of your garden) they should be left alone. In parts of Europe, you are specifically asked not to kill the colonies since they are so important to forest health.
Many Extension
publications available online
Are you putting up salsa, saving seeds, or thinking about planting kiwis? OSU has a large number of its publications available for free download. Just go to https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu. Click on publications and start exploring.
Got food safety or food preservation questions?
Food Preservation recipes and fact sheets can be accessed online at: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/food/preservation.
Important notes
• Donate extra garden produce and/or money to the food bank, senior centers, or community meals programs. It always is greatly appreciated.
• The Extension Service offers its programs and materials equally to all people.
• The OSU Extension Office is fully open from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Resource information
Oregon State University Extension Service – Columbia County
505 N. Columbia River Highway
St. Helens, OR 97051
503-397-3462
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