To control powdery mildew and other fungi, use a mix of powered milk in water. Spray both under and top sides of leaves. So far I have found this to be a very useful solution for fungus on tomato plants, chile plants, cucumber and squash plants! I use about a 50 percent milk solution. I have had no problems with the leaves burning. Leaves already infected generally still die back, but the newer leaves are staying healthy.

Alternative method:
To control powdery mildew and other similar fungi, use 1 tsp baking soda in 1 quart of water and spritz the leaves top and bottom. Spray leaves at first sign of the mildew. As the name implies, powdery mildew looks like a fine layer of white or a water spot–white halo spots on leaves. Crepe Myrtle gets powdery mildew in Texas quite often. I spray when the myrtles begin showing leaves in the spring. Snap peas and snow peas also have this problem when the temperature hits about 78. Again, you’ll have the best luck if you spray early.

Because Baking soda isn’t good for the soil, do not overspray. The baking soda changes the pH on the leaves and inhibits the growth of mildews.

I often put a tsp of soap in with the baking soda–the soap works as an insecticide for soft bodied bugs (aphids, some stages of thripes, etc). Use liquid hand soap–not dishwashing soap or detergents.

Tomatoes and other plants can also get a mildew although it is a different type. The leaves turn yellow from the bottom of the plant up. Little brown circles are often on the yellow leaves. The fruit will continue and be unharmed, but a spritz of the milk solution (or baking soda) can help. Note that some bugs such as spider mites will cause yellowing of the leaves from the bottom up.

Update Some recommendations advise using milk one week and baking soda the next. Thus far, I’m having better luck with the milk–it doesn’t burn the plants in 90 degree weather and seems to work better. The baking soda solution works also and has the added benefit of killing bugs when I put soap in the mix–however I have had some leaves burn pretty badly. I read that the milk solution works best against the mildew during sunny days because something in the ultraviolet gets the action started that kills the mildew. A similar milk solution with flour added is rumored to kill spider mites. I’m hoping that the milk alone might kill them also as spider mites are always trying to get a hold on my garden!

Update 2009:  Since I’m already using neem oil for spider mites on things like snap peas and tomatoes, I’m going to see how well it does to control the mildew without trying the milk.  It’s been a dry winter–that may help all on its own, but at any rate, the neem is supposed to be helpful against mold and mildew so we will see how it goes!

I’ve mentioned in my post on favorite authors that Carol O’Connell is one of my favorites. Her standalone “Judas Child” is a good place to start if you haven’t tried any of her books. Make sure you have plenty of time to read–you won’t put it down for sleep, food or a fire until you’re finished!

I just completed her latest Mallory novel–”Find Me.” Wow, what an excellent read. In short, I enjoyed all of the Mallory books in the series. The one previous to this one, “Winter House” made me wonder a little if O’Connell was ever going to answer the questions about Mallory’s childhood–clues had been strung out across the series of eight books. I don’t like to continue a series if I feel it has turned into a never-ending soap opera. Good news–in Find Me, she not only had Mallory chasing a serial killer she focused on Mallory’s fascinating past!

This book is an edge-of-your-seat read. They don’t get any better than this.

April is strawberry season in Texas and we always go to a self-pick farm and stock up. This year, in an ever-expanding effort to create delicious, simple strawberry concoctions, I’ve managed a nice little chocolate pudding pie with strawberry whipped topping.

You’ll need:

1 9-inch graham cracker pie shell
1 package of chocolate cook and serve pudding (3.4 oz)
heavy whipping cream
sweet strawberries
cocoa powder

Mix two tablespoons cocoa powder and the package of chocolate pudding in a saucepan. Cook according to directions on the package (2 cups of milk, stirring constantly.) I use a high quality cocoa addition to the packaged pudding to get a dark chocolate flavor–you can leave the extra cocoa out if you don’t like darker chocolates. I also wouldn’t recommend adding extra cocoa if you decide to substitute instand pudding in the recipe–the cocoa needs heat in order to dissolve properly.

When the chocolate pudding is ready, pour it in the pie shell and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Prepare the strawberry puree:

In blender puree enough strawberries to get 1 to 1.5 cups of puree. I don’t add any sugar because we pick the berries fully ripened and they don’t need it. With store berries, you may want to add a tablespoon or two of sugar. If you aren’t going to use the puree within a day, squirt a bit of lemon juice into the puree to help preserve color.

When the pie is set, whip 1 cup of heavy whipping cream with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until soft peaks have formed. About a quarter cup at a time, add one cup of the pureed stawberries. (You can add more, but be careful not to let the peaks get runny–add some, stir, then add more if the cream can handle more liquid without losing its shape.)

Cover the pie evenly with the strawberry topping and serve. To decorate, add slices of strawberries to individual plates and dust with cocoa powder.

Leave New York or Die…

In 1976, the best a black kid in Harlem can hope for is to work for the mob or pick up extra bucks as an informer. Rand’s choices are either a quick bullet or a long, tortured punishment with death hanging off the end. The only oblivion is the drugs; Rand can either sell them, take them or both. It is too late for Rand, but that won’t stop him from trying to save his baby brother, Bo. He has but one chance to get it right: Rand must find a place for Bo that is so desolate and removed from Harlem that no one will dare follow, not even for revenge.

Once there, all Bo has to do is find a way to stay alive.

Soul of the Desert was short-listed by the Crime Writers’ Association for the Debut Dagger Competition!

Adriel should have known that with a werewolf, it never ends with just one body. She would have gone to the police after witnessing Dolores’ death, but she’s not certain the killer she saw is actually responsible for the other murders. Besides, the police don’t believe in werewolves, and they aren’t going to believe she is a witch either so what can she tell them?

She keeps her eyes and ears open as she tries to help her latest client escape the clutches of a voodoo witch, but things just get worse when more bodies turn up. In fear of a murderer who knows he was seen, a voodoo witch out for revenge and a werewolf gone berserk, she is greatly relieved when she meets White Feather, an undercover cop. Unfortunately, he isn’t convinced she is innocent of all wrong-doing.

It’s going to take every spell she knows and a few she hasn’t tried to solve the murders and stay alive.

The secret to good scalloped potatoes is to cook them hot enough that the milk boils and soaks into the potatoes, taking some of the potato back into the milk. If you’ve ever tried making them and had the dish turn out tasting like potatoes sitting in milk, you probably didn’t cook the dish hot enough and/or you needed more cream or butter in the dish.

For creamiest potatoes, use cream. If you’re trying to diet (what are you eating scalloped potatoes for???) and want to cut back on fat, you can use 2 percent milk–but put in some half and half or 1/4 cup of butter. The fat helps the potatoes cook properly.

2 large idaho potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 large onion sliced
place in ovenproof casserole bowl that is large enough so that at least an inch remains free at the top–this dish is going to boil and you don’t want it to boil over!

Dissolve 2 tablespoons flour in a cup of milk. (This will help the mix thicken while cooking. You can substitute 1/4 cup mashed potatoes.)

Add the milk/flour and enough additional milk (2 percent is fine) such that the final layer of potatoes are still dry

Top with half and half or cream so that only a few tops of potatoes are sticking above the milk mixture.

If you don’t want to use half and half or cream, add in 2 to 4 tablespoons butter or margarine.

Cook until bubbly at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. A fine, browned layer should form across the top. You can stir the potatoes once after about 1/2 hour; but you don’t want them to cool. Do not cook covered.

You can add cheese to this dish (au gratin usually has cheese and a high content of cream) during cooking or after. Bacon, ham, grilled shrimp or even hamburger are also other nice additions.

Are you a published author wondering how many libraries carry your book(s)?

This link will tell you which libraries own what books.

If you’re looking for a book and your library doesn’t have it, ask your librarian about getting the book through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Most libraries charge only a small fee (about $2.50) to borrow the book you want from another library. The book will be delivered to your local library where you can check it out and return it.

The ILL program is good for fiction, non-fiction AND audio. Since audio is expensive, the program is particularly appreciated in this area!

It’s pretty easy to feel overlooked in life–especially if you’re a writer and you’ve ever submitted anything, anywhere. But we all feel it on occasion for various reasons. Miss Snark had a link to an amazing article this morning–Her comment was that it is her job to look for genius in the slush pile–and hope she’s able to spot it.

I guess we should all be on the lookout for genius more often and listen to the music of life around us.

Gene Weingarten and contributors did a masterful job with this experiment and article.

I love a good bookstore! There’s a couple of online places that have been particularly helpful
when it came to finding books.

http://www.auntagathas.com/ Great little bookstore specializing in new and used mysteries! Robin Agnew is a wonderful bookseller; helpful, friendly–don’t know what you’re looking for? Just ask her for a recommendation or check out the website. She has posted several reviews. Commentary by Robin can also be found weekly at: Hey, There’s Dead Guy… I think she does a post every Saturday and it’s always great fun!

www.seashellbooks.com is a lovely little used bookstore. Suzy was of great assistance when I couldn’t find certain books listed on their website. She went out of her way to make sure the books were in good condition! One of the other things I like about this store is that they will reduce shipping charges when you combine your book order–a lot of places charge the standard shipping fee per book even if you’re ordering more than one book!

Jessica Strider, a bookseller at the World’s Biggest Bookstore in Toronto, Canada has a blog to tell you about the lastest and greatest science fiction and fantasy at the store!

Bookdepository in the UK ships to many places free (including free shipping to the US). Huge selection of new books and a great place to find roadmaps of Europe. You can also get books that haven’t yet been published in the US from this site!

Better World Books has consistently provided me with good service. I’ve only bought used books there, but I think they also sell new. The have offered free shipping to US addresses in the past, but I don’t know if that was a temporary promotion or ongoing.

All you Texas gardeners, the first spider mites have been sighted! Time to get out the neem oil and spritz the underside of leaves before they web the plants and suck all the juice out of the leaves!

What are spider mites? Tiny little insects (not actual spiders–oh that they were!) These nasty beasts eat the sap of leaves and multiply very, very quickly, generally destroying one plant at a time in the garden. This year (in Austin) like last year, the variety that is in my garden is a red spider mite. The red spider mite looks like tiny red dot on the underside of snow peas, snap peas, tomato plants, raspberries, juniper trees, etc. If you see webbing near the top of a young juniper tree later in the season–where there is new growth, it’s usually spider mites. The juniper trees can generally handle the mites unless it’s a very dry year when the mites can kill the tree.

How to spot them? You can see them with the naked eye if you know what to look for, but they are difficult to see. They are generally near the bottom of the plants–lower leaves. The lower leaves may be starting to yellow. If there are eggs, this looks like a smattering of dust tucked under the leaves–very light brownish/beige dust. There may be what looks like a tiny web across the back of such leaves. The mites themselves can be beige, brown, red, or brown with a couple of spots (you won’t see any spots unless you’re using a magnifying glass). Some people say you can put a white sheet of paper under a leaf or two and tap on the leaf and see if mites fall off. I think the suckers cling to the leaves, so you’re better off looking for yellow spots and webbing on the leaves or using a magnifying glass to inspect the lower leaves.

What to do? Neem Oil works well against these pests, but it takes several applications.  Spray EARLY–I would advise you spray before you see the mites.  Neem oil works as a deterrent and with spider mites, you need all the help you can get.  If you see mites, spray directly–along with the whole plant.   If it is cool out (70s) I spray every 3 to 7 days.  You’ll need to repeat in 7 days and again in 7 days. I generally do a day, wait three, wait 4, then wait 7.  Neem oil can stunt photosynthesis for a day or so–when using on very young plants (3 to 8 leaves) don’t spray more than once a week. I noticed this most with cucumbers and melons. Rub off the spider mites or other pests inbetween spray cycles if you see them.

You can also try insecticidal soap (1 Tbp liquid hand soap to 1/2 gallon of water) which kills immediately, but does nothing against the eggs. 

Neem oil takes a few days to kill the mites and eggs.  In fact, it appears to be doing nothing for about the first 3 days, but take heart; it will work and in the end is longer lasting than chemical sprays–very few of which actually work against spider mites and thripes.

Neem oil can burn the plant if it is too hot out. I’ve found that I can spray as long as it is under 90. After that, you risk burning the leaves. I have sprayed in the evening and then rinsed the plants in the morning (if the day is going to be 90 plus, I’ve had damage that likely came from the neem oil up to three days after spraying). Rinsing is tedious, but the neem oil works a lot better against mites and thripes than anything I’ve tried so that is the method I’ll be trying this summer (2009).

You can look for an insecticide that is specifically for spider mites. Some of the broader, general sprays don’t work very well against them. Mites are hard to control–but if you start early, you’ll have a better garden!!!