Terra, thanks for the heads up! I am going to be in Sapulpa tomorrow picking up Elbon Rye seed, so I will try to swing by and check.

Squash bugs keep getting me too. I neem and BT the crap out of my squash plants, and still they killed my first planting, and I have been picking them and their eggs off of planting #2. I swear the bugs ruin at least half of my crops, and I wish there was a safe organic method to stop it.

Jo

Shop vac is the best method for ridding of squash and leaffooted bugs, IMHO.

My garden is too far from the garage/barn to drag a shop vac unless I come up with a few hundred feet of extension cord, but I like the idea.

You can use a small, handheld portable vac to vacuum up the bugs, and it works best with the smaller nymphs who are 'young and innocent' and don't realize your goal in life is to kill them. Older bugs are smarter and often hide when they see or hear you and the vacuum coming.

If the greenhouses in question have a single layer of plastic, y'all should know they provide almost no protection from freezing cold air temperatures although they will keep frost off the plants. (If the plants are not cold hardy, though, the cold air will kill them even if the frost doesn't touch the leaves.) What they will do is heat up and give you the greenhouse effect, roasting your plants to death. The smaller the structure, the faster the plants roast and cook, even at 'high' temperatures that aren't even all that hot.

People I know who've tried those kinds of cheap greenhouses have described them as being virtually worthless in terms of protecting plants from cold temps.

Dawn

The place that has been promising me Elbon Rye seed all week (Farmers Feed in Sapulpa) now says they will special order me a bag due late next week. Still, at $15 for for a 54 pound bag, I'm not complaining.

So, instead of swinging by Atwoods (20 minute drive) I gave them a call. Their greenhouses are currently 20% off.

Will call them again next week to see if they have come down more. My DH Dave has been begging for a greenhouse for year round herbs, but I am way too much of a bragian shopper to buy without a STEEP discount.

Jo

I like the shop vac idea. If I had a 2 cycle leaf blower I would do some experimenting.

Larry

This has been the worst year for squash bugs, that I've ever seen. Even Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin is under attack. We may yet be shut out, in this area, for the year.

George

They are kinda rinky dinky shelves would'nt hold much more than flats of started plants.
Your right they probably would'nt be very good in deep winter. They will give me some sort of head start come spring though and thats better than naught. Also could build better exterior for it.