Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Day_Tripper]

It sounds like several of us are doing the garden thing at the moment.  So, here is a place where we can show proud pictures of our little seedlings and exchange tips and tricks.

I haven't taken any pictures of my space yet.  But, I've been planning on it.  I'm trying the square foot garden technique.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Lu-7FIj_g" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Lu-7FIj_g</a>

I have 3 4X4 boxes.  I've planted something in each square foot, but I've forgotten what all I've planted where.  So, some of the squares I'm looking at and trying to figure out if its a weed coming up or something I actually planted.  So, if I do this again, I'm going to have to figure out a color coding method using straws or something to let me know what I planted where.

Its been raining a lot here, so I have to battle slugs.  I also blame the Brits for the damn black and brown slugs, they come from your island(s).  Our banana slugs don't bother our plants and are native, but the black and brown ones aren't native.  The snails are from California, also not native.  One of my square foot areas with something I planted coming up got ate by a slug.  But, its coming back now.  I think that might be either carrots or radishes, don't remember.  In the morning when I check for slugs and snails I pick them off and throw them down by the pond where there are frogs/toads.  I feel bad using salt like my Grandma taught me.  It seems like it would be painful.  I even set out some beer so they could get drunk first and then drown.  But, I saw one of the suckers drinking the free beer, and he didn't drown.  So, I gave up on the beer idea.  I'm now using crushed egg shells all around my boxes.  I'm also putting coffee grounds around the outside of the boxes.  I've read that caffeine helps and they don't want to crawl on jagged egg shells.  The last two days I haven't seen a slug.

I have a tomato start and a bell pepper start.  Neither of them do well in this area.  I'm afraid the tomato may have leaf rust from all the rain.  One of the baby peppers had some sort of mold on it so I picked it off.  I don't have a solution for this.  Maybe try to build a makeshift umbrella out of sticks?  I don't know, so if anyone else has info, I'd love it.

I could spend hours watching these babies grow.  My corn is about 3 inches so far.  I have beans and peas growing next to my corn to help with the nitrogen.  I also have zucchini by the corn and beans.  That is called the 3 sisters and is a famous companion planting technique.  I have chocolate mint, lavender, and citronella all in containers to try to block off the wild animal path.  All three of those are supposed to be dear resistant.  I don't think I have to worry too much about the deer until later in the year.  I've read human hair used as a mulch helps to keep deer away.  But, I have a concern about getting hair from a hair dresser.  So many people dye their hair and there is spermicide in hair dye.  I want an organic garden and I don't want to eat those chemicals.  So, I pee down by the path as well.  I'm trying to get the guys to help me with this one, but so far it has only been me.

Another thing I've read to repeal deer is to spray the leaves with a mixture of egg and water.  I think I'm going to try that a little later on.  I've also read that hanging ivory soap around helps because it smells human.  But again, I don't know what chemicals are in that soap and I don't want to kill the good little critters that I've seen out there.  I've seen a garter snake, and spiders, and my first ladybug of the year.   There are a ton of bees too.  I love watching all the critters out there.

There are also dogs there.  One of them has learned not to walk in the dirt, my boyfriend's dog however, think she rules everything and my boxes have dog prints in them.  Even with that, the seeds seem to be coming up.  God, nature rocks!

[Day_Tripper]

I guess I could eat the slugs too. 

http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/slug_fritters.htm

[lashmar]

Don't, they taste terrible apparently. lol.

I'm going to wait awhile before I post about my garden because, hopefully, we're going to have somewhere bigger soon enough.

[Day_Tripper]

Just do it like the French, put lot's of sauce on it so you can't tell what it is. 

I think I've settled on the copper thing.  I found another slug the other day.  That fucker!  So, boyfriend has extra copper pipes I can bend around the boxes.  The egg shells didn't work .  But, I hear copper does.

I'll take pictures when I get new batteries for my camera.  I started to take pics, but the batteries died.

[lashmar]

Just do it like the French, put lot's of sauce on it so you can't tell what it is. 

You'd knew I'd laugh at that didn't you.

I think I've settled on the copper thing.  I found another slug the other day.  That fucker!  So, boyfriend has extra copper pipes I can bend around the boxes.  The egg shells didn't work .  But, I hear copper does.

What you could do is put a very slight current though it, just a few batteries would work, and that would keep all slugs, snails and mice out.

[Day_Tripper]

Laugh all you want Lashy, it's well known that the French are as bad as the Chinese when it comes to food.  They will eat anything!

I don't think I need to add batteries to the copper.  Apparently, the slime on slugs when it touches copper makes a little shock.  That is why they wont cross it.  From what I've read, it's the best thing to keep slugs out.

Now, I've got to deal with the deer.  So far no deer.  However, I've heard that later in the year when the other plants dry out and die is when the deer eat the garden.  I've read that spraying on a mixture of egg and water on the leaves of the garden plants will keep them away.  I'll have to try that one and see how it works.

[Regnad]

Plain black pepper sprinkled on the ground around the plant`s and on the leave`s work`s for me even got rid of raiding racoon`s...... Only down fall don`t last long if it`s windy......   Best I got....
                 

[Day_Tripper]

Really?  Pepper?

Dude...I'm looking for anything.

I'm ready to start killing slugs with salt.  I haven't gotten to deer season yet. 

[Regnad]

Like I said though if it`s windy or rain`s you have to do it again... But I`ve had great luck with it...

                    

Wish there was a way to repel weed`s...   lol....   

[Day_Tripper]

We get rain, lots of it.

That is cool.  I visit my little patch every chance I get.  I could spend hours.