What a season...

Well, I didn't post much this summer because it was one disaster after another in my garden. :(
1st: The cucumber beetles ate my first set of cucumber plants in about 2 days. 
So I went out and bought more and some pesticides (which took care of the beetles). 

2nd: It rained like crazy and stunted the growth of my plants and drowned others. 

3rd: They got some relief from rain, but it was too late, the tomatoes caught late blight, the pumpkins had a cutter bug infestation, the peppers were way too small and the garlic had some mold growing on some of the bulbs. 

4th: Now the cucumber bugs were replaced by squash bugs, which ate holes into all the leaves of the new plants. 

I did however get 4 nice carrots, a bunch of radishes, a lot of lettuce, scallions, garlic and 5 cucumbers, and 2 peppers.  I've decided it's just too cold here for peppers.  They start producing fruit in Aug, but then it cools off too fast, so they only get through 1/2  the fruit growth.  Sad. I love peppers!

So that's pretty much what happened this year.  The hay was a failure.  I think it made more weeds and attracted a lot more bugs this year.  I think I would try news paper next year. 

I'm going to start some herbs for the winter: basil, thyme, rosemary, and parsley.  We'll see how they do!

Cheers!

Books/Sun!

I love to read outside! It's one of my favorite things.  Especially reading up on gardening techniques (I am totally a nerd). 
Today, I visited my college library and picked up a few books on Hydroponics:
1. Hydroponic Food Production-by Howard M. Resh, Ph.D.
2. Grow More Nutritious Vegetables without Soil-by James Taylor
3. Beginning Hydroponics (on order since they think it might have been lost) -Richard E. Nicholls
and on Pruning:
4. Sunset Pruning handbook-Roy L. Hudson

I'll let you know how helpful they prove to be!

Cheers!
Katie

Drowning and Pests

Well.  I was so excited that I had got my garden in so early and quickly this year, unlike last year.  But, this has not proved to be a good thing.  We have gotten SO MUCH RAIN!  There are puddles and pools in my garden, which has increased the amount of slugs and other bugs that eat my plants.  So not only are they drowning, but they have to fight off the chompers as well.  And I can't get in the garden to get the bugs b/c they are so soft.  I did notice a lot more spiders in the garden this year, so hopefully they will fight for me and eat the bugs! :)
The blueberries are looking good though!

The new ones I planted last fall look great despite all the plowing that knocked some of them down.

I used Straw this year to keep the weeds down, and it's helping a lot!  But I think it may be attracting some bugs.

The zucchini and cukes are looked really bad due to the rain and the squash bugs.

The tomato plant that Jay's coworker gave me is looking pretty pitiful.  A bunch of the leaves got bent off from high winds. 

But there are a few flowers on it already!

My tomatoes and peppers are starting to look good with the little bit of sun we've gotten today!

My peas are loving the weather.  But no beans yet.

Onyx wants me to pay attention to him, but I'm busy. 

My radishes also love the rain.  Some of them ended up 1 foot away due to the hard rain, but it's ok.

And a few of the marigolds are starting to form flowers which will hopefully keep away some of these pest bugs.

Not many of  my mom's flowers popped up this year, but these globe ones look really nice. 

The weather is looking up for the rest of the week!

Have a Good Memorial Day!  Thank you to ALL our troops!

Keeping an Eye on the Weather

It's almost April 15th and I'm getting really antsy about getting outside.  Depending on the weather today, I may rake rather than go to the gym!

The weather is looking good until Saturday night/Sunday.  The maple festival is this weekend!  That means CRAFT FAIR and lots of ideas and good food!  We attend every year.
I always look for jewelry and food at these things. 

Well, my seedlings are looking stunted since they exploded the other day.  I have 2 cucumbers growing in one pod but there are plenty of pods that didn't grow anything.  I am really struggling with my herbs!  I think that's what I'll study this summer. 
Things to Do this Spring:
1. Find out when to mulch my blueberry bushes and what type to get. (Will cut grass/leaves suffice?)
2. Get the rota til guy from my church to come and do the garden.
3. Get fertilizer from Jay's parents (they own horses).
4. Rake the stones off the yard before the flowers start popping up.
5. Plant the garden at the end of April.


OOOO!!! I'm so excited!!!  :)

Seedling Explosion

My seedlings worked really hard this weekend!  The zucchinis and pumpkin got HUGE and the cucumbers are right behind.  Those mushrooms are still causing trouble, but I've been keeping them under control and I've contacted UVM extension to see what their suggestions are for treatment.  I have almost all my peppers popping up and the tomatoes are coming along slowly as they did last year.  Maybe I will look into fertilzer or some sort of stimulant for them.  I have a book that my Gpa gave me called:  The Ten Week Garden by Cary Scher.  It has beautiful sketches of veggies and a very pretty notebook feel to it.  It's like reading the author's note book! Very fun and chalked full of information about gardening in Vermont.  The author is from VT, which is great because he knows the variability of VT weather.  It seems to be hard to find this book because it is from the 70's but it's an excellent resource!  :) 

I'm getting so excited!!!!   ha ha ha!  Spring is here! The crocuses are up, the birds are out, and mud season has come! I love spring!  :)

Grow, Grow, Snow???

There is a reason why in Vermont they say you shouldn't take your snow tires off until April 15th; it snowed today.  Luckily, it doesn't seem to have stuck!
Some things I have been thinking about are:
1. Testing the soil this year to see if I should add more horse manuer this year or if that would make it too acidic;
2. Fertilizing my garlic;
3. How to get rid of the mushrooms that have appeared in my poo pods!  Apparently the soil had some sort of agent in it and now I have mushrooms-Orange Peel Fungi (I think?)-they aren't poisonous, but I didn't want them.

 

But here are some of the pictures so far:

 

Some onions in the front and zucchini and pumpkins on the side are coming up fast!

My zucchini are looking really good! I think they look so pretty when they are seedlings.

 

The snow from a few weeks ago and my original set up, which had to change due to the dog chewing on my poo pods!  Some evidence of that is shown below:

 

And finally the start of the nasturtiums and marigolds to ward off predators this year!

And that's about it!

Cheers!

Check This!

I think gardeners must be some of the most creative people on the planet! I love this idea! It's so simple, beautiful and functional.  I think it would be great for a small kitchen to brighten it up with flowers or fresh herbs.  If I had enough money, I would totally get this!

Kickstarter Urbio

Right now, it seems to be in the starter stages of life; they need funding or something.  I've never heard of this kickstarter website but I really like this idea!

Cheers! I will post images of my seedlings soon!