Garden Repair at the In-Laws' House

Wanted to finally post some more travel garden pics from our trip up north.  I built this garden 3 years ago at the in-laws house and it had fallen into problems.  I had originally used wooden stakes to keep the landscape timbers in place but those rotted and shifted the beds.  I used the same method of using plastic/metal tomato stakes and drilling holes at the corners that I did in my garden.  I also angled the green bean trellis differently in hopes that it would support the weight better.  Still has work to be done but it is better.

Before.  See how the front beds are starting to slope down.

Stakes were not my brightest idea.

Disassemble and level first while mounding the soil in the middle.

I work while my girl plays.  Lucky girl!

Beds are fixed. Now time for green bean trellis.

When I built these I did it with all right angles.   However, they liked to topple.

Now they have more angle on the sides.

Attack of the Killer...Everything!

I was once in the happy land of "look how awesome my little garden is growing organically" and I started thinking that I was either smart, lucky, or prepared.  That was until I returned home from a 10-day trip in June to discover that I was under serious attack by multiple pests.  My zucchini plants were almost dead, my beans had new holes in the leaves, and my okra started to appear that they were attracting unfriendly guests.  So for the last few weeks I have been neglecting this blog and focusing my time on identifying the culprits, finding ways to kill them, and try to prevent it in the future. 

What have I been battling you ask?  Well, let me start with the dread squash bugs that have decimated my zucchini plants. http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1208.html  These little guys are mean since they attack the stalk and kill the rest of the plant.  I resorted to Sevin so I am not organic this year after all, but I read these things spread quickly after they devour one plant.  I killed them once and then they returned from their eggs planted on the leaves but I think I have them this time.  Here is what they look like and what they did to my plants. 

Eaten from the inside out :(

The next pest has been the green shield bug attaking my green beans.  At first I was stuck by how pretty they were but they are eating my garden so they are a pest and must die.  Here is some info and pictures of them. http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=519  Sevin was once again the treatment and now they have been fully removed from the garden.

 

The last problem I am encountering is birds eating my tomatoes but I will save that for another post as I figure out what I am going to do about it. Happy gardening!

Family Garden Tour: Grandma Tish's House

One of my favorite parts of spending a more than a week with family recently was getting to learn from my Mom and Grandma about garden techniques.  I love go up to the farm and seeing what new things they have growing and how they do things since I am still a novice.  So I thought I would post the picture of the people who are my gardening inspiration. Part one is my Grandma Tish and Papo's house and gardens.  Yes, it always looks like this.  They have the best maintained place I have ever seen and I think Papo's love of organization might be where I get it from.  Enjoy.

06/01/11...Garden Photo Update

I wanted to make a quick photo post before the dry spell of next week.  Let's hope things don't get too thirsty since I accidentally drained the rain barrel while filling the watering can.  I guess that is what happens when you forgot that you started filling until hours later.

Me and my little gardener!

Wildflowers are really coming up.

Sunflowers are a go though one on the end snapped from probably a critter.

It is getting hard to eat all that lettuce.

Shin high by the first of June.

Starting to get flowers.

 

Ants vs. Chris: Advantage Ants

It was a beautiful day in La Vergne and I wanted to go out to do some mowing (well, I had to do it) so I headed out to the shed to grab the mower.  However, once there I was taken aback when I discovered that ants had come a setup what seemed like an entire colony in my shed.  Now, they weren't fire ants or carpenter ants so I wasn't afraid of them, but the quantity of little black ants I have heard can start causing problems so I knew something had to be done.

With the extra long break this weekend with sun forecasted all those days I made my plan and set to work trying to rid my shed and stuff from the clutches of those bugs. I started by emptying the shed so I could survey the problem and those guys were setting up camp everywhere.  Anything that was cardboard had to go but everything else was safe.  Next I laid a few Andro Ant Bait Stations along their paths and waited a few hours to see if they would work.  When I returned I was a little discouraged that not a single ant had wandered the half inch to the trap (the next day I noticed that the bait stations did work but slowly).

I really don't want pesticides on our property since little Adah loves to explore so I hopped on the internet to find non-toxic alternatives to commercial ant killers.  Sure enough Leah was right again that vinegar is good at everything.  Also, diluted rubbing alcohol is known to kill ants on contact.  Because of the sheer number of ants I loaded my little sprayer with water, vinegar, and rubbing alcohol and started the offensive.  It was successful but I knew this was going to take time and a few applications since new ants keep coming.  The next day I started with the alcohol spray and then a few hours later did the vinegar spray.

Now my shed is filled with dead ants and a very funky smell (I hate the smell of vinegar) so this gave me a good excuse to grab the hose and clean the shed (one of those plastic ones that you can just spray inside and out).  So, after allowing the shed to dry in the Tennessee heat I go out to put the stuff back in and discover more ants marching.  I am not worried though right now since I have the bait stations in place and there are a lot fewer ants.  I guess the moral of the story is that once the ants get a foothold, they are very persistent little creatures.

5/26/11...Garden Photo Update

Herbs looking good

Spinach is growing but still looks sad.

Strawberries for next year.

Okra and Peppers

Cool shot of the okra.

Summer squash thinned

Zucchini thinned

Corn

Name That Plant

I thought that it might be fun (and very helpful to me) if I periodically post images of a plant and see if anyone can properly identify it in the comments.  Sometimes I will know what it is but, in the case of today's picture, I have no idea.  Here it goes.

Garden Reflections and Ideas

My garden is growing but already am trying to find better ways to things that might make it better next year.  Out of all the plants that I am growing I am having the most problem growing okra right now.  That is funny to be since many people consider okra a type of weed.  I planted about three seeds per hole at the same time I planted the rest of the garden and given that they have a 21-day emergence period I have been waiting to see what happens.  So far out of the eight holes I planted only three plants have come up.  Now it isn't too late to plant more especially since they seem to like warm weather but I learned a slightly better way of starting those seeds after talking to my ever-wise mom.  Milk.  Yes, soak the seeds in milk for 12 hours then plant them because the shells are really hard.  Looks like I will soak and plant in the next few days.

The next thing I have decided is that I really don't like the "soil" I used.  I bought the Evergreen brand topsoil and Evergreen manure compost since they were the cheapest and I need so much but it isn't dirt at all.  It is finely-chipped mulch with some compost added.  We did use that in our front flower beds as mulch which looked beautiful but as a soil I think my plants are suffering.  Hopefully the earthworms that I added will break it down well for next year and I will get (or make) real compost to add.

I am happy I am doing the black fabric for weed control but I am astounded at how persistent grass can be as it sends out runners and tries to lift its way through the fabric.  We keep pulling the fabric up to pull the weeds so that we give the veggies a fighting chance.  I know that we will win this but it frustrating that I even have to battle.

Lastly, I am worried about pest.  One of my red bell pepper plants was shrived up because it was chewed off at the stalk as seen in the picture below.  Time for me to get those marigolds in hopes of keeping pests away.  Not sure what did it but I am hoping it wasn't those pesky cicadas.  Those are my random thoughts on garden with hopes of improving next year.

Poor bell pepper. Sorry little guy.

King of All Seed Catalogs

One thing I look forward to every year even before I could have a garden is seed catalogs.  While I have been thumbing through my mom's Burpee and Guerney catalogs for years and now receive them myself I requested an heirloom catalog on a whim.  Wow!  Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds company at rareseeds.com sent me the most magnificent catalog I have ever seen and opened my eyes to the varieties of vegetables that have been produced for hundreds of years but have disappeared during the GMO days of recent.  They have 55 varieties of eggplant.  I didn't even know there was 55 varieties of eggplant in existence!  If you check this catalog out you will not be disappointed.

The other thing that this catalog did was open my eyes to planting and starting your plants from seeds.  One of my co-workers bought a $4 heirloom tomato in February from Whole Foods and said it was the best tomato she had ever had.  Knowing it was a good tomato and heirloom I took some of the seeds from it and put them in a moist paper towel and put it in a baggie (thanks Kirvin for the idea).  After two weeks they had sprouted and I put them in little pots and watched them grow.  Those seeds from a store- bought tomato are now in my garden as well as my co-workers.  With this success I plan on harvesting my seeds and those from the farmers market to get an early start next year from plants I know and trust.

Sprouting: Fun, Nutritious, Super Easy

One of my co-workers had been talking how him and his wife have really gotten into sprouting.  He kept saying that it is basically rinsing twice a day turns a tiny bit of seeds into a jar-full of sprouts that are tasty, healthy, and mix in about anything.  Hmmm...with Adah not eating any veggies maybe something that she could see and do might make her more interested.  I ordered a sprouting sample pack from http://sproutpeople.org/, watched their YouTube videos on how to sprout, grabbed a jar that once held spaghetti sauce, and started sprouting.  Sure enough, it was easy and fun.  I soak the seeds for 8-12 hours, drain, and then rinse and drain them twice a day.  After four days we had sprouts.  While I like them on wraps and burgers, Adah hasn't warmed to them just yet.  However, she may grow on them:) 

Bean and Brassica Sampler packs from Sprout People

Jar and a wire mesh strainer that we had.

2 tablespoons of seeds filled that bag.