garden track: the ups and downs

garden photo is from last wednesday. it gives an idea of my set up--there are been plant developments since this was taken.

Day Six
Friday. slug day.
as i mentioned in the previous garden post, i have planted a garden that slugs are powerfully attracted to. add to that the fact that The Ark should be appearing on my street any moment, and we have a problem.

i removed all of the slugs and now i am entering a research phase. i don't want to kill things other than the slugs, so i must be careful. i keep reading about people killing their plants trying to get the slugs off them. slat is bad for plants. at least in slug lethal quantities, i am learning.

Day Seven
Saturday. pumpkin buds.
rW and i went out bright and early before berry picking to check out the garden. no slugs to be found, but the weather was dry last night (comparatively speaking at lest. hold that order for an ark).

instead we founds lots of pumpkin buds! i should count them. i am a bit afraid our one little plant will make 10 pumpkins and what on earth would i do with that many? rW is concerned that because the little buds have appeared this early, we will have pumpkins in august. i think it will hold out.

Day Eight
Sunday. Coffee and Beer.
slugs are back, and they have eaten the entirety of one of my marigolds.

i am fighting back with coffee grounds on the soil around my edible plants (at first... the marigolds with get coffee as i drink it!) and beer traps.

Day Nine
Monday. Waterlogged.
all i want is one sunny 90 degree day. i need it for the pots to dry out! i went out this morning and discovered tiny mushrooms have sprung up in my tomato pots. i don't think they are bad, per se... but they can't be good.

only one slug in my trap this morning.

Day Ten
Tuesday. Escar-GO!
again, only one slug in my trap. it has not rained since the weekend, which may be the cause of this lack of slug activity. i still baited the beer traps and i continue to spread coffee grounds after every pot i make.

i will drive them away!

i am becoming very worried abut my poblano pepper plant because of the dampness. i think it wants drier soil and short of my going out there with a hairdryer, it isn't happening. the leaves feel flaccid rather than perky and smooth. it even dropped a few. boo.

Day Eleven
Wednesday. good news. bad news.
the rain came back last night and it brought the slugs along for a visit. to add insult to injury, the rain washed away my beer traps, and the slugs ate another marigold.

i asked the two nibbled plants to make a sacrifice for the good of the group--i dug them up and flung them into the woods beside my garden spot. i added more coffee and set more traps.

the only "up" side to this slimy, waterlogged situation is some pepper blossoms. both the jalapeno and the poblano have beautiful little white blossoms that opened this morning!


Herb Update
indoor gardening. allsorts.
rW's herbs are joining the party. he has three seedling of basil and two seedlings of oregano. i'm not sure if i am supposed to tell you this, but he has been naming them.

i am personally overrun with arugula seedlings and i think i must thin them out if i want a decent salad. still deciding what to do and where.

finally, i think i failed to mention the carrots. they were a shot in the dark. i planted a perimeter of carrots around my arugula in the dish and they have now sprouted! i believe the first carrots appeared on saturday morning. more developments as they happen.