Time Flies When Your Having Fun!

2015... Wow, looking forward to another great year!

One of the things I am really looking forward to this year is our garden! This will be the first year that we will not be going back and forth from the city to the county, so I can focus all my attention into the garden out here from start to finish. Yeahh!
  Now I have no green thumb at all... but if trying counted for anything, I would be set. I was pleasantly surprised when I moved all the plants I wanted to "save" from the harsh winter and some are actually still alive!

This is my stevia plant that my sister got for me when we went to the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Festival over the summer. Thank big sis!

This is our aloe plant that big sis gave to me from hers that was outgrowing it's container. 

Still alive too!

Our banana tree that Glenn has had for years and years, when winter rolls around, 

we cut it off and bring it in, and she just starts growing again.

Gynostemma Pentaphyllum that I cut and got it to grow in a bit of water.

I just transplanted it to some soil, keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to thrive.

I have some ginger, turmeric and moringa that may or may not come back... we shall see.

I have had some bug issues that Glenn warned me about from the get-go. I tried really hard not to bring in any bugs with the plants by transplanting them to brand new potting soil and washing off their roots and everything. But we have quite a few gnats hanging out around our plants.

This simple little project is helping to control the bug issue pretty well. All I needed was castor oil, petroleum jelly and a yellow piece of poster board. I had everything on hand.

I didn't measure but I would say I used approximately equal parts

 and mixed to a consistency like this. 

Then I smeared it around on my poster board. 

It worked immediately. 

I have made a few more and now the bugs are just about gone.

Does anybody know what kind of bugs these are? They are not white fly's, right? Is it just a gnat? If you know what I can do to prevent this issue all together, please let me know.