In the Thirties (Again)

Out come the blankets again.  Our evenings are getting chilly again.  It's not supposed to go below freezing, technically, but when the forecast changes so much every day it's hard to know what to believe.  We just know it got cold again.

We even saw it coming and what did we do yesterday???  Went to the nursery to buy some plants, of course.  The plan had been not to, since we had bought a lot of seeds this year.  As always, there are things missed, or easier for someone else to start.  Turns out, the reason our garlic didn't do so well last year was because we should have planted it in fall.  So we bought some that were nicely started to add into the garden.  We also grabbed a few artichoke plants, just for fun.  I've had spinach artichoke dip before, but that's really the only time I've ever had it.  I've never cooked with it before.  Don't know much about it, but why not?  Our daughter even got into the swing of things by grabbing a few bok choy and setting them in the wagon.  How could we say no?  We also got some new strawberries.  We had lost half of the planter to an aphid/pill bug attack last summer (possibly also to the mesquite roots).

Some of them made it into the ground yesterday, some are still hanging out in their pots.  All of them got a blanket for the chilly night.  Well, burlap would be a scratchy blanket for me, but I don't think the garlic minded.  Even the bunnies got a blanket again.  The little babies looked as happy as could be a little while ago, bouncing around in the sun.

We did discover something this week.  Something I think we'll find VERY useful.  Boric acid is a pill bug's nightmare.  We had our "what's killing the beans?" hunt this week and found slugs (with and without shells) and pill bugs galore.  We started out squishing and stomping, but then thought that the chickens might like some.  They actually seemed less than impressed the next morning, perhaps thinking of the horn worm smorgasbord they had only a few months ago.  So we kept some in the plastic container and added some diatomaceous earth.  The next day, they were still wiggling.  So my hubby threw in some boric acid.  We recently acquired some to help keep the roach population down this summer.  The next day we were bummed to notice the wind had knocked the container over.  Until we saw the pill bugs and little snails heaped in an unmoving pile on the ground.  I don't think they were just cold.  If you're overrun with pill bugs (which as far as we can tell don't prefer decaying material over live plant and veggie, no matter what others say), boric acid may be the way to go.  It is also possible that the DE just worked slowly, as it dehydrates bugs, and that may take a while.  Either way, both powders have found a home in our shed.

March Madness

Backyard garden style!

So the infestation of aphids was worse than we thought.  We had been focusing on the lettuces, but last week we noticed them covering our strawberry patch.  Since they were flowering and no fruit was on them we decided to break out the Ortho Max.  We try to use the Ivory soap, or the Neem oil first.  And that is what we did with the lettuce.  But there were A LOT of aphids covering all of the plants in the bed.  No matter what we did with the lettuce, there were armies of aphids growing in the strawberry patch.  So we pulled out the heavy stuff and the next day Hubby went through and pulled out the dead leaves and now the bed looks much better.  Another batch of ladybugs is working on the lettuces, but they just seem so outnumbered.  

So much is breaking through the top soil right now.  It is beautiful to see.

Cucumbers in a box.

Happy blueberries.

Our first, and largest, tomatillo.

Our first, and largest, Kohl Rabi.  Not sure what to do with it when we harvest it,
but we have a while to find something.

Happy potatoes.

And even happier- potato plants are sprouting in the potato plateau.
(It's not really tall enough to call it a tower.) 

Half shot of the long bed- from front: squash, beans and lettuce, corn, beyond
the wall is the potato plateau and the last of the big cabbage.

Pea pods are starting to appear.

Leaves are breaking out on the blackberry bushes.
(Hardly look like bushes at this point, though.)

Some photos

Today was cleaning and pruning and a little bit of planting.   I didn't take any photos of that fun, but here are some from yesterday...

Dustbath!

Their necks look so funny as their feathers are coming in.

It's a gift to be able to twist around like that.

The best part- shaking off.

Salvaging the romaine from the aphids.  We drowned them.

Yesterday's Harvest.

Radish flowers.

Bugs

We're being attacked.  The aphids have gotten out of control.  Those poor ladybugs never had a chance.  They were just overwhelmed.  So out comes the Organicide and Ivory.  So today I was spraying and I noticed one of the small cabbages leaves were wilting.  I looked a little closer and saw what I thought was eggs.  Of what, I had no idea, nor did I care.  I took a couple of photos and then soaked it down with the soap.  It wasn't until I pulled up the photo that I saw this...

And then zoomed in and saw this...

I promptly got up, got a bag, and pulled the plant out of the ground, stuck it in the bag and dumped it in the trash.

Yuck.

I suppose I should have saved a leaf so we could figure out what it is, or was.  But I was just too grossed out.  They had to go.

And what is this?

The freakishly long legs creep me out.  So does the little poker on the butt.  Should we kill it?  Leave it alone?  Gonna have to look this one up.

I was going to put a bag over the cauliflower seed pods, but then I noticed this guy giving himself a bath.  I can wait.

And then I noticed all of the watering brought out the wasps.  Two different kinds of wasps.  They'll be alright as long as they don't try to make my home into their home.  That is an automatic death sentence.  Zero tolerance for that.

March

The garden is needing work, but today I am tired.... It has been a long couple of weeks at work and I have been able to put the energy that I need too. The planters are made and half of the have veggies growing but the veg is really needing some fertilizers and breaking up of the upper soil. The seedlings have really started to show signs of growth but the yard is just in disarray. It is tough for me and Em, because we want the kids to enjoy the yard and to help us get the things done that need to be taken care of. We spread the work out over days and weekends but it still never seems to get to the point where the garden and it needs are met. Day after day the garden is found with more pests (kids included) eating or attacking the veggies. The leafs of what are growing seem to show that they need something, everything points to phosphorus but it is like the generations before me that just knew. I am unsure of what to give them, in what quantities, and how often, so I find myself ferociously searching the information that is on the web to further my knowledge on the new/discovered techniques of desert gardening.

I have a bright idea to make a network of raised planters in las Vegas, that when fully operational and working will become the largest CSA. It will take the planter information and what is growing and combine it with all the other and then all the items be divided amongst all the people that are using the beds. But in order for this to work it has to first start with our little garden and perfecting the techniques.

Posted via DraftCraft app