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...

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. ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...