Invasion of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs

We have some overwintering house guests in our attic crawlspace and I'm on a full fledged killing spree.  Whenever I see one, I squish it violently under my shoe or flush it.  I'm an equal opportunity Brown Marmorated Stink Bug murderer. I'm on high alert because they eat over 400 different species of plants including my edibles and overwintering females will lay their 30 light green eggs this spring…in my garden.

A Brown Marmorated Stink Bug leaving footprints in my fresh paint. 

Last October, when I started painting our pergola, a large group or aggregate of Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs gathered on the South side of our house and all over the pergola.  There were hundreds of them, if not a thousand, frolicking in our back garden.  They crowded around our screened vents under the eaves and  skittered all over the pergola as I painted it a lovely shade of gray purple called Supernova that I've seen my talented friend, Anna, use.  And whenever I flicked a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug out of the way of my paint brush, it would fly in a big loop and smack me in the head like a big bully.  Then I'd curse.  We fell into a nice rhythm of flick, smack, curse as I painted the three coats.  A stranger suggested that I should have just painted over them to add texture to the project.  Can you imagine that?    

Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs looking for a way inside.

As a WSU Master Gardener volunteer I have answered countless questions about the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug and how to identify them from our beneficial native stink bugs.  In fact, we saw so many of them in the MG answer clinic that I wood-burned wooden spoons with them as a gag gift for a couple of fellow garden friends.  I don't find these spoons nearly as amusing since the bugs took up residence here.

The trick to identifying a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha hales, is to look at the shoulders, they should be smooth and the legs and antenna have dark and light bands.  Look at this WSU Extension Fact Sheet for more detailed identification information.  Once you have identified it as a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, smash or drown it.  No known pesticides are known to work effectively against them.  And hormone traps do work, but who wants to attract more of these bugs into their garden?  I sure don't. The bugs' natural predators are currently being studied to make sure they wouldn't decimate the populations of our beneficial native stink bugs.

Look before you wipe!

The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug first arrived in Pennsylvania from Asia in 1998.  It has spread through our country devouring apples, berries, peaches, tomatoes, grapes, and  soybeans and causing major financial harm to farms.  This year could be the year that they start to harm Washington's wine grapes.  These bugs can fly up to 40 miles in a day and catch rides with cars and trains.  Our local orchard, Joe's Place Farms, lost almost half of their Granny Smith Apple crop last summer to the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug.  

On an encouraging note, some orchardists have found some success using a product called Surround which is a kaolin clay powder that cherry growers in Hood River use.  You can order it online in quantities for a home gardener.  In the meantime, I'm going to smash or drown the Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs that I find, while carefully protecting the native stink bugs that eat other pests that attack my garden.  

Do you have problems with Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs in your garden? 

Some Bloomin' Moss

My garden is overflowing with moss blooms: in the lawn, on the roof, in the trees, on the brick chimney, and even in the flower beds.  Moss has definitely taken a lichen to my garden. 

To see more blooms in gardens from all over the world, please visit our lovely hostess, Carol at May Dream Gardens.  

A Rose and Homemade Breadcrumbs

My (sweet) Pirate bought me a gorgeous long stem pink rose at New Seasons for me to photograph.  He loves roses, especially fragrant old fashioned roses that you find at your great aunts house or in a vibrant cottage garden.  When we remodeled our old bungalow in SE Portland, I grew almost forty roses in our garden, just so My Pirate could have a jam jar of fragrant rose blooms on his bed stand throughout the growing season.  

Sadly, his favorite roses failed to thrive in our current garden.  So, I grow hardier bulletproof roses like wild roses, rugosa roses, and Rosa Glauca.  But, I like to imagine that when we retire My Pirate will spend his days puttering around in a rose garden filled with all of his favorites.

To reward My Pirate for his lovely gift, I made him some homemade breadcrumbs. He loves to add homemade breadcrumbs to a bowl of pasta or eggs.   If you haven't made your own breadcrumbs, you really need to try them.  They are a simple and delicious garnish.

My Homemade Breadcrumbs

inspired by Bon Appetite

 I love to sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of pastas, sautéed greens, roasted vegetables and salads.  Plus, breadcrumbs freeze really well, if you can keep them in the house that long.

• 4 slices of french or baguette bread, torn into 2 inch chunks
• 1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons of Olive, Canola, or Grapeseed Oil
• 1 clove of garlic, smashed
• large pinch of kosher salt
• tiny pinch of red cayenne powder (optional)

Place your torn up bread chunks, crusts and all,  in a small food processor and pulse them until they are coarse crumbs.  Don’t worry about making them uniform in size because the variation makes the crunch more satisfying.

Place your skillet over medium high heat, add the 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil and add the smashed garlic clove.  Remove the garlic clove once it has browned and infused the oil.  Add the bread crumbs and sauté until they turn toasty brown, up to five minutes.  Stay with them because deliciously browned can turn to blackened in the blink of an eye.  (I burned mine while letting the dog out.)  Add more oil if the breadcrumbs dry out too much.

Season the bread crumbs towards the end of cooking.  Then cool on a paper towel in a bowl.  Serve.  Store in the fridge for a day and then freeze.  I hide mine from My Pirate in an old Trader Joe’s spinach bag.
 

Looking Through a New Lens

“We must look at the lens through we see the world, as well as the world we see, and that the lens itself shapes how we interpret the world.” 
― Stephen R. Covey

I've been savoring our foggy mornings out in the garden while playing with my new macro lens.  My messy winter garden has never felt so large, strange, and alien to me.  Looking at the world through a new lens reminded me of a time that I taught a freshman trombone player how to look at the world a little differently.

Six years ago, this month, My Pirate and I drove cross country to Washington DC in a 24 foot yellow Penske truck loaded down with Evergreen Marching Band's parade equipment for the Presidential Inaugural Parade.  After a year of planning the band trip, we viewed our beautiful country under a blanket of snow in subzero temperatures and saw a meteorite explode on the deserted road in front of us.  I'll never forget the happy relief that washed over me when we arrived at the hotel and were greeted by the marching band students and parents.

Spider web 

I remember standing in the hotel lobby listening to our bus driver listing off his complaints and concerns  about the itinerary while a fourteen year old girl leaned back on a bench, loudly sobbing with a trombone clasped in her hands.  Finally, the bus driver took a breath and noticed her.  He turned back to me and asked, "Aren't you going to do something about her?"

"She's next in line.  I'll address your concerns with the band director," I replied.

And then I turned to the girl, stretched out my arms and she flung herself into them.  I listened as she sobbed out her awkward story of hurt feelings.  When she quieted down, I looked her in the eye and I told her about a game that I play when I'm having a difficult day.  I count three things that went well during the day and three things that I'm grateful for.  I gave her the assignment to do this exercise everyday of the trip and promised that I'd check in with her.  She sniffed and solemnly nodded.  

Castor Bean Plant seed head

The next evening, as I was walking the halls checking the noise level during quiet time, she waved me down, beaming.  She excitedly ticked off the things that went well and her gratitude list.  Then she proceeded to tell me three things that she liked about herself.  I gave her a high five and her chaperone pulled me aside.  With teary eyes, her chaperone wrapped her arms around me and whispered an emphatic, 'thank you!' in my ear.    

Throughout the trip, the freshman trombone student tracked me down and ticked off her long happy list with a big grin.  What we choose to focus on shapes us. 

Castor Bean Plant seed head

I used to hate winter in my garden because it was cold, wet, and slimy.  Now, I'm outside grinning with a camera capturing all the action.  Slimy seed heads covered in mist…I'm there!  

My Pirate recently told me that the garden is a huge mess and I offered to buy him a new camera.  The lens we look through shapes our experiences.  My camera lens has helped me gain an appreciation of my messy winter garden.

Has your camera changed how you perceive your world?

Garlic Chive seed head

garlic chive seed head

Bronze Fennel seed head

Spike Winterhazel leaf

Water droplet on a dead Spike Winterhazel leaf

Making Asian Dumplings Together

Ever since, My Pirate and I lunched at the new Taste of Sichuan in East Vancouver, I've become completely smitten with Asian dumplings.  To learn how to make my own, I turned to the public library and checked out Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More by Andrea Nguyen.  And I've been making some very ugly dumplings, but don't worry, they still taste delicious.

Pretty pork dumplings from Taste of Sichuan

My Kid asked My Pirate to make his (fantastic) Khoa Soi Curry Noodle Soup for our Christmas celebration. And while My Pirate was hard at work making his delicious soup, My Kid and his lovely girlfriend helped me assemble Har Gow Shrimp and Dungeness Crab Dumplings.  We sipped hot White Peony tea and enjoyed our time chatting and laughing with Mr. Barnaby, my 170 pound Great Dane, asleep on our feet.

My Kid arranging the dumplings in the steamer baskets lined with parchment paper.

I pushed chunks of wheat starch dough under an oiled bowl to press 3 inch rounds of dumpling wrappers out on my cutting board. And the kids filled the wrappers with the seafood mixture and beautifully pinched them together.  They made beautiful dumplings on their first try!   

Then we placed the layers of dumplings on top of a boiled pot of water for 9 minutes.  The dim sum style dumplings turned out gorgeously translucent and delicious. We made and ate 30+ dumplings before we enjoyed our main course.

I highly recommend reading Andrea Nguyen cook books and visiting her website, Asian Dumpling Tips.  Her website is a wonderful resource filled with tutorials and tips on making delicious dumplings.  She helps you succeed.   

We used her lovely translucent wheat start dough recipe on page 132 of her Asian Dumpling book.

Katie's beautifully pinched dumpling.

Har Gow Shrimp and Dungeness Crab Dumplings

adapted from Andrea Nguyen's book, Asian Dumplings

• 1/2 pound of shrimp, I used Trader Joe's Red Argentinian Shrimp 
• large handful of fresh dungeness crab meat
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon of bacon fat
• 2 tablespoons of minced shallot
• 2 tablespoons diced bamboo shoots
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• glug of Shaoxing rice wine

Chop the shrimp, bamboo shoots, and shallot and stir together.  Add the handful of crab meat and bacon fat.   

In a bowl, combine the cornstarch, sugar, white pepper and ride wine and stir together until dissolved.  Add more rice wine as needed.  Then pour over the shrimp mixture and stir together.  Wrap up and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 4 hours to marinate.  I left mine the fridge overnight.

Fill approximately 3 inch store bought wrappers with 1 to 2 teaspoons of filling, fold into a half moon shape, and pinch the edges together.  Use water to wet the seams if necessary.   Pinching them closed is the trick to a delicious dumpling.  Steam in a parchment paper lined steamer over boiling water for about 6 to 10 minutes. 

Serve with light soy sauce and chile sauce.  Enjoy!