Job's Garden
As I mentioned in the previous post, I built a garden box. I've wanted to start a garden for some time now. The thought of turning near useless lawn space into a productive space appeals to me. I'm not under any illusions that I can ever grow enough food to sustain us. It's strictly supplemental. Fresh fruits and vegeys right outside the door. Seeds are cheap!
The problem is finding a spot in my yard. Most of my acre is forested slope. Shade is plentiful. Flat terrain is reserved for lawn so the kids have someplace to play. I chose a useless spot of lawn on a slope that I thought got plenty of sunlight (it doesn't, even after tree branch trimming up on the roof).
In order to level it out, I had to build up one end. Fortunately, I have plenty of scrap lumber at my disposal so construction was virtually free. I did have to buy some galvanized screws. And topsoil. But dirt is.... well, dirt cheap. The advantage to bringing in the topsoil is that I'm able to provide a root free, nutrient rich foundation for the seedlings, which the kids and I started up in the early Spring.
It all sounds good, doesn't it?
The first problem I encountered was that not all of the seeds germinated. I guess some were too old. I've been buying seed packets for years, always intending to grow vegeys in pots on the deck, but never doing it.
But some took: cantelopes, zucchini, carrots, and sunflowers. I also went out and bought a cheap strawberry plant and tomato plant. I spent a little more and got a blueberry bush too.
The second problem I encountered, which everyone in the Northeast knows first hand, was all the rain we got. Too much rain, not enough sun, not that I had all that much to begin with (Not that I'm complaining about the cool temperatures. That's been great!). It was the second wettest June on record in New York City, which is close enough to hold true for us as well. Overcompensating for the lack of snow we got this winter.
All of the cantelopes shriveled up. The ranks of the zucchini dwindled. The sunflowers failed to thrive. But the carrots, tomato plant and blueberry bush were good.
And along came the slugs.
Those slimy fuckers have been a menace. Normally confined to evenings and cool, moist forest canopy, they've been out during the day! It's been so wet that they don't have to flee from the heat of the sun. While they left most of the edibles alone, they attacked the sunflowers, marigolds, pansies, and any other flowering plants they could reach. It's like a bad Sci-Fi Channel movie.
Desperate, I decided to try using an all natural pest repellent I'd bought from Agway back in May (they were all out of slug repellent). I mean, there's only so many slugs I can pick off the plants and toss in the road or step on. I suppose I could've tried salting a perimeter around my plants (I might try that next year), but with all the rain, it wouldn't last.
The product is called SupeRepellent and is made by a company called Country Fare. So I mixed up a batch from the concentrate as per the directions and gave everything a good soaking late one afternoon when it wasn't supposed to rain.
Big mistake.
The next morning, everything that got sprayed was burned. The blueberry bush was in shambles. One zucchini plant was fatally wounded while two others were battered. The tomato plant, which had been my success story for the year, took some damage down low, as did the strawberry plant. The carrots did ok. All the other flowering plants I sprayed were beat up.
I was furious. I couldn't believe that a product that contained all natural ingredients could do something like this. I hit the Web to find out what I could. Ironically, a couple of the ingredients (clove oil in particular) are herbicides in high enough concentrations. They're even used by organic farmers to eliminate weeds. The very compounds intended to keep pests away can actually kill the very plants the product's creator intended it to protect!
I waited a couple of days before going back to Agway. I really didn't want to chew them out. They didn't create the stuff. They just sell it. I explained what happened and they gave me my money back. The store manager suggested I call the manufacturer as they're right here in Connecticut.
I got an answering machine. I'd already gotten my money back so I didn't chew them out. I did emphasize that their product wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
I thought that was going to be the end of it, but the product's creator called me back the next day. He apologized profusely and asked if he could come out to check the damage. I said sure.
It was the worst damage he'd ever seen.
We talked at length about the product: why he made it, the ingredient choices, proper mixing, dilution, and application techniques, and so on. It was one of those rare times when I could put my old chemistry knowledge to use. He couldn't bs me, but then again, he didn't try. The oils are generally immiscible in the solution unless sufficiently agitated. In other words, shake vigorously and shake often. But I'd read that on the label and noticed it in the concentrate. So either I oversprayed (most likely) or it was a bad batch.
He apologized several times and offered me some free products: pre-diluted SupeRepellent and some vitamin additive meant to revive plants.
Two weeks went by and it seemed like the garden might recover. Carrots were still growing. The tomato plant was over six feet tall and producing plenty of quarter sized tomatoes. The blueberry bush wasn't going to product berries this year, but it had new growth. The one remaining good zucchini plant was even flowering again.
Then we got a hail storm.
The trees had their share of damage. If the leaves weren't green, one might be inclined to think it was Fall. No limbs lost though.
As for the garden, the zucchini's leaves were punctured and the flower was smushed. Several branches on the tomato plant were broken and a dozen green tomatoes were knocked to the ground. The sunflowers were snapped in half. The carrots appear to have been too small to suffer much and the blueberry bush was already a skeleton so it was hard to hit.
The garden is recovering, again. I've still got my tiny tomatoes. One of the fallen green ones is turning red on the window sill. The strawberry plant is flowering. I suspect the carrots are ok, but very small. I have no idea when I'm supposed to pull them out. I'm waiting as long as possible in hopes that they're actually growing into something big enough to eat.
It's still July. The forecast for the week is scattered thunder showers. Every day. I have to wonder what's coming next. Crushing heat wave? Raccoon rampage? Mole invasion? Return of the slugs? My cats are good at catching mice. I wonder if I can train them to go after slugs. In the meantime, maybe I'll stock up on some salt.
\_/
DED
The problem is finding a spot in my yard. Most of my acre is forested slope. Shade is plentiful. Flat terrain is reserved for lawn so the kids have someplace to play. I chose a useless spot of lawn on a slope that I thought got plenty of sunlight (it doesn't, even after tree branch trimming up on the roof).
In order to level it out, I had to build up one end. Fortunately, I have plenty of scrap lumber at my disposal so construction was virtually free. I did have to buy some galvanized screws. And topsoil. But dirt is.... well, dirt cheap. The advantage to bringing in the topsoil is that I'm able to provide a root free, nutrient rich foundation for the seedlings, which the kids and I started up in the early Spring.
It all sounds good, doesn't it?
The first problem I encountered was that not all of the seeds germinated. I guess some were too old. I've been buying seed packets for years, always intending to grow vegeys in pots on the deck, but never doing it.
But some took: cantelopes, zucchini, carrots, and sunflowers. I also went out and bought a cheap strawberry plant and tomato plant. I spent a little more and got a blueberry bush too.
The second problem I encountered, which everyone in the Northeast knows first hand, was all the rain we got. Too much rain, not enough sun, not that I had all that much to begin with (Not that I'm complaining about the cool temperatures. That's been great!). It was the second wettest June on record in New York City, which is close enough to hold true for us as well. Overcompensating for the lack of snow we got this winter.
All of the cantelopes shriveled up. The ranks of the zucchini dwindled. The sunflowers failed to thrive. But the carrots, tomato plant and blueberry bush were good.
And along came the slugs.
Those slimy fuckers have been a menace. Normally confined to evenings and cool, moist forest canopy, they've been out during the day! It's been so wet that they don't have to flee from the heat of the sun. While they left most of the edibles alone, they attacked the sunflowers, marigolds, pansies, and any other flowering plants they could reach. It's like a bad Sci-Fi Channel movie.
Desperate, I decided to try using an all natural pest repellent I'd bought from Agway back in May (they were all out of slug repellent). I mean, there's only so many slugs I can pick off the plants and toss in the road or step on. I suppose I could've tried salting a perimeter around my plants (I might try that next year), but with all the rain, it wouldn't last.
The product is called SupeRepellent and is made by a company called Country Fare. So I mixed up a batch from the concentrate as per the directions and gave everything a good soaking late one afternoon when it wasn't supposed to rain.
Big mistake.
The next morning, everything that got sprayed was burned. The blueberry bush was in shambles. One zucchini plant was fatally wounded while two others were battered. The tomato plant, which had been my success story for the year, took some damage down low, as did the strawberry plant. The carrots did ok. All the other flowering plants I sprayed were beat up.
I was furious. I couldn't believe that a product that contained all natural ingredients could do something like this. I hit the Web to find out what I could. Ironically, a couple of the ingredients (clove oil in particular) are herbicides in high enough concentrations. They're even used by organic farmers to eliminate weeds. The very compounds intended to keep pests away can actually kill the very plants the product's creator intended it to protect!
I waited a couple of days before going back to Agway. I really didn't want to chew them out. They didn't create the stuff. They just sell it. I explained what happened and they gave me my money back. The store manager suggested I call the manufacturer as they're right here in Connecticut.
I got an answering machine. I'd already gotten my money back so I didn't chew them out. I did emphasize that their product wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
I thought that was going to be the end of it, but the product's creator called me back the next day. He apologized profusely and asked if he could come out to check the damage. I said sure.
It was the worst damage he'd ever seen.
We talked at length about the product: why he made it, the ingredient choices, proper mixing, dilution, and application techniques, and so on. It was one of those rare times when I could put my old chemistry knowledge to use. He couldn't bs me, but then again, he didn't try. The oils are generally immiscible in the solution unless sufficiently agitated. In other words, shake vigorously and shake often. But I'd read that on the label and noticed it in the concentrate. So either I oversprayed (most likely) or it was a bad batch.
He apologized several times and offered me some free products: pre-diluted SupeRepellent and some vitamin additive meant to revive plants.
Two weeks went by and it seemed like the garden might recover. Carrots were still growing. The tomato plant was over six feet tall and producing plenty of quarter sized tomatoes. The blueberry bush wasn't going to product berries this year, but it had new growth. The one remaining good zucchini plant was even flowering again.
Then we got a hail storm.
The trees had their share of damage. If the leaves weren't green, one might be inclined to think it was Fall. No limbs lost though.
As for the garden, the zucchini's leaves were punctured and the flower was smushed. Several branches on the tomato plant were broken and a dozen green tomatoes were knocked to the ground. The sunflowers were snapped in half. The carrots appear to have been too small to suffer much and the blueberry bush was already a skeleton so it was hard to hit.
The garden is recovering, again. I've still got my tiny tomatoes. One of the fallen green ones is turning red on the window sill. The strawberry plant is flowering. I suspect the carrots are ok, but very small. I have no idea when I'm supposed to pull them out. I'm waiting as long as possible in hopes that they're actually growing into something big enough to eat.
It's still July. The forecast for the week is scattered thunder showers. Every day. I have to wonder what's coming next. Crushing heat wave? Raccoon rampage? Mole invasion? Return of the slugs? My cats are good at catching mice. I wonder if I can train them to go after slugs. In the meantime, maybe I'll stock up on some salt.
\_/
DED
Labels: environment, gardening, home
posted by DED at 9:45 PM
4 comments
links to this post
