maggie leiterman

Jonathan Baldwerm wrote:I agree with what Tyler said.  I'm in a much cooler region, and also had black soldier flies show up in my compost piles, but mine disappeared months ago, toward the end of September.  You are lucky Florida allows them to be active outdoors so much of the year, I think they were only around for 3-4 months here.

Thank you, I was hoping that was the case! I will be anxious to see if they return next spring. I wonder if the farms that use them to decompose animal waste, such as the swine producers I read about may accommodate the Black Soldier Flies and larvae in an enclosed heated space during the cold weather?

I've been composting dog poop for over 14 years on my homestead, once it's about a year old I use it around the homestead on non-food plants, trees, and shrubs. I have lots of leaves, and other such material that I layer over the dog poop. I have had a wonderful happy relationship with black soldier fly larvae that showed up last spring, they been doing a wonderful fast job devouring dog poop this past year. I was feeling very blessed that they came to help compost but about a month ago I saw lots of long skinny huge ants crawling all around on the doggie poop compost pile. I dug around to look into the depth of the pile to see if my black soldier fly larvae were still there but I couldn't find any! I haven't seen anymore black soldier flies flying around and none of their larvae. I'm worried where did they go? There was a steady cycle during spring and summer and fall of the beautiful black soldier flies and their larvae; the ones that were in my compost were so gorgeous, black with white spotted wings. I miss them flying around hovering looking at me while I work in the yard.  Has anyone had this experience of huge ants showing up and their black soldier fly larvae and flies disappearing? Also, I have a completely separate pile for kitchen scraps, garden scraps and such, that pile is far away from the doggie poop compost, and that pile also had black soldier fly larvae but I haven't seen any black soldier fly larvae in that pile either; there are no ants in that compost pile. I'm hoping it's just the time of year maybe? Can anyone tell me?

Welcome Joe!

J Webb wrote:I am interested in adding daylily to my forest garden, and was wondering if there are species & varieties selected for improved edibility.

I am also looking for a reputable nursery/permie to source daylily from (I know they grow all over the US, but I'm not 100% sure how to identify).

I use lily buds in cooking, I have never raised them myself, I buy dried at my local Asian Food Market. I use them mostly to flavor vegetable stock for soups and then I eat them in the soup. Your post made me curious about growing them and I did some research for myself, I want to share it with you and others who may be interested, see below.

All daylilies are edible and all parts of daylilies  (Hernerocallis spp., Hemerocallidaceae) are edible. I hope you know daylilies are not related to the true lily which is extremely poisonous.

Here are several links you may find helpful.
https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/download/39856/PDF  
http://www.michaelandjudystouffer.com/judy/organic/daylilies.htm
https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/how-to-sustainably-harvest-daylilies-zbcz1307
https://www.pbs.org/food/kitchen-vignettes/daylily-fritters-edible-flowers/

Nicole Alderman wrote:I'm making an Apple Poll based on this thread: https://permies.com/t/60678/worst-Christmas-songs#609378. What is your least-favorite Christmas song? What one makes you cringe? Or are there a bunch you hate? Vote here!

[applepoll]

And, if you have songs not on the list, mention them and I (or another Gardener/Steward) will add it in for you!!!

I got an email inviting me to this forum, I read through the list and when I saw "Chipmunks Roasting On An Open Fire" I had to google it because never heard of it, after finding lyrics and reading I was appalled, joke or not, NOT funny to me. I hate that on more than any others. Even if some others on the list are considered cheezy by some or fuddy duddy, at least they are in a happy spirit of holidays.