Guess what season it is

[Nictuku]

8. I wish I could be happy about it

I have seven fruit bearing olive trees, but the last 3 years I have been infested with this damn olive fruit fly. These damn flies lay their eggs in the olives, spoiling them.

I've tried spraying, but it didn't seem to work (and I really really hate using pesticides, even 'organic' types). Last year I trimmed the trees back so they didn't bear much fruit. This year, it has become clear the problem is still there. Every single olive has had fly eggs and subsequent larva. I'm sure the local olive growers hate me since I haven't been able to eradicate the problem.

What I am doing to try and beat them back is picking all the olives and sealing them in plastic and sending that off to the dump. Not the best solution, but I'm at my wits end.

I think what I need to do is too expensive, and I can't afford it. In order to get rid of these olive fruit flys, you have to spray when the flies emerge, and to know the right time to do that, you have to get these traps. I've priced them out, and they are around $75.00 each. 75 X 7, there is no way in hell I can afford that. I'm hanging on with my fingernails right about now as it is.

So, picking and sealing them in plastic is about all I can think of to deal with the problem. Damn bugs.