Casualties of War

Of course, my perception of gardening changes throughout the season. One day it could be a seen as a miracle, and the next a complete failure. There are days when I wonder why I went through all the trouble, time, and money. When the bugs, diseases, bacteria, and pests seem to be winning and I forget to notice the beauty. I feel like an organic gardening fraud and question what made me think I knew what I was doing. Especially if I focus too much on what is going wrong instead of what is going right:

Something ate more broccoli than I did!

Few of the sunflowers have survived. I've planted them three times (!) and you can see in this photo something has started eating again. See evidence of my arsenal of gardening weaponry? The red stuff is cayenne pepper, the shiny stuff is Epsom salts, and the white pellets are Sluggo. What you can't see is the Neem oil, BT and the onion-garlic sprays. But nothing seems to keep the plants from being eaten. I also used baking soda spray helped keep the broccoli from dying from a fungus and the milk spray strengthened the tomatoes so they could fight off diseases caused by all the dampness.

Cucumbers are surviving, but their lower leaves are all eaten away. Still, they are hanging on and growing.

This bean plant looks good, but check out the one in front of it. Eaten down to the stalk.

Even with all the Sluggo surrounding the lettuce, every time I check I find little slugs on it. The lettuce has grown big and full, but evidence that bugs have been crawling on it doesn't make me want to have a salad. Blah! I feed it to Peter, but even Peter won't eat it. Slug slime doesn't appeal to him either.

I grow lots of basil every year and usually it's very successful. See them in the planter? No? They all died. This year was the first year I used full-spectrum fluorescent lighting on the indoor start. Coincidence? I think not! I'm on the third planting of basil, now directly into the pot outside. Third time is a charm...maybe?

The Kabocha squash is doing fine, although something is nibbling the outer leaves. This is the only plant that survived out of twelve other indoor-started squash plants. I'm on the third and last planting of the others. Some are growing. I have about four zucchini, two acorn, and five pumpkin plants. No signs of delicata or butternut. Darn. My favorites.

And then there is human stupidity. This is my favorite plant this year. The reason it's my favorite is because I've rarely seen it in full bloom because Peter eats it down to nothing every year. So I moved it and protected it. Wouldn't you know I decided to weed wack the grass nearby. I had just changed out the plastic cutters and misjudged how long I left them.  Half the plant was wacked away before I knew it. You can see it all chopped down on the right side of the plant. I'm sure my neighbor wondered why I was screaming! Damn!

The weather just changed so we'll finally get some summer sun instead of constant rain. This might helps, especially to discourage the slugs.  I hope because nothing else is working!

I keep trying to remind myself this is part of the fun, but most of the time it feels more like frustration. I guess if I didn't want the challenge I could do what everyone else does and use chemicals. NO WAY! To me that's not real gardening. 

I try to focus on the beauty and let the cards fall where they may.

NEW GARDENING ASSISTANT!! Peter's in exile and besides, he eats more than he works. I've been wondering why my cucumbers are growing big and their leaves aren't being eaten away as much. There is a snake living in the broccoli garden!!! She's not very big, but I'm sure with a steady diet of slugs and other yummies, she'll get big and fat fast.

Inspecting the cucumbers.

Guarding the pumpkins.

The last resident snake was this cute little baby garter snake. I named her Lillian. Before mowing the grass I'd walk around to make sure she was safe. This went on for at least a month. Then one day she got in the way and I didn't see her until it was too late. I cried for an hour.

All My Children

I just thought I'd show off my TODDLERS!

Tomato Toddlers
Grape tomatoes in gray planters, Roma in red.
Aren't they lovely?

Broccoli Toddlers
So healthy and beautiful.

Basil Babies
They aren't quite toddlers as they take longer. Delayed development.
They are forming their second leaves. I am so proud.

Congratulations! It's a Broccoli!!

I love gardening and growing things. It must be like parenting only without the screaming, messy diapers and snotty noses. My plant children aren't going to grow up to be pregnant teenagers or flunk out of school either. They will never be drug addicts or alcoholics and they will give back as much as I give.  I get to experience the joy of conception, nurture their health, watch them develop and protect them from evil things once they are out in the world. An almost stress-free parenting experience. And then I get to eat them, like a good parent should.

In February, I plant my first indoor starts: basil, Roma tomatoes and grape tomatoes. I use soil starter in egg shells placed in egg cartons under grow lights.

Egg shells as containers give the little babies lots of calcium which makes them strong. Last year I did an experiment growing six basil plants in egg shells and six in normal cardboard type containers. In six weeks the egg shell plants were three times as big and continued to be fuller, greener, and pest and disease free for the rest of the growing season. Egg shells are free if you eat or bake with eggs. Crack the egg open at the top to leave lots of whole shell. Place them back in their cartons.

Once they have dried, use a very sharp sewing needle and pierce a small hole at the bottom for drainage. The shells are very brittle so do be careful or they will shatter.

The egg shells are filled with organic, sterilized soiless starter made from vermiculite, sphagnum moss and perlite which is very fine. It is sprayed with water until it soaks up moisture. I plant one seed in each egg shell and place them back in the egg carton for stability. They grow under grow lights that are turned on in the morning and off at night. I watch to make sure the soil doesn't dry out and spray them with water several times a day.

The Nursery

Broccoli is the first up every year. It only takes about three days for them to peak their little bald heads out of the dirt.  They are fairly low maintenance, too. Good little babies!

So precious...

Basil needs to be supervised constantly so the soil doesn't get dry, but not too wet. When a second pair of leaves grow, I use my fingers and pinch off the top growth. This makes their stems stronger.

Tomatoes need to be watched so they don't get spindly and leggy growing too fast to reach the light. Keep the light as close to the egg shells as possible to prevent this, but be sure it's a proper grow light and not a heat lamp as the plants need to stay cool.

When their little bodies are about an inch tall, I feed them mild nutrients either organic or fish fertilizers. If you feel too much nitrogen to tomatoes, they don't produce fruit.

When the plants get too big for their little egg wombs, I transplant them to a larger container, use regular potting soil, continuing their care until they are ready to venture into the world.

When the time comes for transplanting into the garden, I "harden" the plants off by putting them on a wind-free porch in the sun every day for about three days. This gets them use to being outside and slight breezes will strengthen their stems so they will be strong enough for windier days. Broccoli loves cold weather so they are transplanted outside in March. Tomatoes and basil do not like it too cold. In fact, under 55 degrees and basil will turn black and possibly die. Very temperamental. As long as it's warm enough, basil then becomes low maintenance.

I repeat this process for indoor starts planted in April (squashes and beans) and May (sunflowers). Everything else gets planted directly into the ground in the middle of May.

I think I should throw myself a baby shower...feel free to send some gifts. :)