And I thought the mouse was bad. This is the damage one rabbit did overnight. It appears that only one of these plants has a chance to actually live through this distruction. The others have been eaten almost completely. I put the planter up on bricks, but it was too late. Wylie Wabbit outsmarted me. *sigh*
These are the little darlings I planted a few weeks ago. They are loving the cooler temperatures and get sun up to about 2 in the afternoon. In about a week I’ll plant more. Succession planting is what I’m learning here, so I’ll have a continual harvest, not all at once. And 2 different varieties to see which does better in my growing conditions. I’m hoping they both do well. These are Calabrese. They love being watered every morning and lots of fertilizer. So far only a mouse has found them, although they are prone to Cabbage loopers. I’m keeping a close eye on them, anxious to eat home grown crucifers.
This is my first attempt to grow broccoli and my inspiration and the cultivators were provided by Kathy who seeded, hardened and provided me with instructions for planting and care. I further read that broccoli are heavy feeders and that I should not plant them in ground that had within the previous 4 years hosted broccoli, tomatoes or any other heavy feeders and since this is my first year gardening and I had unused ground that I newly developed for gardening use, I only needed to amend and insure that it was as fertile as I could make it in the short time that I had available.
For amending and fertilizing I employed what had become my mainly used products; Happy Frog and Mesquite Valley Growers’ special all purpose blend and a generous amount of calcium from gypsum which also reduces the compaction of the soil. I also employed the cage that I made and used for my lettuce to protect the plants until they out grow it.
Thanks Kathy!
Tending the garden is more than just weeding, pruning, fertilizing, watering and harvesting. If this were all there was to it we organic gardeners could spend lots of time doing whatever else that keeps us from gardening, and when we would return to the garden there would be no unpleasant surprises.
Somehow the use of the word “unpleasant” and the word “surprise” together seems to be an oxymoron. To state unpleasantness in conjunction with “surprise” which implies an happy occurrence , could then lend to the interpretation of -an unpleasant happiness! This, like “military intelligence” or “jumbo shrimp” just isn’t doesn’t seem to be a fitting or proper description of what happened in my garden. Believe me, and perhaps someday you will experience in your garden this or another event that is nothing short of misery and believe me there is no happiness associated with it. Here is what happend. Read the rest of this entry »
It would be ideal, but I don’t have a compost pile. I have field mice and critters that would love a winter home like that, so my options are somewhat narrowed when it comes to adding organic matter back into my garden soil. What I have decided to do is to plant a cover crop. I’m not sure yet how often I’ll need to do this, my research isn’t complete yet regarding the required timing for home gardens, but field crops do it at least every 3 years, some more often than that. There are plenty of choices and each of them adds organic matter, replenishes soil nutrients, supresses weeds, breaks up pest and disease cycles, and encourages soil integrity. There is life in the soil folks, and it needs to be protected. You can use grass or legume cover crops to accomplish this.
Oats are a grass cover crop which absorb and store nutrients and protect bare ground with the dead mulch they leave behind….and they don’t require turning over. In a “low-till” garden they are ideal since you only turn the ground over if you desire or even just rake the residue before planting… in fact, they don’t even need to decompose before planting the next crop. How easy is that?
Winter Rye. Another grass cover crop that gardeners use because it’s hardy. Rye has a thick tangle of roots and tough stalks that adds lots of organic matter to the soil. About 3 weeks before you’re gonna plant, just turn it into the soil to decompose and release the nutrients for your crop to be.
Legumes are my favorite cover crops. They give the soil a nutrient recharge so very needed. Crimson Clover, Winter Peas, and Hairy Vetch are common legume cover crops.
Hairy Vetch is particulary attractive to me because it is a prolific nitrogen producer. It has even been shown to have a Nitrogen fertilizer replacement value of 80 pounds of Nitrogen per acre in some studies….which means less fertilizer needed….which means less money spent. Now we’re talking my language. I’ve read that it can be incorporated before flowering (to prevent reseeding) or after flowering…..your choice.
Any way you look at cover crops they nourish the garden and give the spring planting a stronger start.
Ok, Here are the bell peppers that I’ve experimentally saved from the Spring garden. Usually, when the heat hits and they wilt, drop their flowers and stop producing fruit, I pull them up. This time I cut them back in July to help them survive the heat and just waited. Now, August 18th, they are reviving and starting to grow, and flower and I even have the beginnings of a couple of bells forming. I’m thinking the Garden Guru was right. So I fertilized them and water them well every morning. They do wilt in the heat of the afternoon, but survive they did. So, let’s see what they do in the fall and how long they last, since this part is all new to me. Who knows, maybe I’ll try this with tomatoes next summer. All kinds of possibilities are opening up to me. On the left are orange bells and on the right are yellow bells. Surprisingly, the yellow ones seem to be hardier. Hmmm. Read the rest of this entry »
Here are the broccoli babies I’ve been raising since middle of July. They are now in 4″ peat pots and setting outside on my porch where they get about 2-3 hours of sun per day. They’ve been outside for 2 days now, and will be taking on more and more sun until they can take it for 6 hours. Then, I’ll put them right into the prepared garden bed that waits for them. I’m giving them half strength fish emulsion to keep them strong & healthy. Unless Itty can’t resist them, they should be ready to plant by the last week of August…..just around the corner…..
Hi, it’s Gardeners Wife again.
As I’ve previously stated, I am not into working in the garden like Husband (NOT AT ALL), but, I do enjoy the many lessons and confirmations that the garden has to teach. Read the rest of this entry »
Is this evidence of animals communicating? Somewhere I read that God’s message will be communicated, even the rocks cry out. Well this is likely not a message from God, but it sure will make you smile, check this out! The accompanying text is as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
It is certainly eye-catching, but I can’t help thinking that I really don’t want to fall in love with it. I do appreciate God’s creations, but there are some that I just would like to do without. This worm or actually caterpillar, was found on one of my tomato plants today, so I took a picture of it and attempted to match its mug shot on the Internet and maybe learn something about this UCI. Read the rest of this entry »
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