ltilton, I bagged my apples in ziplocks last year, which was the first year they bore. I put the bags on shortly after petal fall. I did not cut any slit for the stems. A windstorm came up and a large percentage of the bags blew off, leaving the apples on the tree, so I had to rebag many of them. I only harvested about a half a grocery bag of apples for that first crop. This year I was very excited to see that some of my varieties had lots of blossoms. I sprayed them with Surround kaolin just as petal fall was ending to prevent PCs and let them grow a bit. Then when the apples were about 1/2 inch in diameter I bagged them, thinning to one apple every 8 inches or so. I bagged 600 of them on five trees. It took me about 3-4 days. Then about 60% of the apples fell off, apple and bag this time. The little apples in the fallen bags turned to brown, shriveled mush, so I don't know if there was any PC damage there. Over the summer more growing apples fell still in their bags, especially from the Redfree variety. I cut the little fallen apples open to see if there was any sign of insect damage, and there was not. The remaining apples (probably about 20% of what I had bagged) were large and wonderful, but it was disappointing to lose so many after thinning so heavily. Next year I think I will bag, but not thin nearly as much, especially on the Redfree. I aired out and saved the bags, since my deer fence cages kept them from blowing away. I had used the paper punch method to make a little hole in the zipper for the apple stem and snipped the bottom two corners of the bag. It is easiest to do this ahead of time in the house at a table in assembly line-style. Next year I might try putting the stem on one end of the zipper, as someone suggested, rather than in the center, on any new bags I use. The bags have been excellent at keeping out insects, birds, and squirrels. I would know if the squirrels had robbed any by finding empty, chewed bags in the area, and I haven't encountered that. I have several strands of electric fence around the entire garden, which has kept out the coons and groundhogs, finally after also trapping several in past years. There have been bears sighted in the area (including in our yard once or twice), but so far no problem with them. I hope they don't discover the apples, because I have heard the only way to keep them at bay is laying plywood with 2" nails sticking out of it under the trees. The deer cages and putting on the bags are enough of a pain. Not exactly the Garden of Eden any more. Northwoodswis

I just took a drive around and scouted out the local milkweed supply. It's not looking great. The butterfly weed has all gone to seed and is starting to turn yellow. There are some green leaves left on the common milkweed, but boy are they tough. I haven't had the chance to check the best location for swamp milkweed, so maybe things are better there. It looks like raising all of them would be difficult. For now, I brought in 13 eggs on the tropical milkweed leaves and put them in a sealed plastic container. If I can't find a good supply of food somewhere, I think I will leave it at that. Better to raise 13 and bring them to adulthood than to try to raise them all and have them all starve. But I will do my best. 42 would be an awful lot for me to raise! Liz

Wow! Boxes are flying!!! And of course, the host is late getting her's out! Sorry Annie! I'm hoping to get it in the mail by Wed at the latest! Will someone PLEASE let out a BIG YELL for me?!? I've lost my voice today, it started out just squeaky and raspy, now I am down to barely a whisper! I never realized how much I talk! LOL! AND, I've never had this before and never knew how straining it is to try and talk with no voice! I am trying some home remedies *grabbing the last tea back from Dan* Sorry Dan, but I am ill and need medicine! hehe Maybe we can get someone to go for a "tea" run! Sprouts!!! Does anyone else besides Linda have sprouts?!?! Should I have them already? We are still getting temps in the 20's some nights! We got 4" of snow last Tuesday morning, and by 2:00 it was almost 60 degrees out and it had all melted! They are calling for more of that icky stuff all week! Well, I'm gonna go get Zack ready for bed, he thinks this is just great that I can't talk and of course Jamie is out of town so there is no here to "enforce" what I whisper and he keeps saying "what? I can't hear you!" GRRRRR!! Did anyone get more tea yet!? Vic

Carol...thank you for your comment. Sadly I have to say that there are worse situations here sometimes when people want to go away on summer holiday. There are cases where old people have also been abandoned. Grandpas and grandmas with Alzheimers have been discovered sitting on a park bench with a sports bag full of clothing, left to whomever might find and look after them. Of course that makes the national news. I don't know how often that happens here in the islands but it has been seen on mainland Spain. However the quantity of dogs and cats abandoned at summer vacation time here is shocking. The animal refuges are already full of abandoned animals and at this time they are desperate for both space and money to feed them. It is nearly always the foreign residents who take it upon themselves to volunteer to work, clean cages, raise money through raffles and entertainment gigs in bars etc. to try and keep these refuges afloat. Often the local authorities turn a blind eye and don't help when it comes to looking after lost and abandoned animals. The Germans are very helpful and have a rescue system for abandoned dogs and after caring for them here and getting them back in shape, they fly them to new homes in Germany. It costs just over $30 per dog to fly them to Germany. But my British friends and acquaintances are always doing something to help, whether it be bringing in books and old clothes to sell at raffles, or as in the case of my friend Lynne, spending every Saturday morning for years washing blankets and cleaning potty trays at a local cat refuge. I do have to admire these folks for being so selfless. My small contribution is in taking in any stray or feral who wanders into our garden. Always room for one more at our house! :-) SharonCb