Found this article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. I thought it was interesting. Happy Reading!!!
Death by Mint Oil: Natural Pesticides
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July 2009
*ARACHNOLEPTIC FIT (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.
I was okay when I walked through the web but when I saw the big spider sitting on my shoulder out of the corner of my eye, that did it. Not the best way to get your heart rate up!
(*From the Washington Post Mensa Invitational which is a contest in which readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. I thought this was very appropriate!)
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I was intrigued with this article in the Wall Street Journal. I’m not sure I’ll pursue this direction in my own gardening but I’ve got a lot of weeds out there so maybe I can salvage a salad or two. 
Check it out: It’s Salad Days for Weeds
Well, if you remember back to June 14th I was talking about the mouse living in the staghorn. Ringo has been on watch and last night things came to a head. We heard him out in the back yard going nuts, and as my husband was getting up to check it out when a HUGE rat ran past the door with Ringo in hot pursuit. The rat got away so now we have no idea where it is. Hopefully, it didn’t run into the garage, although the cat will take of the problem if that’s where the rat ended up. However we resolve this, it’s not going to be pretty.
A little mouse I can live with, but rats are a whole new ball game. It’s my fault so no more bananas for the staghorns.
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I found these great tips from the University of California Cooperative Extension, Los Angeles County.
Keep vegetables picked often. Vegetables that aren’t harvested soon enough will produce a chemical that inhibits further blossoming. Check plants at least every other day during the summer.
If you have kept plants well-picked, but fruit set has stopped, suspect hot weather. Fruit set will begin again about 10-14 days after the temperature stays below 85-90 degrees.
Harvest fruits and vegetables as early in the day as possible, especially if they are not to be eaten that day or will be refrigerated. As soon as the sun hits the fruits or vegetables, the pulp temperature begins to rise. Each 5 degrees lower temperature when the fruit is picked will extend shelf-life for another 3 days. (I have not heard this before!) Tomatoes, in particular, develop more chilling injury (mushy texture and loss of flavor) when they are cooled after being harvested when warm.
Toward the end of the summer, pinch off the last blossoms of eggplants, peppers, melons, squashes and tomatoes. Plant energy will be directed towards fruit that has been set instead of setting more fruit that won’t ripen before fall cold weather.
Happy Picking!
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