So far I haven't noticed much activity in the yard, but last year there were no fewer than 5 nests fairly close around the house. Last year I was stung 3 separate times, from the same nest, and always on the legs! I was mowing the lawn and pruning the front garden, and kept forgetting about this dumb nest right in middle of the front lawn (in a chipmunk hole). I've tried the onion, which didn't do much, but will have to try some urine next time. A spoonful of Benadryl taken right away is helpful. Yellow jackets are an aggressive wasp species, but I leave their nests alone if they are not in an obtrusive location. As long as you are calm, they don't bother you even if you are close to the nest.

I think it is great that you have apologized and I can see that you really mean well. Sadly, I have learned that is is almost impossible to apologize or smooth over hurt feelings on a forum since words mean so many different things to so many different people. NOT your fault, just the nature of the beast. Always some who will stir the pot. And yes, what people write often sounds WAY more harsh than they meant, and often gets taken out of context. Just have to refrain and let things die (which I know I am not doing in this case). Can always send a private note of apology if you think you've hurt someone's feelings. At least this has been my experience. I like to read and express myself in words too, very hard to do sometimes on a forum. Usually just quick, "Sorry, didn't mean to hurt feelings" has to suffice since any more wording ads fuel. Most folks here are pretty thick skinned and let things roll off their backs. They're not posting to say this because of the above principles, and I'm taking a bit of a risk myself by posting this. You won't see much of a follow up. Don't worry about it!! Eat drink and be merry. :)

A friend of mine gave me this recipe, and it made the best pot roast we've ever had. I just did a search and found it on-line, so I didn't even have to type it out! Lisa's Lazy Pot Roast from The Complete Meat Cookbook Ingredients: 1 tsp. dried thyme 1 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp. dried rosemary 1 Tbs. paprika 1 Tbs. Kosher salt 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper One 4 lb. boneless beef chuck roast or a beef brisket, trimmed of most fat 2 Tbs. vegetable oil 1/2 cup water or beef or chicken stock, or more if needed 5 cups thinly sliced onions (about 3 large) 6 chopped garlic cloves Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Preparation: For the flavor step, combine 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 tablespoon Kosher salt and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl. Rub the meat thoroughly with the mixture. You can cook the roast immediately, but it will taste better if it sits for an hour or two at room temperature or overnight in a zipper-lock bag, or well wrapped, in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large, heavy casserole or Dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat. Brown roast on all sides, about 7 minutes. Remove and set aside. Pour off any fat from the pan and deglaze the pan in water or stock, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon or spatula. Put the roast back in the pan, cover it with 5 cups thinly sliced onions and 6 chopped garlic cloves, cover and bake for 1 hour. Remove the cover, turn the roast over so that it is on top of the onions, and continue to cook, uncovered, for another hour, adding more liquid if needed. Stir the onions around after about 30 minutes so they can brown more evenly. Replace the cover and continue to cook for 1 hour more, or until the meat is fork tender; brisket will take a little longer than chuck. Remove the meat from the pot and let it rest, covered loosely with foil, while you prepare the sauce. (At this point, you may refrigerate the pot roast for later reheating. Refrigerate the cooking liquid separately. To serve later, remove any congealed fat from the cooking liquid and strain it before using it to reheat the meat gently.) To serve, strain and defat the sauce. Taste for salt and pepper. Cut the meat into thick slices or separate it into chunks. Spoon some sauce and onions over for serving. Serves: 6 Chef's Note: If you are in a hurry, you can eliminate the herb rub. In fact, if you are really in a hurry, do not bother with the browning. Just put the roast in a heavy casserole, smother it with the onions, and cook it as described above. You will be amazed at how good it is, and you family will think you have been slaving away at the stove all day.

Well, it seems early, but I guess they start early over there where you live so they can squeeze in a couple of extra generations per year. I guess I'll start seriously watching for them now because you and I are only a county apart. I haven't even seen squash bugs yet (not that I'm complaining). However, I've got the flu and barely have stepped foot in the garden since last week so it is possible that I have everything under the sun out there and will be in for a rude awakening when I finally have enough energy to spend a little time in the garden. If I had the issues you have with SVBs, I'd be tempted to take off a year from growing squash. That usually gives you at least a partially squash pest-free year the following year after the year off. Well, unless you have native cucurbits like we do. We have those stinky native buffalo gourds that seem to help sustain squash pests even when we aren't growing squash. One method I'm using this year to grow some C. pepo and maybe C. maximas is to use micromesh and Biothrips Proteknet netting over hoops that cover the plants. I used them both with brassicas this year and they worked really well, though some cabbage loopers got underneath the Biothrips Proteknet near the end of the cabbage plants' lives. I must know have had it secured to the ground 100% of the way, or they wouldn't have been able to get in. Here's where I found the Biothrips Proteknet in smaller sized pieces (as opposed to buying it in huge quantities from Johnny's Selected Seeds) and I want to add that their customer service was great and they shipped quickly: Protek Net @ Purple Tools Micromesh netting is available from many garden seed retailers like Territorial Seed and also can be found on Amazon. This was my first year to use them both and I liked them both for use with brassicas. Now we'll get to see how they do with summer squash and maybe some sort of winter squash that is not C. moschata. My future dream garden would have a hoop house covered with Proteknet within which I could grow squash and pumpkins. It would have to be a big hoophouse too because if I was going to go to all that trouble, I'd want a big hoophouse. And, finally, I don't know if I've said this before, but I'll say it now. I try to garden as organically as possible....always have and always will, but I am not 100% organic. If ever there were anything on this earth that would cause me to purchase and use a chemical pesticide, the squash pests would be it. And, I did use a chemical pesticide to kill grasshoppers the one year they were stripping my tomato plants down to bare stems a couple of summers ago and swore I'd never do it again, but just thinking of having to deal with squash bugs and SVBs makes me rethink that idea. If there even is a chemical pesticide that would control squash bugs and squash vine borers, it would be almost worth compromising my principles to not have to deal with those little brats. Good luck in your battle, Dawn