It has been a busy spring. My first adventure with straw bale gardening has had its ups and downs, what with battalions of slugs chomping away at my plants. After I sort of got them under control, I replanted the beans, peas, okra and cucumbers. Chilly nights have kept things from really taking off, but I thought I'd post a few pics for those who have been wondering about and considering straw bale gardening or just a backyard/container garden.
I have 3 tomato plants; a yellow pear, Brandywine, and Better Boy
Cantaloupes and sweet peppers.
Carrots in a planter box.
Cilantro
General kitchen herbs
Lemon Balm and Oxalis
Mixed lettuce
Parsley
Pole Beans, the idea being that they'll climb the metal tower. C'mon guys, you can do it!
Sweet peas. Jim built the trellises for me, of course.The marigolds scattered everywhere are supposed to protect the veggies, but in the worst of the slug attack, they were mowing down the marigolds, too!
Two pear trees and a new fig tree. Also, a peach tree, but the frost bit the blooms off, no peaches this year.
A new grapevine.
And I got a rain barrel. Now if it would just rain enough to fill it. That's it for now. As things grow, I'll post more pics.
By the way, those slugs, I tried every remedy I read about, including sawdust, diatomaceous earth, coffee, sand, and saucers of beer. Of these, the beer worked best, but they still kept coming, even though I was out in the middle of the night, with my flashlight, salting drunken slugs. I finally ordered
Slug-go from Amazon.com. That stuff works, but it's expensive, and you have to sprinkle it heavily and fairly often.
So, with slug remedies, replanting, and everything else involved in planting and tending a garden, my little garden is fairly expensive, but I love going out in the mornings with my huge cup of coffee (not really coffee, but that's another post) in hand and walking around, looking at my garden. It's worth the trouble and cost. I'll post more pics as my garden grows.
Thanks for stopping by,
Cat
No comments:
Post a Comment