Asparagus Bug-a-sus

More Bugs.  {shiver}
These are on the other side of our yard. And there are bunches.

See the red guy in focus at the top right? And random out of focus bug-a-boos, here and there in the pic?

They're Asparagus Beetles.  We have two kinds.  I'll spare ya the pic of the other type, I'm sure you get the idea.



Sooooo, soap to the rescue  - again.


Here's Steve - picking adult beetles off, and putting them in a bucket of soapy water.

And then, we sprayed down the plants with our Fragrance Free Hand Wash - diluted with water.

Absolutely NOT what I had in mind for our hand cleanser when we made it.  BUT, I feel safe using it on our plants and in our yard.

Tired of hearing about our bug problems?  ME TOO.  


Of course, it is nice to know our soaps are multi-purposed.  Still, I'd rather NOT need it for this.

soapy rescue?

Please, oh please - let the soap save the day.

Our lupines are just beginning to blossom.  I was appreciating their beautiful start when I spotted the HORRIBLE infestation.

Aphids! And not just a few. More like colonies from near and wide having found nirvana on MY lupine.

Fair warning... this ain't for the weak.  All those tiny specs.
Are BUGS!  And every stem looks like that! What's a girl to do?




Here's what I'm going to do.

1.  Spray with a soapy solution with our Just Plain Clean (lavender blend).
2.  Call the county extension.
3. Shudder a bit, because it's just plain ICKY to look at all those bug-a-boos.

  I'll keep you posted.

For now, know that our hand wash is our first line of defense against bothersome pests.

It's biodegradable.  It's definitely soapy.

And... now our plants smell GREAT! Though, I'm (admittedly) aiming for a better outcome than lavender blend smelling lupine.

Shhhh... they're sleeping.

We treat our products well!  First naps, then a massage.

Anyone curious as to what’s REALLY going on?

Here’s a hint:

This is my 5-year-old – helping resolve the issue.

It turns out that after labeling, boxing, taking photos, posting them to Etsy – and actually having delivered a case to a store…  I finally noticed the recent batch of Just Foaming Clean™ has the WRONG front labels on the bottles. 

On one hand, we have good news.  Our labels DON’T come off easily.

The bad news? The labels DON’T come off easily.

We ripped off old labels, washed off all the sticky stuff.  Polished bottles and applied the appropriate labels.  Bet ya THAT won’t happen again!    Here they are  on Etsy, with the old/wrong label. The freshly applied ones say 8 fl oz, instead of our website.  Shhhhhh.  Don't tell anyone our little secret!