End of Summer Doldrums

I’m starting this week with a short lesson, the meaning of doldrums. It’s a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression. The term is nautical, taken from sailors describing an equatorial region of the Atlantic. The shifting area features calms, sudden storms, and light, unpredictable winds. Synonyms are: inactive, quiet, slow, slack, sluggish, subdued, stagnant, crestfallen, glum, blue, despondent, woebegone, and bummed out.

Almost all these terms apply to me lately. I’ve skipped depressed and despondent, and I hope I’m not stagnant. They shift in and out of my moods daily. There are several causes: drought, heat, the influx of swarms of grasshoppers and box elder bugs, and at least one impatient raccoon.

I’ll start with the raccoon. This bugger couldn’t wait for the corn to mature. I had very few stalks come up to begin with, and those were late due to the cool, wet spring. Spring did not encourage early planting. So my fewer-than-thirty stalks that did grow tasseled late and are barely forming ears. Yet this bandit thinks it’s time for corn. In one night he tore down and chewed up ten of those stalks. I know he didn’t get any corn because there wasn’t any to be had! The live trap is now close to the remaining corn, but has remained unsprung. Cayenne pepper has been sprinkled on what’s left (and needs replacing after the bit of rain we had Friday night).

I can’t do anything about the other causes of my glumness. The drip system is working overtime — on all night, every night. The sprinkler is on all day, every day, and barely keeping the grass green. (My yard is too big.) I keep the shades pulled all day (so the house is gloomy). The two window A/Cs are on, with fans running, until late in the day. Then the windows are opened and the fans either blow heat out or pull in cool night air.

I have sprayed Tempo on the perimeter of the garden trying to deter grasshoppers and box elder bugs. I’ve sprinkled Sevin in the garden on the cruciferous plants, which stopped the flea beetles. The hoppers are just starting to move into the green of my yard, with only a few in the garden itself. They’ve been content (until now) to swarm in the hot, dry areas that I don’t water.

Grasshoppers: from the suborder Caelifera, are maybe the oldest living group of chewing herbivorous insects. They date from 250 million years ago. I read that at high density, and under certain conditions, they can change color. They can also change their behavior and will swarm. When that happens, they are called locusts (obviously not the 17-year kind). The best time to control them is when they are young. Of course, that’s when they are tiny, hard to see, yet eating constantly. There are chemicals to stop them, but they’re costly. If you can afford it, maybe you should use some of those right away in the spring. Go out looking for the tiny pests and get on top of them right away next year. (This is always next-year country.)

There’s a variety called Egyptian, which is 2-3” long, grey or brown, with black striping in their eyes. That one is extremely crop-damaging. (I’ve seen a lot of really big grey/brown hoppers, but I haven’t examined their eyes.)

Right now is the time female hoppers are looking to lay eggs. They prefer undisturbed soil. I’m looking at all the no-till and chem-fallow ground in our area. Overgrazed land also encourages their swarming. There’s plenty of really short grass in pastures in this county (and state). The drought hasn’t helped that land. Anyway, I’m thinking we’re hurting ourselves here!