Weals and Woes of Gardening

    

June 24 (7 weeks old)

It is so amazing to me that a garden can grow from seed to huge plants in 7 weeks.  This is our best year yet for a garden. So exciting! I have so enjoyed checking out our new produce each morning and diligently watering these precious plants.


It got a little out of hand this year.   I mean, I was able to keep the weeds down, but planted too many plants in too small of a space.


So... What is have we learned this year?


1.  It is our second year to compost.  Our soil was better last year, but this year it better still.  If you are a struggling gardener as I have always been, let me share: compost, compost, compost! We just put a wire cage in the back corner of our yard and dump egg shells, watermelon rinds, carrot tops and peelings, grass clippings, and other things to rot in the pile all summer and through the winter.  Christian put a cover on it this year with a brick to hold it down.  The cover has really cut down on the flies.  In the spring, we mix the mess in with our garden soil.  We didn't add anything else to it this year... no mulch or store-bought compost.   Here's a list of things you can compost.  We made the mistake of throwing a bunch of perennial weeds in the compost last year.  Never compost morning glories or you will be weeding them from your garden forever.


2.  We are using an organic vegetable spray that may have helped cut down on bugs.  Last year we lost our cucumber and zucchini plants to vine borers, which was discouraging.  I think the spray has helped, plus I pick off bugs and throw them in a bucket with a small amount of rubbing alcohol.  Don't let me kid you, I usually use gloves because I've become a bit of a sissy.


3.  We planted garlic, chives and marigolds to help combat bugs.  I can't prove that this has helped, but it was just another tip I found in researching organic gardening and from talking to my gardening friend, Ann, who has really helped me this year.


4.  We let a couple of volunteer plants come up from our compost.  It was fun, but I won't do this next year.  One ended up being some kind of crazy zucchini hybrid.   It had huge seeds and totally took over our garden.  I ended up having to pull it out because it was choking the cucumber plants and starting to take over the zucchini plants and our other volunteer plant--a sweet little cantaloupe plant which produced four good-tasting fruits that we were able to eat this past week!

the menacing, climbing zucchini hybrid

We are trying cantaloupe from seed again.  We had one or two melons last year that tasted like soap.  Then the plant withered up and died.  Looks like we might actually be successful this year.  Christian made a raised bed and we are going to vine them up the fence and a lattice.  I hope I'm not too late in vining them as they appear to be long and tangled.  Oops.  I tried using the square foot gardening approach.  That is 12 plants in a 3 x 4 foot square...


I've read you can use pantyhose to make a sling for the fruit so it doesn't break off the vine as it grows up.  We'll see what happens.  We planted it later than the rest of the garden, and it only has some Lowe's compost added to regular soil, but it looks healthy.

the cantaloupe in beginning stages

As always, I would love to hear your gardening tips!  We learn more and more each year...


~ Katrina


P.S.  Our cucumbers started tasting sour after I cut down the zucchini that was shading the cucumber plants.  When I googled why, I found it could be uneven watering and heat.  Is anyone else experiencing this with the drought and heat this summer?


P.P.S.  What are you reading?  Just finished reading Dangerous Journey to the boys (again).  It's a child's picture book of Pilgrim's Progress.  The illustrations seem a bit dark to me and the reading a little daunting for a five-year-old's vocabulary, but both big boys love it.  We colored this page to correspond with the armor Christian put on in the story.  This is one of our favorite books.


Recently finished Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte for myself.  I'm trying to expand my mind this summer, but I wasn't especially impressed with this one. Just began Nancy Leigh DeMoss' Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy, which I am excited to learn from. (Insert joyful smile.)


My 8-year-old just started the Boxcar Children series.  He read the first book and reported it was a new favorite.


My 5-year-old is loving anything out of the 20th Century Children's Book Treasury.  We found one for a steal at Half Price Books, but you can get them used off Amazon, too.  It's helpful to have all of your favorites in one place, but some of the illustrations have been removed, so it's still a good idea to pull out the good old-fashioned originals from time to time. 


And the 2-year-old is enjoying Curious George books (fortunately, we don't own many of these) and the If You Give A... series (illustrations are fun in these).

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The garden's in

New garden :)

I'm back!  It's been a busy season and we've been treading water.  You know how it goes.

Isn't this the best time of year? Everything is green and in bloom.  The birds sing all day long.  School is almost out! And the garden's planted. Now we get to watch all the little seeds take root and grow, grow, grow.

I get more excited each year as we try planting a larger variety of fruits, veggies and herbs. I always think this year will be our best year yet. :)  Last year shield bugs ate a substantial part of our garden, but our tomatoes did very well.  I have some tricks up my sleeve to fight the shield bugs this year.  And hopefully our pet bunny won't eat our garden when I'm not looking.

I cannot wait to make the refrigerator pickle recipe we made last year . Here's what you need:

• Cucumbers (from your garden, the farmer's market, or the grocery store)
• 3 Cups Water
• 6 Tbsp. White vinegar
• 3 Tbsp. Kosher salt
• Minced garlic
• Fresh dill

You've got to try it.  It took the boys and me literally 10 minutes to prepare, and two days later... viola!  We had two jars of very yummy pickles in the fridge.

Would love to hear your favorite garden recipe to try this summer! Please post in comments.

Happy gardening. :)
~Katrina

P.S.  Almost forgot to include what we're reading.  We've read so many great books for our curriculum and just for fun this year.  But I'll keep it short.  If you (the adults in the audience) haven't read Jane Eyre... read it NOW.  (Kindle edition is free on Amazon.)  I read it as I cooked.  I couldn't stop reading.  It had been awhile since I'd enjoyed a good book of my own.

The boys and I are currently reading Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater.  It's a Newbery Honor Book; silly, cute and fun. I'm glad I have a rabbit.  It's smaller and less smelly than a penguin. And it can sleep outside in it's hutch.

P.P.S.  The boys are also loving "living" history books.  We recently read Molly Pitcher by Augusta Stevenson and are currently reading Thomas Jefferson by Helen Albee Monsell.  I'm happy (and mildly embarrassed) about how much we "grown-ups" are learning reading these Childhood of Famous American history books.  These are great for long car rides if you can handle reading aloud.

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Stinky Garden Pests

Early in the gardening season, we discovered several shield bugs munching on our beautiful, large-leafed zucchini plants. Christian did a quick internet search and we set to work exterminating.  I was pretty freaked out about touching them but, with gloves on, we picked them up, threw them in a coffee can and squirted them with rubbing alcohol.  Yep, it did the trick.  I felt righteous in my wrath. This was an easy remedy if anyone is looking to rid themselves of these stinky bugs.

We were able to keep a pretty good hold on the shield bugs, but vine borers led to our zucchini plants ultimate demise.  In hopes of having an organic garden next year, has anyone been successful at removing the caterpillars in a plant that survived?  I am wondering if I need to go back to using Sevin.

~ Katrina

Editor's note: Apparently there are about a gazillion insects that look like the Shield Bug (a.k.a. stink bug).  I'm sure a serious bug nerd would laugh at my stink bug ignorance, but we really had a hard time determining whether or not to murder all these bug in rubbing alcohol.  The most intelligent note I found on the internet said the best way to tell the difference between a zucchini-destroying stink bug and the beneficial "soldier bug" was to squish one.  The stink bugs will smell bad.  Clever.

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How does your garden grow?

We are not highly successful gardeners.  But every year we try again. This year we are going to buy some local produce and try to grow some of our own.  In an effort to get the most bang for our buck, we're planting vegetables that we can either freeze, can, or dehydrate (I can't wait to try some more dehydrating).  We started our seeds indoors... and I am hopeful they will be happy in the garden.

the frightening Tomato Hornworm

It takes more than hope to grow a garden, so we'd love any helpful tips. Our biggest problems have been squash (it just dries up and dies after a few weeks) and large tomatoes (which usually split).  For tomatoes, my reading says that I should be watering just the soil and not the tops of the tomato plants.  I think it's bugs getting my squash.

I would like to look into more natural ways of spraying for bugs and avoiding pesticide use (the warning label on Sevin kind of freaks me out).  Looks like soapy water, among other things, can be used to kill aphids and greenfly.  Somewhere I heard you can crush mint leaves over your squash plants to protect them against bugs (sounds too good to be true).  We just happen to have a mint patch... mint grows like a weed and is nearly impossible to kill, which fits my level of green thumbery.

This website helped me out with what the pesky insects look like.  Also includes helpful pest control tips.

Some of these other homemade insect treatments look too difficult or expensive to me.  It has to be easy if it's going to get done in this crazy household.  I'm trying to avoid solutions that require purchase of fancy oils we don't keep in stock.

This year is our first year to have our own compost to combine with the soil.  I'm not sure if the added compost is going to be the trick to a successful garden, but it's supposed to be great for soil and we like the idea of composting over landfilling.  Note to readers: compost can attract flies.  So don't put the compost bin anywhere near the back door that the kids leave open thereby allowing hundreds of compost-filled flies into your kitchen.  Lesson learned.    

Please share your tips!
~ Katrina

P.S.  What are you reading?  We're reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.  Enchanting.  If you pick this one up, grab Because of Winn-Dixie by the same author.  We loved that one, too.

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