Grasshopper Repellent and Drought

Watermelon flower

New birdbath in the bamboo shade

My trips to the garden are getting earlier or later.  It is just too hot to stay out there unless I soak myself down.  I have been trying to keep the melon bed hydrated and I have been using my experimental bug repellent.

This is a spray that uses chili powder, mint, and some of my home-made soap.  I dissolved some soap, put some mint in the blender then poured that into a jar with a healthy amount of pepper.  I let this mixture sit overnight and strain it and let it settle again.  Then I put it into a pump up sprayer and spray leaves and plants.  I worry that the grasshoppers will see it as some sort of odd ethnic sauce for our vegetables and fruits. It has seemed to help, but I wouldn't count on it running all the bugs off.  One really large grasshopper did seem disturbed when I sprayed it directly on him.

I have also added a small birdbath bowl.  I am hoping that more birds will come and eat more bugs. The birds can sit on the fence or bamboo to dry out after drinking or bathing.  They should appreciate it. I don't know how far they are traveling to find water now.  Maybe a grasshopper basted in chili pepper and mint would be like some crunchy weird "Dorito" flavor for the birds.

The last photo shows a spot at the bottom of our older property.  It is incredibly dry.  Leaves are withering on shrubs and trees.  If you look closely at the ash tree clump in the center of the opening, you can tell that they are showing heat stress.

Each time I have been outdoors an hour or

Yes, the grass is dry!

more I have heard fire truck sirens.  Those poor folks must be exhausted. I remember a time The Husband and I helped a neighbor fight fire.  There was a fire on property they owned.  It was across a creek and up a mountainside, without an access road.  I was exhausted before I ever got to the fire.  It was hot and dry, just like now and that was about as tired as I have ever been.  I know it was the most thirsty I ever got.  I drank water from a nasty looking stock pond and was glad to get it.

Happily, I did not suffer any awful aftereffects.  Please feel free to  join me in praying for rain.