Slimy Marauders!

Slugs just mowed my carrots down to the nub somewhere in the rain during the past few days.  Five juveniles caused some malicious mischief in my carrot pot.  What I did notice in respect to the slugs in that pot in my staging area of the patio, is that they only gnoshed on the contents of the shorter containers.  Carrots and thyme (Thymus vulgaris).  Neither the carrots or thyme was an easy germination, but both were thriving once they started.  It isn't crop failure, yet.  A single green top survived and the pots are presently re-seeded. Disappointing at best as I'd hoped the containers would slow them down, even just a little.  Since none were evident in the larger containers, I'll take that as a good sign to get the small ones up in the morning and spot check the larger containers just to be sure.

In the meantime, what to do to eradicate?

Organic Sluggo (iron phosphate, not the metaldehyde version) is the obvious and probably most effective choice, but even though its claimed to be mostly organic, Sluggo can result in iron poisoning for pets and children. 

Eggshells, are they fact or fiction? There seems to be some variable thoughts on the topic. Do they cut the slugs to bits or do they just not like crossing the coarse shell bits?  How fine does the shell need to be crushed--have seen dust to large pieces mentioned, but nothing definitive.

Coffee grounds are said to avert slugs for two reasons: they don't like caffeine and do not like to cross uncomfortable surfaces, much like the eggshell option.  I've just seen these slugs wander into my pot staging patio which is roughly pebbled cement with obviously no issue. Sans the caffeine, gritty sand and wood ashes are also said to be effective or the same reasons.

Diatomaceous earth. Another non-crossable barrier for plants as the edges are quite sharp.

Citrus halves - simply tuck into your garden, collect the slugs drawn to the citrus, and put them back.  Slugs must be collected and disposed of. Your choice how to accomplish the disposal.

Beer makes for a great drunk. Drowning drunk slugs.  They crawl in to the shallow dish or side tipped bottle and don't crawl out (or not too far if they do not drown first).

Nut shells are another slug barrier that they just aren't comfortable crossing.  Toss around your plants, checking daily to make sure the barrier has not had a path bumped through it.

Copper is supposed to incite a neurological shock upon the slug crossing the narrow strip and they turn back from whence they came.  Copper is pretty pricey these days, so not the most economical for a large (or even a small) garden.

Salt and foam.  Simply salt the hungry buggahs and watch them foam away to nothing.  Quite messy and you risk the excess salt harming your plants and your soil in the garden.  Great for driveways in theory, but not directly near vegetation.

Grab and Smash! Really. Just pick up, and cut in half or smash accordingly.

Living options: ducks, chickens (sometimes), and garter snakes.  When I go from wanting to remove small and slimy to larger and seems like slimy--the snake, who is not slimy, but is stereotyped to be slimy). I'd probably opt for ducks, had I the option to do so right now.  Hungry, hungry ducks!  

What do you do with all the slugs and bodies? Disposal options - salt the living in a container and dispose of properly.  Take them for a one way ride out to the woods and set them free (they will be back!).  Tag and release! Kidding! Maybe!

Back to serious, make sure to wash your hands thoroughly as slugs do carry parasites.

Alas, I'm fairly certain we need to draw in as many as possible to dispose of primarily to lessen the local population of the yard.  I think once the pots are in their permanent spots, we should decide on what we are going to sprinkle the area with.  For maintenance, perhaps just a shared beer in a bowl weekly to keep the population down.

What has worked best for you in ridding the slug population in and near your garden?

Like-Minded Gardening Age?

I am not a spring chicken, but I'm also not quite an old (old) hen, just yet.  Not to say I don't appreciate those old hens, but even at my age, I know exactly one  (1)  person who gardens (vegetable/flower).  She is my age.   I've gardened since I bought my first home early in my twenties.  I was always the odd duck out with that activity.  I'm pushing twice that age (oh heck, plus a few more years) and I'm still the only one.

There are those who do some landscaping, throw a colour pot out here and there, but nobody really gardens.  I have worked in technology for eons, so it is nice to go to the old standby, the Internet, and be able to take a peek at other folks gardens.  I know I am not alone and I apparently just don't know people who garden.  I imagine I will have to live with that and be content, seeking some camaraderie in like-minded friends to be made, well--across the country and globe.

I find it interesting with the recent years' economy in the US that there are many younger people getting into gardening.  Fire escapes, patios, a single raised bed box in a corner of a yard.  I'm seeing that online.  I think it's fabulous. 

I can't attribute the following to any one person as I've seen it quoted and heard it numerous times from different individuals, but if a child grows it, they will eat it. I have seen that to be true.  Even if they don't "like" something, they will try and try again, especially when they've helped grow it or grown it themselves.  Eventually, some vegetable will be pleasing to their palate, and then it's on!

True dat.

So why aren't there more vegetable gardeners! Especially parent gardeners. One simple pot can go a long ways for a child's imagination and future healthy eating habits.

But back on topic with a curious question. , ,  I realize the collective "we" of the Internet is inclusive both the very young to the very old, and everyone in between.  So what is the average age of gardeners (all kinds) in your circle?

Yes, that is a beet.  I have picked so many acres of beets over those young years that I really don't care for them, but find many other vegetables more than sufficiently palatable. ;)

Container Colour and Nasties

Container colour seems to have an informal science behind it. Dark is good, dark is bad, light is good (have never read light is bad), and so it goes on about how container colour can impact the productivity of our container plants.

My container garden is large. I am also trying to keep it to as close to organically certifiable as possible (which has likely turned me certifiable in moments). I cannot escape the use of nursery trade pots. Budget disallows my preference for large terra cotta pots or even fiberglass wannabes. Did I mention the terra cotta is also good, but also bad?

Light pots tend to reflect light, thus leaving the container requiring less water on those particularly "warm" days.

Dark pots tend to absorb the light and heat, thus rendering the container a miniature oven for roots and requiring 1-2x, sometimes 3 waterings a day, depending on the latest and greatest information.

Terra cotta tend to leach their moisture, keep the soil cool, and crack in the winter. Personally, I've never had a terra cot pot of any size crack in winter, but I can certainly understand how that could happen. I do know they will keep the soil cool, but the claim that they lose their moisture is beyond me for I've never seen this, myself. Perhaps it is my location(s) that make that different.

My trade pots are black, a near black, and dark gray. This means my stealthy green friends may be warm and possibly be responsible for root scorching as the plants mature . We've hit some grand temperatures between the rain and storms. Even in the mid 60s, those pots are hot to the touch. For this season, I will be able to water at least twice a day and monitor them for hydration and evaporation. For the long term in container gardening, I don't think this is a great way to go, but you've got to use what you have, can get, or afford.

I had a large number of pots to purchase, so I purchased my plastic trade pots in small bulk. I much prefer the earthy feel of terra cotta, but I would have ended up with a few large and lovely terra cotta fixtures on the patio and no true container garden to speak of.

Moving on to the real question that begs to be answered, how do we mitigate the black trade pot?

Optionally, we could spray paint the pots (I was really considering glow in the dark paint, but at 70 pots, the investment did not really seem worthwhile and may have ended up a bit on the cheesy side of aesthetic appeal. 

After all, we do have to look at these all season long!

Alternatively, in staying organic, we bought a truckload of nasturtiums ("Nasties"), Milkmaid, Alaska Mix, and Empress of India. Their companion-friendliness to almost all other vegetables precluded our decision to basically shove a few seeds in every pot.

"Why would you do that?", I imagine you are asking!

Well! It is our hope that the nasturtiums will grow, flowng over the sides of the pot in a pleasing cascade, essentially covering (and ultimately shading) the darkness of the container colour. Voila! Problem solved. Or so we hope!

Of course, it will take a bit for the nasties to fill and spill, but while the seedlings are young, that soil needs to be essentially warm and comfortable. With the spring rains still in the air, moisture is the least of the problems while then nasturtiums take over.

Bonus perk: if our garden absolutely fails, we at least have the nasturtiums to enjoy, both for eating and eye candy!

We may have possibly overdone the nasturtiums. . .

Weather Woes

5/21/2013 19:30:00PM
The more days of rain, the more effects I see on my large, fledging pot garden.  The pots are still grouped on the patio for ease of care and monitoring.  I am starting to see yellow leaves.  There are far too many to bring in.  Hoping for longer dry periods to remove the excess moisture that was good in recent days, but beginning to show the potential toll on the seedlings, some of which are growing into full on plant phase.

The winds today changed direction over and over.  The paper birch tree was doing a hula swaying one way and then the other throughout the day.  What we thought was a fine pruning, the winds have totally shown us to be false. 

5/20/2013 10:52:00 AM
Gray, rainy, windy. Wash, rinse, repeat. For the past two weeks.

Really.

Little sun, but quite lovely when it pokes out between the fog and the long overcast mornings. Spotty at best and insufficient time out to keep the hardening process up outdoors.

They promised 70 degrees and sun this afternoon. Welcome to the PNW!

Tomorrow is a new day.  I shall continue working on the previous blog posts that have yet to be published.

Late Italian Garlic

Variety: Late Italian Garlic
Sown: 12 APR 2013
Germinated: 18 APR 2013
Photos: Garlic Pot #1 - 10 May 2013 and 19 May 2013

Again with the "never grown before" in my world... Again with the especially never grown in a pot or container of any type before...

This garlic was ridiculously simple.  Within the week, the garlic hard broken ground and was off and  running.  We don't expect to see glorious and chunky bulbs.  We may even end up with rounds, but we do know now that we live in the 4th largest garlic producing county and our weather is apparently just right for growing softneck garlic. So far, so good! We hope to be as productive for our little plot of dirt in a pot.

However, it is Spring.

Sow in the fall. Next year for certain with the Spring yield.

The temptation to use these for cooking was tremendous.  I'll say that I'm looking forward to the harvest, braiding this garden to hang in my pantry, and definitely looking forward to using it a great many dishes.  Next year, I will probably quadruple the number of pots for this garlic, alone!

Yes! That good!

I'd love to grow hardneck, but not sure it is possible in our "neck" of the woods.  If for nothing less, for the garlic scapes alone. More research to do!

Mothers Day Addition

Asiatic Lilies - no info on the label, unsure of what variety these may be. Beautiful nonetheless and the thought with which they were delivered was so very special--my other half knew I was missing the islands and thought they would brighten my day and remind me of what was "home" for so many years. He did select just the right shades and really made my day with such a vibrant colour choice.

Does anyone know offhand which variety these are?  I have found similar varieties, but not an exact duplicate.

Green Onion Renewal: Who Knew!

I don't want to call this "recycling" as green onions are a living thing!  But that act is exactly what it is--recycling.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that one could not only recycle the green onions, but propagate an equal amount weekly! For free!  Amazing! As we would say in Hawaii, onolicious, too! I've been buying those weekly forever! As of my discovery, I do not plan to purchase green onions in the future. Like, ever. Not again.

It only takes a bit of the white end of the green onion to renew itself.  As long as there are roots and enough of the base onion to hold those roots whole, it is as easy as snipping and placing in a cool glass of water in a window sill.  I change the water every couple of days because, ewww, don't want to eat something that has been sitting in rank water for long.  I've even left them for 3 days and water appeared fresh and not slimy.  One only needs enough water to cover the roots. The nub needs enough white with roots to proceed.

After two harvests, I planted the original cut onions (which I also cut long to test this recycling deal) into soil, so I have a glass tumbler (a mismatched leftover of a bygone era) holding up my onion stems in the kitchen window and a pot of onions outside.  I plan to rotate them every so often because I cannot find any information as to whether growing in water will maintain full nutritional value. An educated assumption of reason tells me that after some time, the nutritional value may weaken due to lack of renewed nutrients. 

Then again the new onion is well,  renewing, so alas, this question begs an answer.

The onions we harvested this way were perfectly pungent (perfect aroma/oils for a green onion) and were crisp and juicy.  Very impressive.  I cannot even recall the last time I had green onions that fresh or tasty.

My poultry shears are getting a little dull, so I highly recommend a nice sharp pair of shears for harvesting. I will be getting a new pair or using a dedicated pair for this purpose.  After these first few weeks, I am absolutely thrilled that I have garden fresh green onions at my whim!

Luckily, the last grocery store green onions we purchased were organic.  I do have green onions growing from seed after two failed attempts that are now thriving.

Variety: Evergreen Bunching Onions
Sown: 1 APR 2013 (first attempt totally indoors-frail and weak)
Germinated: The current thriving batch: end of April - 4" long as of this writing.

Epic Fails

How many times, no matter how ahead of the game we think we are, do we inevitably have a batch of seedlings that fail to thrive or seeds that act as if they are never going to germinate! 

The bane of my very existence this year seems to be getting my tomatoes warm enough or in enough light.  Lesson learned.  More light.  Many of the first batch seem to stunt after the first couple of weeks.  While I have seedlings from 4/1, they should be much, much larger than they are now.  Subsequent plantings two weeks ago have caught up with and bypassed those original starts.

I've reseeded my Jelly Bean tomatoes time and again--I will be lucky to get a single plant much less a couple of each, both red and yellow and still at this point, I'll be really lucky to get one.  I was so looking forward to that little grape delight!

Amazing, right?

Nightshades. yes, all of my nightshades, same problem.  Same fixit--start over.  I somehow seem to be determined to provide TLC and CPR to those first stragglers who are slowly trying to nap out of it.  Some because I'm running out of a couple of those varieties... my herbs are not doing so hot, I think that is due to bad environment, they get shoved aside time and again.  They are in the right conditions now, so I hope to not have to bother with them any time soon as they were flourishing previously.

I know we all have some plants that just don't grow for us, whether it is level of care, temperatures, weather, light, humidity or lack thereof, and other environmental issues such as soil--too warm, too cold, too damp, too dry.  The list goes on. . .

As for houseplants, specifically, I've never been able to keep a Boston fern alive for long at all, while my father could keep immense ferns alive for decades. I've never really had a problem with my nightshades, so I'll blame it on being in the PNW on the Western side of the slopes, haha.  C'mon, we've all got to have an excuse! ;)

What are some of your lesser successful germination plants and problems?

Luffa! Loofah!

As you can tell by now, my return to the garden also brought with me a few bit necessarily unique, but 'unique' side items.  A friend of mine mentioned growing loofah, while my education is fairly well rounded, who else did not know the "rough scrubbie" (not the soft squishy sponge for afterwards) was borne of a gourd instead of from a pineapple under the sea?!

Me.

I've used these silly things since I was a small child--both the luffa/loofah and sea sponge to exfoliate and smooth. It's not often that I am taken aback with new information, but more so I am taken aback that I just never thought to think more about it.  What I do know, however, is that cheap plastic scrubbies tear the skin and often leave lacerations (I recently got married with a small scratch on my forehead to illustrate this point).  While one can certainly do the same with a natural luffa, the likelihood of leaving a wound is far less is moistened appropriately before use. 

It's all good now! I've got a packet of seeds and a handcrafted masterpiece of a bamboo cane arbor I lashed together in only 5 hours!  (See post here: The Art of Handcrafted Trellis Architecture ).

The seeds were quick to germinate, seedlings quick to grow.  The luffa did not go through the hardening process well.  While one plant transitioned to the outdoors with ease, the other wilted slowly with the change.  As with all of my indoor starts, I plugged a couple of seeds in the soil when they stayed outside permanently.  A short week later, the surviving plant wilted.  It is still hanging on, but we are now relying on the upcoming starts originally planted directly outdoors.

More on growing and harvesting soon!

Variety: luffa aegyptiaca (H)
Sown: 08 APR 2013
Germinated: 15 APR 2013

The Art of Handcrafted Trellis Architecture

Art? Handcrafted yes, artful, not so much. Simple? Yes! Effective? Yes! Architecturally precise? To be determined.

Materials: 1/4' and 1/2' bamboo cane and twine (jute, sisal, and an unknown kitchen twine (likely cotton)).
Purpose (Arbor): 4' x 4' (3x4 once set in soil) The arbor is specifically to hold up a Luffa gourd vine and the (hopefully) abundant produce.
Purpose (Trellis): For Sugar Daddy snap peas.
Purpose (TeePees aka little oil derricks): Beans, beans, and more beans!  While these are only 4', I am going to have to wrap the 6' over the 4' this weekend to provide enough climb space.  Already the vines are scrambling for more.

Lashing bamboo is simple and so simply complicated. . .

I lashed that bamboo as close to authentic as possible.  The joints were remarkably stable.  I used a (too) long doubled up twine and ended up with the pretty solid and thick joints, but better that it holds up together rather than with so much less, right?

My fingers at the end of building these were simple and complicated, too. . . Oops, I meant, the faintest of blisters from winding so much of the prickly twine had all but failed to prudce the grandest of blisters.  Had I any smarts, I would have purchased simple arbors, trellises.  nah, this was much more fun and my family will not know what to do once I remove that little arbor from the kitchen and set it to action!

The Arbor: Seedling is not yet tall enough to utilize, but looking forward to the transition! It is sized to fit particular pots and tied at a slight angle which straighten with the soil pressure. Works beautiful!

The Trellis styles: The snap peas are loving it so far.

The Plain ol' sticks: Place in dirt, guide vine.  Not very effective on the pole runners.

The Lay of the (Pot) Land (PreStage)



Plot A Full sun from morning until dusk.  The shadowed corner receives at least 6 full hours of spring sun in the morning. Not quite 2 foot wide. The patio is @ 25 foot if not a bit longer, and there are lots of unused spaces receiving full sun from noon to dusk for the heat lovers and long day growth  (once the majority of the pots are placed in the sidebeds).



Plot B - Full sun in the morning  - @ 3 hours and several mismatched hours (3 +/- later in the afternoon. (@ 6 hours of sun, total). Just shy of 3 foot wide. I really would have wished for this side to be the sunny side due to width and more elbow room for developing and expanding plants. But the partial and short time full sun plants should enjoy it.  Thinking lettuce, spinach, brassicas, etc.



Plot K (for Kitchen) Full sun from noon to dusk (@ 7-8 hours).  2.5 feet wide.