Valleyscape consulting

05/21/2026

05/18/2026

The honeybee are loving my new white clover pathways!

05/12/2026

05/11/2026

Even though it was a very frustrating Spring in our garden, with devastating freezes and drought, one can still find hope and beauty!

04/20/2026

Prepping for tonight in Fort Valley.....
Forecast low of 26, probably colder. Take precautions if you can!

04/17/2026

Here it is!!

04/14/2026

Heads up gardening friends! Check out my interview with the famous Noah Shenandoah, going live this Friday.

04/13/2026

Some very sad " before and after" shots from last week's hard freeze. I'm still in mourning.

04/07/2026

That's not a wasp.

The yellow-and-black insect hovering near your face right now is a hover fly. It has no stinger. It can't sting you. You flinched for nothing.

The hovering is the giveaway. A hover fly hangs motionless in the air like it's pinned there. Bees and wasps can't do this. They move forward, they land, they circle — they don't freeze mid-air. If it's holding perfectly still two feet from your face, it's a hover fly.

🌿 Now look at the eyes. They're enormous. They take up most of the head. Wasp eyes are small and set to the sides. Hover fly eyes dominate the face like goggles. That's your confirmation.

If you're still not sure, count the wings. Hover flies have two. Bees and wasps have four. You probably won't get that close. You won't need to. The hovering and the eyes are enough.

A single hover fly larva consumes hundreds of aphids before it pupates. The adults pollinate peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, and dozens of other crops. They don't build nests. They don't defend territory. They don't swarm your drink. They don't sting your kids.

🐝 A meaningful share of the yellow-and-black insects working your garden on any given afternoon are hover flies, not wasps. The ones that don't chase you when you walk past. The ones eating your aphid problem without being asked.

You swatted at a pollinator this morning. It was doing free pest control six inches from your tomatoes.

Next time something yellow holds still in the air — look at the eyes. If they're huge, leave it alone. It was already working for you. 🌱

04/07/2026

Just wanted to remember how beautiful the garden was before tonight's freeze.....