Reblogged from Town & Country Gardening:
Natural Ways to Keep Slugs Out Of Your Garden So you’ve planted that organic garden and much to your dismay, your plants aren’t thriving and you begin to notice holes in the leaves.
YOU’VE GOT SLUGS!
Slugs multiply rapidly and can totally destroy your garden if left unchecked. Don’t be fooled, not every “all natural” garden pest control technique will actually work on slugs.
I have a folder on Pinterest that I call “I could do this”. Many of the items in the folder are container gardens and especially sedums in containers. Finding the right container is key to pulling off the planted crafty project: Wire basket was a Goodwill find for $2.99.
The dried moss in the bag is a local, sustainable product at a hefty price of $14.99 but the bag will make many more for gifts. The few plants I purchased were $2.50 each. I am fortunate that the previous gardener planted many different sedum plants that I snipped for the project.
I don’t have a potting bench but use a plastic bin to contain the mess when potting or seeding.
I started with moss, then added the coffee filter and a bit of potting mix.
Then I started planting and tucking in more moss.
Like a lot of newly planted pots, this one needs to settle in a bit and grow but for my first project, I am pleased with the results.
I’ve been really busy gardening these days, pulling stuff out, feeding the soil and planting new things. I got two “new to me” tomato plants at my garden club plant sale: Heirlooms, Moskovich and Black Cherry tomato. My tomato garden is now complete for the year. Five plants for two people!
Earlier this year I talked about carrots being a crop I was focusing on for 2013. My summer 2012 crop was acceptable, but I wanted better carrots. That is not what I have so far.
Does anyone grow Meridia carrots (from Terretorial Seeds) overwinter? The package says 240 days, overwintering Nates type, rich orange, 7-8 inches long, 1- 1 1/2 inches diameter. I planted them September 24, 2012 right after I did a quick till of the area. I decided to dig some today and was surprised they are not very orange or very big. I still have another row in the ground. Perhaps they need more time, what do you think is going on here?
I am happy that I grow much better roses than carrots!
The rose season begins! I am surprised that my first rose bloom of the season is not an Old Garden Rose, but the Floribunda ‘Playboy’ on a tree rose in a large pot. I did not prune the tree roses very much and perhaps this bud winter overed. This same plant has two additional roses showing color in bud form. Notice that ‘Playboy’ does not have the typical summer sunshine color yellow-orange you might see in a photo in a book. The Pacific Northwest has not started the warm dry part of the year yet, so this rose responds with a lighter color.
‘Walking on Sunshine’ Floribunda
‘Playboy’
Bouquet of Floribunda roses
‘Daybreaker’
‘Easy Does It’
Rosarian friends having fun on February 18, 2013 in Minneapolis.
Are they dead or are they dormant?
The local Master Gardeners say to “Plant your peas by President’s Day” and they have not lead me down the wrong path yet! But this year I decided to try different varieties and actually make two plantings, two weeks apart. I love planting (and eating) sugar snap peas. They are the beginning of the gardening season for me.
I wrote the plan in January, then bought the seeds and inoculant and waited. Last week I tilled the area. I know tilling gets a bad rap in some parts of the country because of its tendency to disturb the soil structure and microorganisms but in the Pacific Northwest the winter rain compacts the soil, even in raised beds. So I covered the area with a tarp on rainy days and let is dry out on sunny days. Then tilled. Three days before planting I soaked the peas in labeled containers and rinsed the peas once a day. I lightly raked in some bone meal and alfalfa pellets for quick nutrition. Today I drained them and sprinkled on the inoculant before planting.
My dry, home made compost covered the peas. Then I watered with my Authentic Haven Brand Moo Poo Tea. Life is good!
Follow me and my garden
Sow, Love and Nurture
Loving our Life!
"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity"
my gardening life through the year
Cultivating Life & Roses
I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. - Emma Goldman
Let's talk about roses and how to grow them!
Because I Said So!
Your One Stop Shop for Eco Ideas, Crafts & Gifts.
Design, Garden and Living
Perfectly Imperfect.
If you fall on your face your still moving forward.
[sək-sés-ï-fy] - verb. To incorporate the elements of success.
A topnotch WordPress.com site
Where Imagination Runs Free
My mid-life update!
Brought to you by the Local Society Relations Committee of the American Rose Society
Firmly rooted in the Oklahoma soil
where observation and imagination meet nature in poetry
Just another WordPress.com weblog
Written
on February 25, 2013