Spring

I feel more inspired to garden now that winter is almost over.

I took everything out of the garden beds. Except, the mint plant keeps popping up everywhere. That plant is nasty. It grows everywhere and it is hard to get rid of it.

Lesson about mint plants: plant them in a pot away from your garden beds. 

Anyway, I've planted some new things exclusively in pots. They include lots of basil (I love using it for cooking and for making pesto), oregano, rosemary, parsley, and a few pretty flowers. Flowers can make anyone's day brighter. I have moved the flower pots in front of the French doors in my room just for a little cheer.

I'm not going to do anything with the garden beds right now because we are supposed to start construction soon. 

So, that's the status of my urban garden. 

Update

My garden sucks right now.  I removed everything and I was about to start new until we decided to start an addition to the house.  So, I'm thinking the garden needs to wait until they are done.

At any rate, one of my garden beds still has cutworms, the other has earth worms (a good thing).  I need to decide what to do about the cutworms.

BTW, I still hate winter gardens. It was so not fulfilling at all, especially after the cutworm invasion.

Still Here

Horrible gardner lately.  Even having hubby water.  Feel a little guilty.  Will be back soon.

P.S. Summer gardening is way more exciting. 

Pests are Back

The cutworms are back. I'm really frustrated and wondering if I'm going to eventually cave and just get something to put in the soil. They are seriously the grossest looking bugs I've ever seen!!!


My lettuce is growing and looks great, but I should have had starters as back ups to replace the ones I harvest. Live and learn, live and learn.


By the way, don't leave your start trays out in the rain. They flood. I had to do some emergency transplanting.


By the way, don't wait too long to transplant. It's not good for your plants.

5 Things the Newbie Gardener Should Get

About six months of gardening experience logged now, and here is what I've come up with:

1.        Knee Pads

I first saw these knee pad contraptions that you strap to your knees on my elderly next door neighbor, who uses them frequently.  I picked up a pair for myself and have been pleased with the results.  No matter how young or fit you are, there is only so much crouching you can take. Knee pads enable you to kneel and do your gardening business with ease. 

2.       Hand Shovel

For planting, pulling weeds, and all other gardening pursuits.  I use my frequently.  I prefer the  non-rust kind for those thoughtless moments when I forget them outside and they get wet!

3.       Big Shovel

For big gardening overhaul, you need a big shovel.  This will help you turn over more dirt at a quicker pace, and everyone should own at least one.

4.       Gloves

Bugs ick me out, so if I have to touch them, I do it with gloves.  Invest in better quality ones so you don’t have to keep replacing them.  Mine are pig skin. 

5.       Sticks and Tomato Cages

I have lots of wooden sticks and tomato cages in my garden.  I use sticks to cordon off  new seedlings, prop up unruly plants, and so forth.  For the tomato cages, I use them to prop up plants (mint, spinach, tomatoes, beans, etc).  It is essential to keep plants from plopping over on the dirt, where slugs and the like enjoy burrowing into them and causing destruction. 

Trying Again

It’s round III in the garden. After two disastrous attempts at having a fall “crop” (I say crop, but my house isn’t big enough to have a real “crop”), I’m trying again.  I tried not to get discouraged the first couple rounds when pests destroyed all my new starters.  I didn’t even get too upset when I found hundreds of cutworms lounging in the soil beneath the ruins of my spinach and lettuce. 

I figure that the first couple years will be a learning curve anyway, right? 

So this weekend I finally got around to double-checking to make sure there weren’t any cutworms in the dirt I had carefully combed the weeks before—there weren’t.  I put dirt back in their appropriate places and transplanted starters (spinach and lettuce) and I’m waiting patiently.  I did go to Lowes to look for some pesticides “just in case” (remember I’m trying to be organic) but didn’t find any to my liking, so I’m back to holding my breath.  I also want to try putting a nail next to each starter to prevent cutworm destruction, but I haven’t gotten around to that either.  Such is the life of a gardener with kids…you gotta do things in stages.  Hoping the bastards don’t get the munchies before I get out there to do my preventative measures. 

I also planted some onion bulbs I bought from Lowes.  I haven’t been very successful growing root plants, so here is some new experience under my belt! 

The Plague of Cutworms

It was most definitely the cutworms that ate my garden. 

Here are some rec's people gave me (remember I'm trying to be mostly organic here):

- place a nail next to the plant to prevent cutworm from curling around plant and eating it.
- Diphel Dust
- BT by Safer
- get a chicken (where the hell would I get one by the beach??)

This is what I did:

- tore up garden and picked out cutworms (found around 100 of the bastards--still having nightmares of cutworm larva)
- waiting a few days
- searching dirt again
- apply Diphel Dust or BT
- transplant seedlings and place deep nail next to each one
- hold my breath and hope that the cutworms don't come back

In hindsight, I saw a caterpillar a while ago and didn't know what it was.  I should have picked it out then.