Loved your Ron vs Rat story, Amy! Since we don't have any here, except possibly the older and wiser one, our equivalent is squirrels. They have caused so much destruction to our neighbors and us! Neighbors spotted them coming in and out of the shop attic--$%^. GDW had sealed an opening with screening, but it must have come off now. He has traps set, but nothing yet, and really haven't seen the squirrels lately, either. We'll see. I am not a friend to squirrels.
I was delighted to see a patch of passion vine spring up here, out in the rocky shallow sunlight area--it grows untidily and rather rampantly--right now it's about 15-20' sq. and it can spread however it wants, suits me fine; It's the white variety, Alba.
I've been so busy with other things (painting and flower beds), I guess I'll be shooting for a fall veggie garden. Time just totally got away from me.
Do any of you know when blister beetles make their appearance? Last year I had quite the herd of them on the clematis vine. Ate it to the nubs--which was okay with me since it was an invasive type. Besides, I'd read that their larvae feed on grasshopper eggs, so I didn't bother them. Who knows what beastly pest will invade this year--fingers crossed that grasshopper population won't be as bad.
Will any of you have any extra basil for SF? I'm behind the 8-ball on that, too, although still plan to plunk some seeds in outdoors.
Larry, my kids aren't that interested in gardening just yet. I suspect over time they'll be more interested. Maybe not on the scale that I'm doing it now. But maybe. Ethan lives in a tiny apartment. I can see Stella wanting a garden when they get married and settled into a place with a yard. She had a garden at her parents' home. It was small and not well cared for, but it was there. Really, in Oregon things grow pretty nicely.
Mason mentioned something about wanting to grow some food "someday". We have a small herb box for her, but just haven't put it together and delivered to her it. I suspect that will happen over the next month as we clean and organize the shop.
Ethan was a very picky eater as a small child. Mason was not. It seems like he was born with extra taste buds. Even bubblemint toothpaste made for children was too spicy for him. He's still particular but eats a wide variety of foods. We are all sorta food snobs in different but similar ways. Except for Tom. LOL!
He likes good food, but will eat less than good food and isn't as concerned about it's origins as much.
I've often thought that I would be a predicament if the only food available is highly processed types of food and I was unable to garden. My system can't handle those well anymore. Even some of the restaurants that we love. I remember watching a video a couple of years ago done by a doomsday pepper type. (she didn't start that way but is now and I no longer watch her videos because they're so negative.) ANYWAY, she mentioned that all the organicy eaters need to add in a bit of junk so their systems won't get shocked by all the grocery store foods that they've stored away in their prepper pantries. I don't have that type of pantry, tho. I do have a pantry of foods we've preserved from the garden. At times, I'll stock up on some things from the grocery store, but they're mostly ingredients not ready-to-eat stuff.
I do get what she is saying. It makes sense really. But I probably won't do it.
Thanks for bringing a passion vine. I need to figure out where to plant it so it doesn't take over. I thought about in the back of the property where the wild violets and beauty berries are. Maybe I can fix up a trellis on the old shed back there. If it does fruit, I'll need to look up recipes.
Lynn, so many of the mulches have dirt and soil on them anyways, so it seems like diseases that come from the soil, would be on the mulch too. Like leaves.
The only issue I've heard about cotton seed hull, is the amount of chemicals that are sprayed on cotton crops. It's why I started using it only on the ornamental beds, but didn't have problems with in on the food crops when I used it. It's just so expensive, that I'm just using cheap pine shavings now around the tomatoes.
Icdollar, I have tried to grow organic matter for mulch and compost. One year Elbon rye through the winter. I let it almost set seed and cut for mulch. I planted directly in to the stubble after cutting so ready made mulch. I have grown sorghum which produces a lot of bio matter. Also amaranth. Tansy grows about 4' tall and you can cut half off and mulch cucumbers. It is supposed to help repel cucumber beetles. Ron has a grinder that grinds up smallish sticks from tree branches and the stupid private hedge. You can plant lettuce under tomatoes for a living mulch. I have also let cowpeas crawl for a living mulch. Buckwheat in summer. I've recently learned you can eat buckwheat leaves in salad. I haven't tried it yet. We don't use grass clippings because someone is to stubborn to use the grass catcher.
Loved your Ron vs Rat story, Amy! Since we don't have any here, except possibly the older and wiser one, our equivalent is squirrels. They have caused so much destruction to our neighbors and us! Neighbors spotted them coming in and out of the shop attic--$%^. GDW had sealed an opening with screening, but it must have come off now. He has traps set, but nothing yet, and really haven't seen the squirrels lately, either. We'll see. I am not a friend to squirrels.
I was delighted to see a patch of passion vine spring up here, out in the rocky shallow sunlight area--it grows untidily and rather rampantly--right now it's about 15-20' sq. and it can spread however it wants, suits me fine; It's the white variety, Alba.
I've been so busy with other things (painting and flower beds), I guess I'll be shooting for a fall veggie garden. Time just totally got away from me.
Do any of you know when blister beetles make their appearance? Last year I had quite the herd of them on the clematis vine. Ate it to the nubs--which was okay with me since it was an invasive type. Besides, I'd read that their larvae feed on grasshopper eggs, so I didn't bother them. Who knows what beastly pest will invade this year--fingers crossed that grasshopper population won't be as bad.
Will any of you have any extra basil for SF? I'm behind the 8-ball on that, too, although still plan to plunk some seeds in outdoors.
Oh--I meant to comment on your upcoming presentation, Kim! Yay--you go, girl! Is Canva easy to use? Am impressed with your skill!
Larry, my kids aren't that interested in gardening just yet. I suspect over time they'll be more interested. Maybe not on the scale that I'm doing it now. But maybe. Ethan lives in a tiny apartment. I can see Stella wanting a garden when they get married and settled into a place with a yard. She had a garden at her parents' home. It was small and not well cared for, but it was there. Really, in Oregon things grow pretty nicely.
Mason mentioned something about wanting to grow some food "someday". We have a small herb box for her, but just haven't put it together and delivered to her it. I suspect that will happen over the next month as we clean and organize the shop.
Ethan was a very picky eater as a small child. Mason was not. It seems like he was born with extra taste buds. Even bubblemint toothpaste made for children was too spicy for him. He's still particular but eats a wide variety of foods. We are all sorta food snobs in different but similar ways. Except for Tom. LOL!
He likes good food, but will eat less than good food and isn't as concerned about it's origins as much.
I've often thought that I would be a predicament if the only food available is highly processed types of food and I was unable to garden. My system can't handle those well anymore. Even some of the restaurants that we love. I remember watching a video a couple of years ago done by a doomsday pepper type. (she didn't start that way but is now and I no longer watch her videos because they're so negative.) ANYWAY, she mentioned that all the organicy eaters need to add in a bit of junk so their systems won't get shocked by all the grocery store foods that they've stored away in their prepper pantries. I don't have that type of pantry, tho. I do have a pantry of foods we've preserved from the garden. At times, I'll stock up on some things from the grocery store, but they're mostly ingredients not ready-to-eat stuff.
I do get what she is saying. It makes sense really. But I probably won't do it.
Thanks for bringing a passion vine. I need to figure out where to plant it so it doesn't take over. I thought about in the back of the property where the wild violets and beauty berries are. Maybe I can fix up a trellis on the old shed back there. If it does fruit, I'll need to look up recipes.
Lynn, so many of the mulches have dirt and soil on them anyways, so it seems like diseases that come from the soil, would be on the mulch too. Like leaves.
The only issue I've heard about cotton seed hull, is the amount of chemicals that are sprayed on cotton crops. It's why I started using it only on the ornamental beds, but didn't have problems with in on the food crops when I used it. It's just so expensive, that I'm just using cheap pine shavings now around the tomatoes.
Icdollar, I have tried to grow organic matter for mulch and compost. One year Elbon rye through the winter. I let it almost set seed and cut for mulch. I planted directly in to the stubble after cutting so ready made mulch. I have grown sorghum which produces a lot of bio matter. Also amaranth. Tansy grows about 4' tall and you can cut half off and mulch cucumbers. It is supposed to help repel cucumber beetles. Ron has a grinder that grinds up smallish sticks from tree branches and the stupid private hedge. You can plant lettuce under tomatoes for a living mulch. I have also let cowpeas crawl for a living mulch. Buckwheat in summer. I've recently learned you can eat buckwheat leaves in salad. I haven't tried it yet. We don't use grass clippings because someone is to stubborn to use the grass catcher.