ALERT FIRE PLAGUE FAMINE- NO IT'S PESTILENCE!

Around or about Mother's Day, I have to look for these pests on broccoli and other brassicas, evidently. 



This is an imported cabbage worm.

  I smashed between 20-30 of these today.  On Saturday (just two days ago!!) the damage was not as progressed ( I didn't notice when walking past the bed).  It was non-existent a week ago.

 That is a very damaged plant.

On a good note, there's about...more than I can count of these beautiful green strawberries.
Perennial garden is looking good, I hope to post photos today or tommorrow.

Last week's garden shots.

These photos show how quick a spring garden can grow in two weeks.  We had a great mix of rain, warmth and coolness, and sunshine.  I'll get current garden photos up some time this week. Also, I'm trying the add caption feature on blogger...it puts captions below the photos.  I'll have to figure out if there's a way to re-set that, I prefer the words above the pictures usually. 



Pea trellis, lettuce, spinach, arugula, chard...look at that growth!



The lettuce in the cold frame is full size. I have more lettuce than we can eat!

The baby's are growing....kale, lettuce, arugula, onions.

Bigger onions.

I'm verry happy with this bed of napa and broccoli.

Garlic is getting substanial.

Strawberris, growing.

 

Strong flowers with baby fruit.

This box is full of carrot seedlings.

This is great picture of them, it's going to be my header image for a little while.

Two weeks ago...

we went to the beach.  It was awesome, I rented a Naish paddleboard similar to one I may buy, it was fun but challenging...very windy.  The dogs had a great time!  We are so lucky to have a beach we go to that they have this much freedom.

Max getting ready to...

get the ball!!

He's a great swimmer.

Do you think he likes it?

Macy had a good time too.

Her goofy self is harder to photgraph in action.

We love Harbor Island!

Massive rainy day poststravaganzoplois

or whatever...

It's a rainy post-PMBAR Sunday.  I had a great time riding PMBAR with Kris Kjellquist yesterday.  Second best route choice- but the route worked for my (relatively) low fitness- by relative, I mean, I rode my bike or hiked for 12 hours under very challenging conditions on 50 or so miles of tough trail/ gravel road (mostly trail).  Only very fit people can do that.   Finishing was my goal and it was achieved with a pretty low amount of discomfort.  We beat the deluge by 10 minutes!

Anyway, this is going to be a 3 week update of posts.  First post below is the garden, three weeks ago.

Pea trellis, baby lettuce, spinach, arugula, chard.

More substanial lettuce, I think the cold frame has been a huge success.

There's lettuce, chard, and onions planted in this bed.

Onions in their bed on the fenced in garden inside the big fence.

Napa, broccoli, the slug grass is working OK.

Garlic.

Strawberries...

Flowering nicely!

What's your favorite thing to do?

Now picture yourself doing that with one boxer and one french bulldog barking right next to your head. Unfortunately, when my neighbors aren't home, that's what happens when I garden with tools in one major seciton of my garden.  They freak their shit out when their owners aren't home...to top it off, one of the dogs bit me last year when it was loose.  Otherwise, I'd reach over the fence and punch them.  I've tried everything- being nice (giving treats), yelling, spraying water, whatever doesn't involve me hitting them with a baseball bat like I want to.  Unfortunately again, we know her(wife neighboar) dad is terminally ill and that's a big part of why they haven't been home. Nevertheless, I will be talking to them sometime soon; my plan is to suggest bark collars.

Anyway...that's the only bad thing about the garden and they only freak out when I'm in one section, so I deal with it.  Here's a few other good photos from the last batch.

For one week each year, I have a pretty street view off the front with sunset and flowering trees.

Baby spinach

Lettuce in the cold frame...again, the can is for perspective.
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Baby lettuce.  This (and the spinach) have true leaves now.

Baby peas. These are about 1" taller now.

Napa, brocolli, and garlic all looking strong.

Canvas- ain't that some kind of budget Ikea?

Anyway...no posts, but been busy in the garden. I am extremely pleased with how things are going, and I will say, in a cheesy butler voice, " I am finding my creative outlet."  I've been working very hard on creating terraced paths in the main vegetable garden.  All rocks are salvaged from digging the beds in.  Timbers were on sale for $1.97 at Lowe's - that is super mega rock bottom cheap.  Here's some pictures!


Garden looking down from the car port.  Timbers inside the chain link are next.  12" rebar pins down each timber.

The terrace/path.

From the table by the shed.  Shows the terraced aspect better.
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And a fantastic looking dug in bed- it's the same as above, turned over, broken up, and raked.  I cannot say enough about how pleased I am with it. 

Another turned in bed.  Damn, that looks good.

Wet weekends are productive

I rode Thursday and Friday nights because I knew this weekend was going to be wet.  Great rides Thursday and Friday, Thursday's shall not be named but I left from a friend's house and rode for 3 hours...Friday was Tour de Mills with Kris and Ben-Bridge>Spencer>Spencer>Lower Fletcher>Reservoir>Lower Spencer>Middle Fork>Fletcher>lower spencer>Reservoir.   Both great rides.

This weekend, I gardened a lot.  I got several starts going...all older seeds, so we'll see what happens with this $4 project (bag of starting medium).   In the trays pictured below are(L>R)  1) lavender, rudbeckia, nasturtium, and sunflowers.  2) Straight 8 Cucumbers, White Wonder Cucumbers, Hearts of Gold cantaloupe, and Black Beauty Zucchini. 3) Brandywine Tomatoes and Yellow Crookneck Summer Squash.
Each tray holds...72 seeds, so even if I only get 33% germination, I'll have plenty.

The yellow flower is a Carolina Jasmine.  I'm going to plant it on the teepee trellis in the front yard with a red honeysuckle. I hope this will be a permanent arrangement. 

Ok...garden.  This bed was double dug and planted in Pontiac Red Potatoes.  I did not take a picture of the awesome compost  that I added.  Maybe a composting arrangment will be one of my next posts.  Anyway...

On the other side of the fence is another bed of potatoes.  To the green pole...

Onions from the green pole to the different straw/ plants...

Which are broccoli and napa cabbage.  They will have to be covered at night for the next week.

Garlic next to broccoli/napa is looking awesome.

Here's the lettuce inside of the cold frame.  Soda can is for perspective.

In the four-way bed, here's lettuce babies...

There are spinach and arugula babies in this photo.

The first pea sprout is glared out next to the soaker hose.

f

Garden shot.  Peas are under my folky-trellis.  Scrap rules!  There are two beds on each side of the cold frame with crimson clover on them.

On to the front garden...I weeded this a lot over the weekend.  The daffodils still look nice!

Weeded and mulched these day lilies.  Shovels are for perspective.

Irises are coming in nice.  The shorter ones if the foreground were saved from the crazy neighbors.

Finally, here's some really cute pictures of Macy and Phoebe.  Great weekend!