u/TARDISinaTEACUP

So recently I got a (sort of) mystery can of “Paper-Wrapped” sardines with Lemon from Cost Plus World Market and I compared them in quality and flavor to Nuri. (Which is also wrapped in paper just to be confusing.) With the exception that the “Paper-Wrapped” can had actual lemon flavor. Now I’ve had Nuri “Special Lemon Edition” before but I didn’t post about it. I wanted to try it again.

It’s as good as you can expect from any can of sardines in olive oil from Nuri. The fish flakes apart, soft but not mushy, delectably oily rather than dry. It does have some spine bits for a spine enjoyer like myself. The oil is of bread-sopping plate-licking quality, particularly paired with my 2nd best balsamic vinegar and a Shallot & Tarragon seasoning mix.

It has a sizable piece of lemon at the bottom of the can… which, while obviously an actual piece of actual lemon, does not taste of anything but the sardine infused oil it’s sitting in.

There is no detectable lemon flavor, no matter how hard I try to look for it with every bite.

Well, at least the wrapper is pretty, and it was the same price as a regular can of Nuri at the cost plus world market, where I got it from.

I planted some loofah and birdhouse gourds at the beginning of August in containers in Central Texas because I was excited about finally having a backyard again. Then realized that maybe I made a boo-boo. Wrong soil in the planters, wrong spot in the yard, wrong time of year… but the foliage was nice so I let them do their thing, occasionally dusting with diatomaceous earth and sometimes insecticidal soap in the evenings. As well as giving them some weed-tea infused water occasionally. I was pleasantly excited by the flowers, encouraged with I saw double-pea sized proto-gourds on the birdhouse vines, and utterly shocked when this bulbous birdhouse baby suddenly popped up the other day. I am hopeful while also being ready for none of these to fully develop into the gourds of my dreams, but I definitely am going to try again.

EDIT: No they’re not! This is what happens when you over-water.

Disclaimer: I have made many mistakes here but I just moved here and decided to roll with it and get things I consider interesting into the ground.

Here is the questions I need answers for:

1. Are these dark spots insect eggs?
2. If so, do I need to get a pin/toothpick and squish/remove them individually? Or is there a treatment I can dust/spray on?

I planted bird house gourd and loofa seeds a month ago (08/01) I am in Central Texas (8b/9a). Some I put in ground and some in planters. The in-ground ones seem to have stalled but the ones in planters are taking off. The ones in planters have these dark raised spots irregularly placed on the underside of the leaves. When I search insect eggs for squash/cucumbers/cucurbits pests the descriptions don’t match what I’m seeing on my leaves.

Thoughts?

Thanks.