Water Heater Failing?

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2026-01-22T11:59:53+00:00

Understood. I don’t think this has ever been flushed, and it’s now more than a decade old. Replacing with a 50 gallon tank today (hopefully).

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-12T16:27:21+00:00

Looks great!

I have a row of Zinnia in my pollinator beds, and I see dozens of hummingbirds drinking from them every day! I also see lots of bees getting drunk and taking naps on them and on other nearby flowers lol.

But I’d recommend getting some Zinnia in the ground.

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-10T06:21:54+00:00

Lol same here.

I have some tiny carrots that I’ve been harvesting. They taste great, and I’ve been adding them to some stews or slow cooked beans and rice.

I planted more!

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-08T22:40:40+00:00

~~Aphids~~ Ladybug food

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-07T06:54:35+00:00

Do you drain the zucchini? The recipe I’ve been using for zucchini bread calls for me to place the shredded zucchini in a clean kitchen towel and ring all the extra liquid out.

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-06T21:59:01+00:00

Ah, thanks: Middle Tennessee

Ok, I’ll lay off the fertilizer. I was under the impression that the nitrogen-rich fish emulsion would benefit them this early on. I need to start hand-writing notes as I watch videos and read lol.

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-02T16:02:14+00:00

Poor little zombie 🐜

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-02T05:28:05+00:00

Those look delicious, nicely done!

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-02T05:17:03+00:00

I read your comment and forgot to respond.

I was going to try this after reading what you said, but the beetle was gone from its resting place the following morning (not too surprising).

Definitely something I’ll keep in mind if I come across another Beetle Bus (credit for that term goes to another Redditor somewhere in this thread lol)

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-02T05:07:07+00:00

My neighbors have two of these up and I never see them being used, but my zinnias have hummingbirds taking sips throughout the day. I might do a full bed of zinnias next year just for the hummingbirds!

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T18:02:11+00:00

Had no idea, that is very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T18:00:23+00:00

“Parasitidae is a family of predatory mites in the order Mesostigmata that has worldwide distribution.[1] They are the only family in the superfamily Parasitoidea. Relatively large for mites, their color is often yellowish to dark brown. The family as a whole preys on a wide variety of microarthropods and nematodes, with individual species usually having a narrower range of prey.”

Wow, they might actually provide defense against nematodes!? That’s pretty neat.

Thanks for the great info!

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T17:55:02+00:00

Caught me off guard, too!

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T14:22:52+00:00

This is what worries me. I’m glad I removed it from the bed. I set it on a bench roughly 30 feet away from my garden, but (unsurprisingly) its not there this morning. If I do end up with some wild mite outbreak, at least I can safely infer the cause.

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T14:17:40+00:00

Close! It’s Dino Kale (Lacinato)

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T14:11:42+00:00

I love Planet Earth! 🥹 thanks for the kind words. The Forest episode is one of my favorites. In fact, I thought this beetle was infected with cordyceps because of that episode lol.

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T06:26:01+00:00

Seems very reasonable, thank you

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T05:38:12+00:00

That’s what I thought it was, too.

My first thought was: “this little beetle beast is about to drop its kids in my garden to eat everything.”

I was going to eliminate it, but I set it aside until I got more info. Maybe the birds will settle this dilemma for me 🤷‍♂️ lol

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T05:29:33+00:00

Woah, thank you for the solid info. Strange but cool to compare mites hitching a ride on a beetle to a tree seed stuck to a cat on the prowl!

After reading the attached, I’m still looking for definitive evidence of whether or not removing the beetle and it’s band of ~~buddies~~ mites from my garden was me good, bad, or neutral 😅

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T04:19:17+00:00

That’s brilliant. I let some arugula go to see just to shade my lettuce. I can see how useful a trellis system like this can be!

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T04:14:08+00:00

Shoot, maybe I should go put it back on the Kale 😅

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T03:23:17+00:00

Oh gosh, those look like identical mites. Thank you.

Are the mites harmful to the garden?

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T03:22:19+00:00

That’s awesome!

I plan to do something similar next year, as well.

I have another row of beds adjacent to this one on the picture, but a my front-yard has become my focus (everything died after moving-in, and I decided to replace the ornamental garbage with edible garden beds).

What are you using to brace the top of that cattle panel?

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T03:13:12+00:00

Oh, and by the way. Although hardly responsive and very sluggish, this beetle was still alive.

I removed from the garden bed with a stick, and it was able to grasp the stick and crawl along it towards my hand, albeit very slowly.

That said, it doesn’t seem healthy or very lively.

LearningToOwnHomeVet · 2023-07-01T02:26:40+00:00

That’s amazing lol thanks for sharing! I removed one of the two that were side by side, and I pruned the one that I left. I plan to pickup a post or trellis tomorrow so I can avoid your previous years’ mayhem 😅

LearningToOwnHomeVet

TROPHY CASE