I feel bad, but there are always a few sacrificial plants that I see being eaten by the slugs and let them stay, to be eaten! Poor things. I think they would be happy to know that they are sacrificing in the name of the group, wouldn't they?
I just took a look around outside, a real look around, instead of bolting from Point A to Point B with a task at hand, and boy are there a lot of weeds! We have family in town to help this month, this entire month, and I am looking forward to really getting the yard into shape!
I also just looked at my tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, again, really looked at them. And, they desperately need to go outside! They are huge! Soon, everything, soon!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Cat Poop
I was so worried about the slugs, but it seems that the cat poop in the garden beds is by far the worst threat to the new plants.
Today, not only was there another cat poop that had ruined a few onion starts, but there was a dead, gutted songbird on the front walkway, its entrails just right of it's head beside a long cat poop. Have I mentioned that our sweet, cuddly lap cat has become Defender of the Premises? She recently went outside and since has little interest in being inside with us. Apparently now she is making statements with wildlife. I am still trying to figure out how the entrails of this poor creature ended up next to the cat poop. Did the cat eat the bird's stomach and then poop it out? Or did it simply poop next to the dismembered bits? Seems odd that a cat would just poop on the concrete. Perhaps she was trying to make a statement, to warn other birds. This will happen to you too!
I am glad for the prospect of fewer rats and mice threatening to crawl into the old, cracked foundation, glad for the aggressive packs of squirrels and Stellar's Jays to back off from the hazelnuts and the peas. But I am not happy about the threat towards the local birdlife. Birds have enough problems. We were just starting to see some different birds coming around. Now I'm worried that they will all stay away. I will have to look into habitats we could create for them that they might take to with a ferocious cat around.
Today, not only was there another cat poop that had ruined a few onion starts, but there was a dead, gutted songbird on the front walkway, its entrails just right of it's head beside a long cat poop. Have I mentioned that our sweet, cuddly lap cat has become Defender of the Premises? She recently went outside and since has little interest in being inside with us. Apparently now she is making statements with wildlife. I am still trying to figure out how the entrails of this poor creature ended up next to the cat poop. Did the cat eat the bird's stomach and then poop it out? Or did it simply poop next to the dismembered bits? Seems odd that a cat would just poop on the concrete. Perhaps she was trying to make a statement, to warn other birds. This will happen to you too!
I am glad for the prospect of fewer rats and mice threatening to crawl into the old, cracked foundation, glad for the aggressive packs of squirrels and Stellar's Jays to back off from the hazelnuts and the peas. But I am not happy about the threat towards the local birdlife. Birds have enough problems. We were just starting to see some different birds coming around. Now I'm worried that they will all stay away. I will have to look into habitats we could create for them that they might take to with a ferocious cat around.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Soldier Fly Larvae
In digging up the beds some, I came upon some very, VERY big reddish-brown larvae. About the size of half of my thumb. Looked very Star Trek and very creepy, and because I found them in the beds where the cabbage was, I worried they were some kind of pest similar to the cabbage moth.
So I did some research. Turns out they are Soldier Fly larvae. Apparently harmless, often found where vegetable matter is decomposing. The soldier fly is a large wasp-like fly, but harmless to vegetation, animals and humans. Much relieved.
So I did some research. Turns out they are Soldier Fly larvae. Apparently harmless, often found where vegetable matter is decomposing. The soldier fly is a large wasp-like fly, but harmless to vegetation, animals and humans. Much relieved.
April 2010 and Plant Guilds
Early this month I direct seeded herbs (cilantro and dill), some shady wildflowers in pockets of the backyard, and beets out front. I also planted beans, entirely too early, and they did not come up - not sure what I was thinking. Well, I think I was reacting to the nice weather we had early in April. Lesson learned. I also sowed some seed potatoes. I wasn't planning to, but my friend K had some extra and I found a place for them. I hope they do well. I haven't been treating them very well since I know potatoes pretty much grow anywhere, under most conditions, but the other day I saw the squirrels messing around in that bed and now I'm worried.
I also transplanted the first lettuce and onions this month. We have a LOT of onions, and I kind of put them everywhere. I hope they do well, they seem so tiny and fragile, but I am banking on them repelling pests both for themselves and the other plants around them. I also spread some marigold seeds around the potatoes, and side dressed the garlic.
This weekend, mid-month, I transplanted the pumpkins, which seem to be doing well. They are BIG, and most sources say they do not do well started inside, especially when they get too mature. Ah, well. We shall see. I may plant one more pumpkin for good measure, but I'm already scared of how much they will take over out there.
I also bought strawberry starts and planted those. My only purchased start, but they take a long time apparently to start from seed and are finicky and I really wanted strawberries, for D's sake. So I bought some.
I also did a LOT of garden maintenance, beautifying, and planning of beds. The hardest thing for me is figuring out which plants will go WHERE, after considering:
good plant companions (and bad ones),
plant rotations (ie, brassicas and tomatoes not in the same spaces as previous year),
and this year, how to integrate more of a guild pattern than before.
Plant guilds are really fascinating to me and something I wish I knew more about. I do have a book, but it's one I have not gotten to. It's dense and my brain already hurts with the amount of plant knowledge added to it lately. It's like plant integration; instead of planting all your tomatoes in one spot, all your lettuce in another, and all your onions in yet another, it's making the integration of plants work for them (and you), by deterring pests, balancing elements in the soil, and using taller, tougher plants to shade more tender ones that need some shade.
This year, knowing more about certain plants and what they need I am trying to do some "guilding" as I plant. Interplanting lettuces and onions and marigolds is almost as far as I've gotten, but it's a start. It also helps ease the stress of having a finite number of each plant per space in a bed. If I interplant lettuce and onions, then I have that much more room for them, vegetables that we can use a lot of. I will see if this method serves me well this year, and of course report back here.
I also transplanted the first lettuce and onions this month. We have a LOT of onions, and I kind of put them everywhere. I hope they do well, they seem so tiny and fragile, but I am banking on them repelling pests both for themselves and the other plants around them. I also spread some marigold seeds around the potatoes, and side dressed the garlic.
This weekend, mid-month, I transplanted the pumpkins, which seem to be doing well. They are BIG, and most sources say they do not do well started inside, especially when they get too mature. Ah, well. We shall see. I may plant one more pumpkin for good measure, but I'm already scared of how much they will take over out there.
I also bought strawberry starts and planted those. My only purchased start, but they take a long time apparently to start from seed and are finicky and I really wanted strawberries, for D's sake. So I bought some.
I also did a LOT of garden maintenance, beautifying, and planning of beds. The hardest thing for me is figuring out which plants will go WHERE, after considering:
good plant companions (and bad ones),
plant rotations (ie, brassicas and tomatoes not in the same spaces as previous year),
and this year, how to integrate more of a guild pattern than before.
Plant guilds are really fascinating to me and something I wish I knew more about. I do have a book, but it's one I have not gotten to. It's dense and my brain already hurts with the amount of plant knowledge added to it lately. It's like plant integration; instead of planting all your tomatoes in one spot, all your lettuce in another, and all your onions in yet another, it's making the integration of plants work for them (and you), by deterring pests, balancing elements in the soil, and using taller, tougher plants to shade more tender ones that need some shade.
This year, knowing more about certain plants and what they need I am trying to do some "guilding" as I plant. Interplanting lettuces and onions and marigolds is almost as far as I've gotten, but it's a start. It also helps ease the stress of having a finite number of each plant per space in a bed. If I interplant lettuce and onions, then I have that much more room for them, vegetables that we can use a lot of. I will see if this method serves me well this year, and of course report back here.
March 2010
I am behind on updating here, so I will post a March and an April entry to get things up to speed. Contrary to popular advice, I started pumpkins indoors. I really want some pumpkins this year, so I am trying to get a head start.
I also planted peas outside, and started broccoli and cauliflower and the second batch of greens inside this month.
I am updating my garden calendar as I go so that next year I can be a bit more realistic. For instance I am NOT going to do 5 batches of greens to follow with succession planting. That is just way too hectic and too much trouble. I suppose some people do it, but they must have a super indoor system that doesn't require any bending, balancing, or guessing where their next start tray will fit.
I also planted peas outside, and started broccoli and cauliflower and the second batch of greens inside this month.
I am updating my garden calendar as I go so that next year I can be a bit more realistic. For instance I am NOT going to do 5 batches of greens to follow with succession planting. That is just way too hectic and too much trouble. I suppose some people do it, but they must have a super indoor system that doesn't require any bending, balancing, or guessing where their next start tray will fit.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Hedge
I was cutting the hedge today that divides our lot from our neighbors' lot. I hate the hedge. It's in poor shape, having not been attended to well over the years. It's straggly, with big pockets of dead wood in places. I maintain it only so that we can light through our southern windows and walk pleasantly through our side alleyway.
I have my dad's electric hedge clippers which are pretty scary, almost like a mini chainsaw. They make my arms and hands hurt, since you have to hold them at this 45 degree angle in order to "sweep" over the side of the hedge to really do a nice job. Plus, right now I have a sprained wrist, so that is an added handicap and cause for cursing during the job. There is a chain-link fence which the hedge has grown over, and as you are slicing away, you have to be sure not to hit the metal fence. At the same time, you want to get as close as possible since that is the dividing line between the properties.
Today, I got halfway through the job, my wrists and arms aching, when I hit the metal fence. So the blade was bent and there was no straightening it out, at least not today. The only option was to pick up the small, rusty, unsharpened manual hedge clippers and finish the job with those. Oh boy. So I did. And it got me thinking back to life before electric Makita hedge clippers. All those hedges in England! All that snipping by hand! All those hours, all those full time gardeners.
Lately I have been reading my good friend Priya's blog, The Plum Bean Project. She is a historical fiction writer, and her blog centers along the lines I was thinking today. Aside from being a fantastic blog, it has taken me back to imaging things we no longer have to think about. Like attending to all the hedges in England without electric hedge clippers. Which got me thinking about gardening in general throughout time. As a vegetable (food) gardener, I often think about how a) people don't grow their own food anymore, b) even if people do grow their own food, they do not know how to begin with seeds, opting to buy starts at the nursery and start there, or c) how people know little about actually growing the food they want to grow, finding out things via the internet, the backs of seed packages, books. Essentially, how we don't know anything about farming, soil, weather, etc.
But today I was thinking about the importance of tools, the fine art of topiary, how I know nothing at all, and how dependent we are on information and machines.
I have my dad's electric hedge clippers which are pretty scary, almost like a mini chainsaw. They make my arms and hands hurt, since you have to hold them at this 45 degree angle in order to "sweep" over the side of the hedge to really do a nice job. Plus, right now I have a sprained wrist, so that is an added handicap and cause for cursing during the job. There is a chain-link fence which the hedge has grown over, and as you are slicing away, you have to be sure not to hit the metal fence. At the same time, you want to get as close as possible since that is the dividing line between the properties.
Today, I got halfway through the job, my wrists and arms aching, when I hit the metal fence. So the blade was bent and there was no straightening it out, at least not today. The only option was to pick up the small, rusty, unsharpened manual hedge clippers and finish the job with those. Oh boy. So I did. And it got me thinking back to life before electric Makita hedge clippers. All those hedges in England! All that snipping by hand! All those hours, all those full time gardeners.
Lately I have been reading my good friend Priya's blog, The Plum Bean Project. She is a historical fiction writer, and her blog centers along the lines I was thinking today. Aside from being a fantastic blog, it has taken me back to imaging things we no longer have to think about. Like attending to all the hedges in England without electric hedge clippers. Which got me thinking about gardening in general throughout time. As a vegetable (food) gardener, I often think about how a) people don't grow their own food anymore, b) even if people do grow their own food, they do not know how to begin with seeds, opting to buy starts at the nursery and start there, or c) how people know little about actually growing the food they want to grow, finding out things via the internet, the backs of seed packages, books. Essentially, how we don't know anything about farming, soil, weather, etc.
But today I was thinking about the importance of tools, the fine art of topiary, how I know nothing at all, and how dependent we are on information and machines.
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