Friday, January 20, 2012

Coffee and Pests.

This morning I am making sure I make time to have my mid morning coffee and write a blog post. It is Summer, the rain has gone, it is warm and there is SO much to do that some days I don't give myself any me time. Having a cup of coffee made in my machine is one of my treats. I usually only have one a day...just sometimes 2 - never late in the day unless I need to stay awake most of the night. I know exactly how I like my coffee, black but not too strong or should I say MADE with too well ( over ) roasted beans. I like a mellow roast full of flavour without that almost burnt taste many beans now have. Deciding which brand and strength to buy has become a real challenge. I have now started a list which I am rating out of 5 stars , so I can actually remember which to buy. When I pick one that's not so good it is a lot of cups to use it up. How do you decide?  Price ?  Fair trade grown? Taste?   I have decide all are important but taste is what it is really all about for me. ( and smell ) Having seen an in depth TV programme on the making  of instant coffee and also decaffeinated instant coffee I vowed never to drink another cup - that just can't be good for us. So if I can't have the real thing I will just drink water.( hot or cold, which I like. ) Any recommendations gratefully listened to.
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This morning my car is at the garage having a new lock fitted. Just before Christmas someone tried to pick the lock ( I think while in a carpark ) and so the only entry has been by automatic opener which is a bit risky if the battery fails, so a new lock unit had to be made to fit the keys. ( same key does the boot as well. )
 Just one of life's little inconveniences and extra expenses. I am very glad that either I disturbed the would be thief or he / she was foiled and didn't get in.
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 That was one pest. Another sort are these moths that have been getting into the unshelled walnuts stored in the shed. I got one of these  pantry moth traps. It has sticky surfaces and a strip of male moth pheromone. Wow is it effective!
In this photo I have laid it on it's side so you can see all the bodies inside. It is just a triangular cardboard shape. Below shows the outside.


It is good as it doesn't have any nasty chemicals, just sticky.( Not good for the male moths obviously )

 Today the kiwifruit orchard is being inspected by staff from the pack house working as a pest monitoring team. ( we could try and do it ourselves but haven't time. )They collected leaves ( so many per row etc ) and take them back to the pack house where they are inspected under a microscope for tiny first instar scale pests. They also while walking the rows in the orchard inspect clusters of fruit for leaf rollers or other pests, using a 10 Xs hand lens. ( very useful things 10 times lenses - I have one for doing close inspections of all sorts of things. )
 If the pest monitoring team find any scale or other pest in sufficient numbers they will inform us that we need to spray for that pest. It is a good system as you only use sprays if you really need them.
 Also this morning TD was here with a quad bike spreading a small round of fertilizer.

Meanwhile we are still fruit thinning. Progress is extremely slow and I am throwing 1000 fruit on the ground in some bays. That is still leaving more than a 1000 good fruit.I might take some photos today to show you how that looks.

Not one stitch of patchwork sewing has happened in the last week. That is so bad but most nights I am just too tired to be able to do that and either read or watch TV.( or fall asleep, doing so ). Never mind I am sure it will rain again and keep me inside.
 Thank you all for your comments...they give me a lift...and another human contact.

8 comments:

Laurie said...

Human contact here... guess what yours was the only blog that has accepted my comment for almost a week now ... great moth catcher must get some for wardrobes... being lockwood house it seems to attract moths and the little beggers get in somehow. Where did you obtain them ??
Hugs Laurie

Deb said...

Hi Ali, I am really particular about my coffee also and sound similar taste wise to you. I adore Hummingbird Coffee Beans. Their Oomph choice is lovely. Have a look at this website http://www.freshcoffee.co.nz/coffee
and if you can't find it up there, yell out I'll send you some.

molly said...

That cup of coffee looks so inviting!It's just me here alone from Monday to Friday now that a new semester has started, and making coffee for one hardly seems worth the bother, but if I don't, I find myself craving it later on in the morning....Addicted? Who me? There's a kick-you-awake element to coffee that tea just doesn't ......

Whee Gina said...

Hello. I'm in the USA. We got those moths too. They came out of the bird seed and infested the whole house and just about everything in the pantry. I had good luck with those traps, too. Gina

Jennifer said...

Coffee, yummmm....definitely, I buy mine by taste. We have a roaster in our town and I am buying direct from them, trying something different each time. Instant coffee is an invention of the devil, it's terrible stuff!

Joolz said...

My daughter had pantry moths, months back. She was finding the larvae crawling around, even on her ceiling! She was horrified! I found some pest strips similar to what you are using and they disappeared almost immediately and hasn't had them back since.

Joolz

Janice said...

Hi Ali. Where would we be without our yummy coffee. Taste is definitely the cruncher. I get one that is locally roasted. I buy a takeaway each morning and also buy their coffee to use in our machine at home on the weekend. I do find your stories about your kiwifruit so interesting. My mum grew up on an orchard (apples, pears, plums etc) but I know nothing about kiwifruit. Hopefully the worst of your hard work will be completed before too long.

Meggie said...

We use the pantry moth trap- the wretched little critters seem to be able to pierce cellophane and plastic with ease! My brother in NZ could not find them, so must tell him of yours.
I had some delicious coffee yesterday at a friends. It was from Aldi, their own brand, but of course, you dont have Aldi over there.