Middletown-Odessa Garden Club

06/13/2026

To register, go to https://delawarelibraries.libcal.com/event/16717958

06/12/2026

Join us Monday evening, June 15, at 6:30 PM for Crop Swap. We meet in the garden of the Corbit-Calloway Memorial Library in Odessa. Bring extra plants, plant-related items, or extra produce from you garden, or just yourself, and take turns selecting from what other attendees brought. It goes fast, so be there on-time.

06/06/2026

The brown shield-shaped bug on your tomato plants isn't always a pest. Two stink bugs that look almost identical share the same garden, and one of them is on your side.

The spined soldier bug is native and one of the most useful predators you have. It is brown, shield-shaped, and small, around a third of an inch. Look at its shoulders: they end in sharp points, like little spikes. It also has a dark streak across the tips of its folded wings. It hunts caterpillars, beetle grubs, and other soft-bodied pests, including the invasive stink bug it resembles.

The brown marmorated stink bug is the invasive one from Asia. It is a little larger, and its shoulders are smooth and rounded, with no spikes. The clearest giveaway is the antennae, banded with white. It feeds directly on tomatoes, peppers, beans, and tree fruit, and gathers on warm walls in fall.

The quick read: sharp pointed shoulders is the native predator, leave it. Smooth rounded shoulders with white antenna bands is the invasive pest worth removing.

The bug most people flick away is often the one eating the pests. The one quietly draining your tomatoes is the look-alike with the rounded shoulders.

06/03/2026

05/31/2026

Not every garden pest needs a chemical solution 🐞 A few ways I like to invite helpful insects in:
🌼 Plant flowers like alyssum, dill, yarrow, cilantro, and cosmos.
🐛 Let some “good bugs” do their work before spraying anything.
🌿 Grow a mix of herbs and flowers near vegetable beds.
💧 Avoid wiping out all insects, because predators need food too.
🪴 Keep the garden diverse so beneficial bugs have places to stay.
It won’t make pests disappear overnight, but it can help the garden find a better balance.

05/29/2026

Crop Swap is this coming Monday, June 1, at 6:30 PM in the parking lot of the Corbit-Calloway Memorial Library. All are welcome to participate. Bring plants or gardening-related items. We take turns picking from the items brought. You do not need to bring anything to participate, but if what you brought isn't taken, you need to take it home. It goes fast, so make sure you are there ontime!

05/26/2026

You fill it every week and wonder why only sparrows show up. Or why squirrels empty it by noon. Or why you found a dead bird under the window last spring.

The feeder isn't the problem. It's everything around it 🌿

🌱 The seed:

- Those cheap mixes with a lot of small reddish-brown grain are mostly milo — and most backyard birds won't eat it. They sort through, kick the filler to the ground, and it sits there growing mold. Black oil sunflower seed costs a little more per bag but almost nothing goes to waste. The per-bird cost actually drops

🐦 The cleaning:

- A feeder that hasn't been scrubbed in months is spreading disease through the same birds you're trying to help. A quick soak in diluted bleach every couple of weeks, dried fully before refilling — that's the entire routine. Not glamorous. Non-negotiable

🐿️ The squirrels:

- Squirrels are a setup problem, not a squirrel problem. A pole-mounted feeder with a metal cone baffle underneath and enough clearance from the nearest tree, fence, or roof edge makes it physically impossible for them to reach the seed. No special feeder needed

🪟 The window — the one most people never think about:

- A feeder at a medium distance from a window puts birds in the worst zone — far enough to build full flight speed, close enough to hit the glass. The fix is counterintuitive: move the feeder closer, not farther. A feeder mounted directly on the window or within arm's reach is the safest option — birds leaving from that distance can't build enough speed to injure themselves on impact. It also gives you the best view in the house

- If you can't mount it that close, move it well away from the window — far enough that birds leaving the feeder are flying parallel to the house, not toward it

🌿 And the escape route:

- A dense shrub or small tree nearby gives birds a place to bolt when a hawk passes. Without cover, many species won't risk feeding in the open. The shrub doesn't need to be close enough to give cats an ambush — a short flight distance away is enough

Same feeder. Same seed budget. Five adjustments and the whole setup works differently 🌿

05/24/2026

To register, go to https://delawarelibraries.libcal.com/event/16717958

05/24/2026

The Club holds a Crop Swap every other Monday at 6:30 PM at the Corbit-Calloway Memorial Library in Odessa. The dates for this year are:

June 1, 15 & 29
July 13 & 27
August 10 & 24
September 14 & 28