Amryn’s Aimless Wanderings

I haven’t posted about my garden in a while and I just realized it’s because I’m embarrassed of my failures. I always thought that meant I don’t have a green thumb, and maybe I don’t. But I still keep experimenting and trying new varities. Part of the problem is the unhealthy, rocky soil my house was built on so most of my vegetables grow in pots.

I tried corn: a few came out small while two of the stocks succumbed to beetles before I noticed the problem. But it was an interesting experiment. I’m also growing 4 different types of tomatos. It’s a bit frustrating because 2 of them are larger varities like a roma so they take longer to ripen. But even with the yellow pear and large cherry they turn red a few at a time. I guess you’re supposed to have more than one of each kind so they ripen in clumps. But I tasted a store-bought cherry tomato and compared it with the ones from my garden: I never noticed the difference before! And it’s huge: the ones from the store taste like paste. I can’t even tell what’s tomato-ish about them except that they have small seeds and they’re red. The ones from the garden taste like sunshine, earth, and rain. They’re incredible!!

The other two are Amish Paste and a roma of some kind–they’re the largest I’ve ever attempted to grow and two I put inside vertically hanging upside-down planters which help elevate them from pests but unfortunately the only place I have to hang them is a bit too shady. But they’re still doing really well–the green cylindrical fruits are about the size of my palm! And they come in all sorts of weird, twisted shapes: long and bullet-shaped, kinked like a lima bean, or dumpy like a squash. I can’t wait to taste them!

Mom’s zucchini was a disappointment–it was always sickly and I accidentally let her basil flower. But the peppers are doing really well–there’s a typical, long spicy yellow one but the other is a weird, yellow mushroom-shaped one with a medium flavor. Both the peppers and tomatos are transplants from Seed Savers and they’ve been doing extremely well overall. I didn’t have as much luck with seeds though. I can’t wait to try new ones next year!

I had squirrels climbing a pole that held a bird feeder. I placed Vaseline on the pole, and enjoyed about 2 days watching the squirrels try (unsuccessfully) to climb the pole. I got quite a laugh, and they quickly gave up.

Amazing what makes it to the front page of the Times these days isn’t it. We can kill half a million people without concern and are kind to vermin? This article is making me feel all warm and cozy inside

I know I’m not helping here, I understand peoples frustrations with critters eating the veggies, but if your gardening you’re already aware that it’s irresistible for the animals and that you really can’t change that without changing something in yourself, assuming you care in the first place. If you can kill for a zuccini then go ahead. But if you find that its morally reprehensible, listen to yourself and honor that inner voice. Me? I’d go the zen route…”Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” Try growing the garden FOR them instead of in spite of them and see if nourishing your heart and spirit isn’t as vital as nourishing the body, which can survive very well on store bought zuccini anyway. Learn to share, even when someone or something else gets more than you.

We mostly have problem with deer. I have found that…ummm…taking a leak at the edge of the garden has been very effective in keeping them off. Of course, this is not feasible around the vegetable garden, but…

I buy those bamboo barbecue skewers at the grocery store and bbq store.

Stick them in the ground with the pointy end “up” and pointing out toward where invading critters might make an entry to your garden. Place them about every 6″.
I call this the Viet Cong vege trap. Believe me when those critters feel the working end of those bbq skewers, you won’t see them for a long time.

I posted a sign in the backyard (positioned close to ground level) with a recipe for rabbit pie. I think the bunnies got the message. They have stopped gnawing through the stems of my hyacinth bean plants.

I hate creepy, crawly little bugs—and aphids are definitely one of them. A moving, translucent green patch of bugs—ICK!!! They’re all over my butterfly bush I discovered and I hastily moved it away from my pea plants.

UPDATE: To my horror I discovered 2 small ones on the underside of a pea plant. I hastily sprayed soap water all over everything and will contunue to do so each day. I don’t think I’m going to resort to the aluminum foil for fear of overheating the delicate shoots. But I might just have to–*arms self with oil spray like an uzzi–look out #*%@ bugs!!* 

I’ve started using a home remedy of water/oil/soap in a spray to suffocate them. If that’s not enough I’m going to mail-order ladybugs to munch on them ^_^ Ah the lovely world of insect carnivores. I’ll happily let them eat every single one!

My pea plants are doing splendidly–very successful. The only problem is that I now have 24 of them… I’ve arranged them in 5 pots in clusters of 4-5 each because they like to be crowded but I might have to break them up later. The zucchini continues to thrive but I’m kind of worried about the spindly chives. In China during the winter they cut the chives back and cover them with straw so they come up white in the spring. I think that’s what happened with one pea plant that I thought just didn’t germinate but was actually buried the whole time. It’s a lot paler than the others with a semi-translucent white stalk. I wonder, if it survives, will it continue to be albino??