i am always inspired by these tend ladies. their passion for gardening on small plots of land is contagious. in early spring, i found this old stump & planted mint inside amy style. every time i look at our little stump planter, i think of her. thank you, amy, for the wonderful idea!
late spring is here & we are beginning to prepare for the summer season. we are planting tomatoes & making trellises with twine & bamboo for cucumbers. we are planting zucchini & yellow squash, crossing our fingers aphids & squash bugs don't get to our plants first (we still haven't found an organic pest control solution... any ideas? they are fierce here!).
for now, we are patiently waiting for our carrots. only a few short weeks left until we can begin harvesting! it is definitely salad season here. we have never grown romaine lettuce before, but our heads are maturing nicely. we are filling up brown bags of lettuce for neighbors, family & dear friends. i sometimes fill up a mixing bowl of salad for lunch. it's so delicious this time of year.
i found that old red chair at a yard sale for a couple of dollars last weekend. the seat needed to be re-woven, but instead, i decided to make it into a fun planter.
we also added a new garden bed to the side of our house for mint. i am looking forward to mint tea & popsicles this summer.
it's a wonderful time of year for planting, harvesting, watching & enjoying the bright new greens of the season! happy gardening friends!
I've had good luck using neem against aphids. Usually 1-2 treatments is enough to take care of them. Squash bugs are another story. I've had several gardens completely destroyed by squash bugs. The only thing that has helped is to be completely vigilant, and look for the eggs on the underside of every single squash and melon leaf, scrape them off, and destroy them. Repeat every few days. Labor intensive, but it helps a lot.
ReplyDeleteLove the stump planter! Such a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about your trouble with aphids this week, as I treated my basil (aphids seem to love basil!). I have done well with a simple insecticidal soap. I just mix dr. bronners and water in a spray bottle. I make it pretty soapy, and spray off any area infected. Then I rinse it shortly after. Apparently the soap strips the aphids of a protective coating and they will eventually die off. It can take a couple treatments sometimes, but with patience and persistence I have had pretty great results with this.
ReplyDeleteAnd beautiful photos Natalie!
ReplyDelete