Garden Journal: Tie up the 'maters and other blighty news...

"Please produce. Please produce." This, I have been whispering to the tomatoes since we planted them a few months ago and have only eaten 2 tomatoes in that time. They have hit some speed bumps along the way and definitely got a beating from the BLIGHT (what a fright!), along with the fact they only get a couple hours of direct sunlight a day probably doesn't help. However, they keep chugging and they even grew out of their metal frames. (They must take after their mother ;)

Blight has been a real pain in the ass this year to many tomato growers, however, it does make me feel a little better to discover it is a fungus that is killing my plants and not me. ;) To fight the blight, Tyler the resident scientist found an organic solution to keep the fungus at bay. He read a scientific study (oooh fancy) concerning a mixture of sunflower oil and water to reduce the "powdery mildew" on leaves. So we tried it and mixed a solution of water to sunflower oil at 1:200 in a spray bottle and thoroughly dampened the leaves with the mixture every other day or so...and it has worked! Now, we still don't have any tomatoes to show for it, but it has been quite hot down here lately and many new flowers are forming. I have high hopes for the next few weeks. *fingers crossed*

In other "Operation Keep Tomatoes Alive" news, the 'maters are outgrowing their cages. Solution: Tie them up and strangle them. Okay, not really strangle them, but give them some support to climb upwards and onwards towards the all mighty sun.

First, I started with a long piece of twine and tied a knot at the bottom of the tomato stalk.

Then I wound the twine up through the tomato stalk to the very top.

Lastly, the twine was tied to a hook in the porch ceiling. Yay for healthy tomatoes!

I think they look quite pretty in the afternoon glow.

I have come to the conclusion that while container gardening on a not-so-sunny porch produces much frustration and not much food, it does provide me with plenty of new opportunities to learn about caring for plants that I will be able to bring to my ginormous garden in the future. It is not an ideal size for growing food to sustain 2 people, but has been an ideal size to do battle with plant pests using organic methods. I would take one thai basil infested with aphids over a whole garden any day!

Oh, and by the way the ladybugs DID work and we only occasionally see aphids anymore in the garden. Success with the ladies!!

Happy gardening,

Marci

Sweet Video

Here's a sweet little video about cupcake love. It is a super cute animated film about sugary goodness finding butternut love on a vegetable island. It is creative, fun, whimsical and even a little naughty in the "lemon love cave" (as one commenter aptly named it).

Enjoy!

Marci

Garden Journal: Assault on Aphids

My dear, poor garden is being ravaged on all fronts. Worms are making themselves cozy gorging on tomato plant leaves, blight has been a fight, unidentifiable bugs are sucking the life out of the mandarin tree and aphids are attacking ALL plants, rapidly devouring our precious thai basil we love to munch on so dearly.

Bugger off aphids!

Aphids are squirmy, reproduce frighteningly quickly, eat way too much and are a pain in the ass to spot on your plants. They arrive in your garden, make a ginormous family and don't just concentrate on one plant; they like to share the wealth. We have the problem of them almost destroying our thai basil plant, jalapeno plant and sweet basil, while we just noticed they moved in on our tomato plants too. Mochi (our roommates' new dog, yay!) even gave an aphid a piggyback ride into our house. They're invading our lives! I knew then it was time to take serious action, but in a friendly to the environment kind of way. :)

Like this:

Lady bugs resting up in the dairy company of milk and cheese. They need to save their energy for aphid hunting.

Release the hounds! (the ladies)

"We've come to save the basil!"

Besides being cute, pretty and actually helping your plants grow instead of devouring them to nubby stems, they also EAT aphids for dinner. What more could you ask for in a garden bug?

After some research on the internet by my resident garden scientist Tyler, we found that ladybugs are natural predators of aphids. Problem solved! I stopped by the local nursery and picked up a carton of hibernating ladybugs and quickly raced back home to place them safely in the wintery temperatures of the fridge. (They wake up and fly all around when their body temperature rises and I didn't want that happening in the car.)

Garden center information regarding Ladybug Liberation:

• Release the ladybugs in the evening
• 15 minutes before release, take desired quantity out of fridge and place in separate closed container. They have to "wake up" before being dispersed in garden
• Release a small amount every couple days because there will be some who may think the grass is greener on the other side
  
• Watch and enjoy the aphid assassins
  

There are other organic methods to ward off aphids that we are also experimenting with, like planting chives next to the infested plant because aphids don't like onion and garlic smells, and planting nasturtiums in the general area because they act as a repellent too. There is a great article here that shares natural tips to get rid of aphids.

So, I will keep you posted on the bug issues and whether the ladies are earning their keep in the garden.

Happy gardening,
Marci

Swap Meeting for Treasures

I'm unemployed. Oh wait, I'm employed, but not working (yet). Are they the same? To me it feels so. Which means I am being frugal and spending my time cleaning closets, bathrooms and under beds. It also means I have more time to notice items that we *should* have around the house. Like those new shoes I got for $10 (but they were so cute, you know?).

What is a great way to save money, hunt for treasures, NOT buy new things and have fun in the sun? Why, head to the swap meet of course! This past weekend my roommate and I did just that and went to Kobey's Swap Meet to search for some used goods. We had high hopes (since our last total letdown yard sale trip left us yearning for more) that through careful rummaging we could find what we were looking for. And we did! (and a little more :) Look what I got!:

Lovely green glass canning jars. I haggled (though I was nervous the first time) and paid $2!

One wooden chair for patio, which means I need to return to look for another ;)
It replaced one of the fugly camping chairs uglying up porch

And my favorite purchase of the day:

Cast iron skillet! For $6.25! Lodge brand! Can you tell I'm excited!?

It needs some TLC. Re-seasoning time is near.

So, all in all I spent $15.25 for all my goodies and entrance fee into swap meet. Now I keep asking myself why I didn't come here sooner. I told bf that we should go this weekend too. I mean, I think I should be making up for all the times I never went when I only lived miles from the place!

Swap meeting has opened my eyes to all the used, quality goods goodness. It just feels nice to find a perfectly fine used item for LESS money and know you are saving the world from another thing to throw in the land fill. I am pretty sure all my family is getting Christmas gifts from Kobey's this year.

I am not kidding.

Happy thrift shopping,

Marci