My beans usually get covered but they don't usually get really bad until just about the time we're through picking beans for the season. This year I've planted bush beans which are flowering now and pole beans which come later. I too would like to keep them under control. I usually end up pulling up the plants at the end of the season and burning them along with the larvae that ate all of the leaves. If I use a row cover how would the beans get pollinated? Iv'e only seen a few beetles so far and have hand picked them but like cucumber beetles they drop off the plant if you're not fast enough. I don't want to spray anything because I have 6 honey bee hives in the back yard. Do these beetles have any predators?

I have been following this thread with great interest since I'm a member of a community garden in Geoergia that is overrun with Mexican bean beetles. Inspired by your experience, we bought some Pediobius foveolaus which arrived July 3 as mummies, put into the garden July 4 (it was over 100 degrees for several days then, hope that didn'dt hurt). We've seen just a few new mummies since then, and have instructed fellow gardeners not to squish larvae since they could have wasp eggs inside. When anyone pulls up a devastated bean plant we pick off the MBB larvae and I'm currently saving them in jars in my house (only 3 are currently mummies,the rest we're watching for browning. Several have already molted into adults). So here's my questions: should I just return these mummies to the garden? Or are they delicate and should be held somewhere besides the wilds of a garden until they hatch out? When should we expect a hatch, 17 days or so from July 4? We're only hoping for a knockdown of a big MBB population, hope to start over next spring at the proper time. Any advice would be welcome!

SOunds like a grand evening Jo! Sharon, sending best wishes for Wolf's speedy recovery. I know you are taking wonderful care of him and your photos look just delish. Yesterday was Smokefest here, so we had a gracious plenty of all sorts of beast. I prepped pork shoulder, brisket, ribs, chicken and salmon and another friend who is a hunter and fisherman brought venison tenderloin, pheasant legs, a sea bass, and a bluefish. I dry rubbed the venison and pheasant and brined the bluefish and seabass. The salmon was also cured then dried before smoking as were the pork and beef. The vegetarian grill had peppers, corn, eggplant and vidalias. Other sides were quinoa salad with cranberries and pecans, spinach salad, cole slaw and pasta salad. Appys were taco dip, smoked salmon spread, Habanero Gold with cream cheese and crackers, chips & dip, etc Dessert was That D@mn Cake, Fruit in crust with cheesecake pie (Tracey Oh on the Pie thread) and an apple cake. It was all really good, but we did discover that there are not a lot of Bluefish fans AND home smoked salmon is far better than anything you can buy. Alexa

I find inspiration and ideas from many threads at the Cooking Forum, pudgybaby, and I hope you will too. Welcome! Here are a few recipes I make that everyone seems to like. PORK CACCIATORE 1 lb. boneless pork, cut in 1/2 inch cubes 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 stalk celery, finely chopped 1 carrot, shredded 1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced 1 (1 lb) can tomatoes, diced 1/3 cup dry red wine 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves 1/2 bay leaf Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add pork and cook pork over medium heat until brown on all sides. Remove and set aside. Add onions, garlic, celery and carrot to same skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add pork and remaining ingredients, stir well, cover, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf and serve over hot cooked pasta. (We like rotini or gemelli shapes best with this recipe. Unless you are a big fan of rosemary, you may want to start with less than the recipe calls for.) FRENCH ONION SOUP ��" serves 4 to 6 3 Tbs. butter 4 large sweet onions (about 1 1/2 pounds total), peeled and thinly sliced 1 tsp. sugar (optional, see note) 1 cup dry white wine 2 quarts beef broth 2 ribs celery with leaves, each rib cut in half Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 1/4 cup dry fino sherry 4 to 6 slices baguette, cut 1/2 inch thick, lightly toasted 1/4 cup coarsely grated Emmental, Gruyere, or other Swiss-type cheese Melt the butter in a 3 or 4 quart saucepan over low heat. Add the onions and sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly caramelized, a minimum of 30 minutes. (The longer the onions cook slowly, the richer the flavor of the soup.) Add the white wine and cook over medium-high heat until the wine reduces to about half, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, celery, salt and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially, and allow the soup to simmer until the onions are meltingly tender, about 40 minutes. Remove and discard the celery. Add the sherry and simmer soup for another 5 minutes. To serve, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Ladle the soup into individual ovenproof bowls. Top each with 1 slice of bread, sprinkle with 1 Tbs. cheese, and place the bowls on a cookie sheet. Heat in the center of the preheated oven just until the cheese melts and bubbles, 5 to 6 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and serve at once. Note: The tiny bit of sugar added to the onions helps caramelize them, but the onions themselves will caramelize if they’re sweet enough and if you’re patient enough. I never use it, just keep them cooking. I always use firm yellow onions. The large white onions don’t seem to get soft enough and vidalias become soft but have such a bland flavor when cooked. MOLASSES COOKIES ��" makes about 4 dozen 2 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp. ground allspice 1/8 tsp. ground cloves 1 cup sugar 3/4 cup butter, softened 1 egg 1/4 cup molasses 1 tsp. grated orange rind (optional but nice for a change) additional sugar In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients except sugar. Mix well. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses. Mix well. Add dry ingredients. Beat until smooth. Shape dough into 1 inch balls (you can chill dough for 1/2 hour to make it easier to roll) and roll in sugar. Place 2” apart on ungreased baking sheets. (I always use baking parchment paper on the cookie sheets.) Bake in preheated 375 oven for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are firm and the surface cracks. Cook on cookie sheets for 1 minute; then transfer to wire racks to cool thoroughly. Tip: I usually triple the dry ingredients, mix, and divide into three zip-lock bags. They’ll be fine stored in a cool dry place for months. Then when I want to make cookies, it only takes a few minutes to mix the other ingredients and stir in the mixture in the bag.