Day 70

Dehydrating & Weevils

Plums

Jerky

Dish drainer overwhelm

The results are pretty pleasing, but the jerky was difficult to remove from the tray as it was stuck fast. It would have been better to remove it before it cooled down and dried completely. It was also difficult to wash the dregs of the meat off the tray. Finally, the trays take up lots of space on the sink drainer.

Weevil deterrrent

I have heard about the Biodynamic method of Peppering to deter pests, and  my friend Lynda said that she had tried crushed caterpillar paste to deter caterpillars on her Veges with some success. So I decided to try a similar technique with crushed weevils. We had been collecting the weevils in a jar, so there were quite a few. We added water to drown them and soften their shells.

Weevils soaked in water to drown them and soften them.

I thought about blending them in the blender but I was a bit put off by the thought of the dregs in my smoothies. I figured that the mortar and pestle would do as good a job and be easier to clean. I had too much water to make a paste, so it turned out more like a lumpy soup. I felt a bit cruel doing the crushing, but my poor olive trees are suffering so badly, I was determined to find a solution. I painted the soupy mixture onto the branches and leaves, making sure to cover all sides of the trees. Every now and then a chunk of beetle would be left on a branch, I felt satisfied that this would be so off putting for the weevils. Tonight I went out as usual to check the olive trees with my torch and jar in hand. Alas there were 2 weevils on the most poorly tree, seemingly un-deterred by the soup. Now for Plan B.