R U an RV Mutant too?

[Moonrover]

Wild greens? I've been known to chow down on dandelion salad. At least a mixture of greens that included dandelions. Matter of fact I just had a bumper crop harvest in my front yard a while back.

It's a northern thing ... you deprived southerners have no idea how good your yard can taste.

[okmunky]

I guess I missed out. I grew up in the city and all of our food came from a store. I tried vegetable gardening when I lived in Oklahoma. But between the bugs and the heat, my harvests were pretty skimpy. I've had better luck growing flowers -- and weeds, of course.

[CampDaven]

Originally Posted by Suspinz

Geesh! We never had them that bad. They're nasty to find in your dinner-to-be, but how much worse when there might not be much dinner because of them.

Oh yeah, fried rabbit tastes real good!

Rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, deer, all were fair "game", so to speak.

They are called army worms but are actually tent caterpillars. They are forecasted to make a mess this summer. http://bringmethenews.com/2014/01/11...-about-summer/

In MN it looked something like this:

[Suspinz]

Originally Posted by CampDaven

Rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, deer, all were fair "game", so to speak.

They are called army worms but are actually tent caterpillars. They are forecasted to make a mess this summer. http://bringmethenews.com/2014/01/11...-about-summer/

In MN it looked something like this:
Attachment 68810Attachment 68811

Good grief! No wonder they're called army worms! I thought it was just because of the color.

Our tent caterpillars look different from those. They have white hairs all over, as I remember, rather than being olive drab and smooth. Daddy used to make a torch on a long pole, douse it with kerosene, and burn the tents where he could get to them.

Lordy, the memories we're dredging up here! One would think we were old folks or something!

Cheers
Sue

[Suspinz]

Originally Posted by CampDaven

Rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, deer, all were fair "game", so to speak.

They are called army worms but are actually tent caterpillars. They are forecasted to make a mess this summer. http://bringmethenews.com/2014/01/11...-about-summer/

In MN it looked something like this:
Attachment 68810Attachment 68811

Oh, yes, our local tent caterpillars make a group tent rather than individual ones. They eat all the foliage enclosed in the webbing, relatively safe from birds.

[MartySQ]

Originally Posted by Suspinz

Oh, yes, our local tent caterpillars make a group tent rather than individual ones. They eat all the foliage enclosed in the webbing, relatively safe from birds.

There are 2 types of those... depending on which trees you find them in... and I believe they are called web worms... they won't kill a tree usually unless it is young and they completely engulf it a couple years in a row.... but they are so unsightly!
Army worms are different than corn ear worms too. Army worms are a pestilence and devour everything in their path. They are awful and when on the roads...dangerous! Think slippery....

[huntnski]

Originally Posted by Suspinz

Tim --

We can get between 500 and 900 meters (about 450-850 yards) from a single cocoon. That's how many football field lengths? It takes the worm 4 days to spin all that as it makes its cocoon from the outside to the inside.

I've read that it takes about 500 cocoons to make a man's shirt and 1,000 to make a woman's cheongsam. (Long skinny sleeveless dress.)

My friend Esther's first project was a bookmark, followed months later by a scarf. I have one full bobbin of shiny white thread and several bags of cocoons to show for my time and effort. Obviously I haven't yet invested enough of either on the follow-through!

Look at ehow.com for some short videos on the process. I googled "how long is the fiber from one silk cocoon."

Cheers!
Sue
PS: This is fiber-producing livestock that requires no fencing, no pasture, no barn, and very little space. I can do this!

Thanks Sue, one of those things that I had never put any thought to, until I run across someone I know, that actually does this.

Along the line of First's in my life, road down to meet a new neighbor the other day. He was a young and BIG man, not fat, big, and had a couple kids in the pre-teen age range. After visiting for a short while he pointed out that some of the kids running around his yards were his sister's kids, she ( the sister ) plays professional football for a team out of state. He added that despite his size, he actually was the runt in the family!

Professional football player, women have come a long way, I guess!

[okmunky]

Originally Posted by Suspinz

Oh, yes, our local tent caterpillars make a group tent rather than individual ones. They eat all the foliage enclosed in the webbing, relatively safe from birds.

We called those Bag Worms, Sue. And the cure was what your dad did. Light them on fire so you killed the worms before they killed the tree.

I was in Zion National Park in Late May, 2011 when there was a horrid outbreak of them. They were EVERYWHERE!! So gross! Anything left outside got "bagged" within hours. Even my tires were covered. The trees had something around the trunks to keep them from climbing up, so they overtook everything else. Did I mention how disgusting they were?

[Diwizi]

Gross. I would rather read about the woman professional football player than wiggly things....
Wayne where are you? Chuck, some wit please.

Sue, go back to silk, that at least was interesting outcome.... Fabric.... Have you ever painted on silk?



Diane is the original FTSFM........... (Fast Talking Sliding Finger Mutant, #64) and is retired, duh!

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by Diwizi

Gross. I would rather read about the woman professional football player than wiggly things....
Wayne where are you? Chuck, some wit please.

Sue, go back to silk, that at least was interesting outcome.... Fabric.... Have you ever painted on silk?



Diane is the original FTSFM........... (Fast Talking Sliding Finger Mutant, #64) and is retired, duh!

Velvet Elvis

[flaggship1]

Mutants prepare to meet two new mutated sorts.... Gary and Lisa - who are lurkers but more importantly - 2 great folks Annie and I met last year in Kerrville - then fully mutated and on their way to Florida for the winter... there is a long story there but the last I heard, they were still running around with their 5er in Norther CA and Oregon...

So today I get a PM - "checking in and don't know how to join" - which tells me when we were drinking margaritas - Gary wasn't listening to ramble about the mutants....

So watch for them - they go by
gwlaeb----》》》》

Ok Gary - the tough initiation drill
1 - tell us a few things your RV doesn't have but you don't miss.

2 - declare the Journey is the Destination!

You will be in and garner the mutant moniker of RVM87....

Somebody lay out some bacon - or margaritas to entice em outta the shadows. Come on Gary and Lisa - let's hear your story and mutant declarations - and get us off the topic of wiggly worms and such....

RVM2
Steve and Annie

[Suspinz]

Originally Posted by okmunky

We called those Bag Worms, Sue. And the cure was what your dad did. Light them on fire so you killed the worms before they killed the tree.



I was in Zion National Park in Late May, 2011 when there was a horrid outbreak of them. They were EVERYWHERE!! So gross! Anything left outside got "bagged" within hours. Even my tires were covered. The trees had something around the trunks to keep them from climbing up, so they overtook everything else. Did I mention how disgusting they were?

Another regional variation, looks like. Here, a bagworm is a pest of conifers, and makes an individual bag decorated/camouflaged with needles. The bag is an inverted cone about an inch long. Those are hand picked.

Aren't common names fun? In England, the Rose of Sharon is not a summer blooming shrub, but a ground cover. Totally different species. Latin names are more specific, but a lot less amusing. Cheese plant, ice plant, Shepherd's Purse, Shepherd's clock....


Suspinz: Dabbler in Many Things

[CampDaven]

Originally Posted by Suspinz

Another regional variation, looks like. Here, a bagworm is a pest of conifers, and makes an individual bag decorated/camouflaged with needles. The bag is an inverted cone about an inch long. Those are hand picked.

Aren't common names fun? In England, the Rose of Sharon is not a summer blooming shrub, but a ground cover. Totally different species. Latin names are more specific, but a lot less amusing. Cheese plant, ice plant, Shepherd's Purse, Shepherd's clock....


Suspinz: Dabbler in Many Things

Bagworms. Picked a few hundred of them in PA. Tried to kill my blue spruce trees. Failed!

[Suspinz]

Originally Posted by Diwizi

Gross. I would rather read about the woman professional football player than wiggly things....
Wayne where are you? Chuck, some wit please.

Sue, go back to silk, that at least was interesting outcome.... Fabric.... Have you ever painted on silk?



Diane is the original FTSFM........... (Fast Talking Sliding Finger Mutant, #64) and is retired, duh!

Oops! Looks like while I was sliding fingers around the so-called keyboard on the iPad, someone was calling for a change of subject. I did try, didn't I, with the names of some plants?

So back to silk and such. I've tried painting on silk and decided it wasn't my cuppa. It takes some special techniques and a whole 'nuther set of supplies. You know how that goes. However, I am a willing consumer of such beautiful fabrics in the form of blouses and floaty tops.

Something I do with silk fibers (not fabric) is to fuse them onto gourds and glassware and also to make silk paper. One of my gourds -- cut, beaded, silk-fused -- was in a museum display this last winter along with other fiber art from fellow guild members. Such a deal!


Suspinz: Dabbler in Many Things