I feel like I'm working in phases right now, since change is slowly approaching. I'm waiting for Jaeden's school assignment to be finalized and then, I'm diving into the house-hunting adventure full-force. The goal is to identify a house in May and move during the summer. Somehow, amidst all of the worries and challenges, I feel like this will happen one way or another. I've managed to continue improving my credit score and am hoping to squirrel away money for the next few months in order to be adequately prepared.
So, garden-wise, a few things have happened.
- I've decided not to invest much money in the new veggie season, although decided to try some cooler weather plants that didn't do well last spring/summer. I planted a few choice cold-weather plants from my seed stores collected from the Feed & Seed on Beaver street and added a bit from ACE turner's selection. I planted: Anise, beets, spinach, carrots, butter crunch lettuce, peas, pole beans, broccoli, onions, chives, chamomile and basil.
- Still using companion planting with no pesticide/herbicide and a few natural additions to help control bugs and pests, including beer baths for the snails & slugs, soap spray and ammonia mist for all unwanted pests and smelly herbs to assist in the battle. The snails have been the biggest problem lately and I ended up having to rip up alot of the poor peas who's leaves have been reduced to lacy shreds. Thus I removed as much leaf cover as possible to remove their homes, planted beer bowls among the plants and went out in the early morning hours to pick and discard snails. About 100+ snails and 1 ugly, bulbous slug later, there were far fewer offenders on the peas and lettuce this morning.
- Strawberry tower remains in place and is already producing. I removed most of the flowers and fruit from last season and already I'm noticing the increase. The snails have discovered them too, sadly..and several of the fruits have little holes in them. Trying very hard not to overreact - still determined not to resort to chemicals.
- Quite a few things didn't come up. Beets never made it. Many of the pole beans didn't make it past the squirrels either, who left some very unwanted holes in the places where the seeds had been and I've re-seeded twice. Re-planting peas due to massive snail invasion. Hoping that the beer, handpicking and frequent sprays reduce their numbers. I don't mind a wee bit of sharing, but I'm not about to let the snails take over the veggies. Broccoli, carrots and lettuce looks pretty good, all in all. Anise never came up, nor did the onions. I've located onion sets at ACE and decided to spend just a wee bit on some onions since I adore cooking with the fresh ones. Herbs are by far the happiest and I've got 2 sweet little chamomile plants, along with a very joyous rosemary, several parsleys, a few clusters of chives, cilantro, basil, oregano, fennel and thyme. The pennyroyal from last year could happily take over the garden too..and has the most breathtaking scent beside the peas.
- Pics soon - camera needs new batteries
