Tomato Pests

Noticed yesterday that my tomato plants have what I believe to be red spider mites. I picked all of them off and smashed them, but there were a few more this morning when I went out to check on them. In doing some reading they are pretty hard to kill with an insecticide, but that when there are just a few on there you can spray it down regularly with the water house to spray them off. Anybody have any NATURAL suggestions?

I also learned yesterday watching a local gardening show on RSU television that if you plant basil in the bed with your tomatoes it will produce better tasting tomatoes. They mentioned something about planting marigolds in the tomato bed also, but I didn't catch what that did. I went ahead and moved my basil in with the tomatoes and will add more later this afternoon when I get home (I have some sweet basil I started from seeds I got at Monticello last summer that are ready to be put into the ground).

Mushroom Factory

It seems that my garden bed seems to be some sort of a morning mushroom factory. I don't quite know why and if it's ok for my veg., but I sure thought they were pretty.

Neat website about potato boxes

Now that I have potatoes growing I have been looking on the Internet to see how they grow and what I do now. My friend Shannon told me that you could grow them in tires, but I didn't understand the reason. Now that I understand HOW they grow the tire method makes sense, but doesn't sound to aesthetically pleasing (who wants a bunch of tires in their pretty yard!). This website though has these boxes for sale (and I am sure by looking at the design they could be easily made) that shows a pretty way to grow potatoes in the tire method but with a bed-box. Check out the site, I think you will find it interesting...
http://gardenbeds.rolandksmith/potato-grow-box/

You say "potato," I say "patattah"

HOLLY COW!! I can not believe it, but our potatoes are growing!!! Becky and I bought some in March and we were told to cut up one and let it dry out for a day or two. Well...a week later they were STILL on the counter and even growing a little mold on them (I'm just plain BAD about getting around to doing things some times. My mother battled with this with me for YEARS and was the root of many arguments). I either needed to throw them away or plant them and I decided, "what the hell, I'll plant them," After weeks of nothing we figured that they were so far gone when I planted them that nothing would grow. Well, low and behold Monday when I went out to water out of nowhere there were three sturdy potato plants growing. I could NOT believe it and was so excited I about peed my pants. I have never grown potatoes before and am eager to reap the fruits (or vegetables) of this endeavor. What I can't get is how they just seemed to appear over night. It seemed like one day they weren't there and the next they were.

Attack of the cute cabbage butterfly caterpillar

My POOR, POOR broccoli and cauliflower plants! I went out this morning and they look so bad from the caterpillars feasting on them that I'm not sure they will make it. I bought some organic pest spray but it doesn't seem to be working on them. The damn things are so cute you hate to kill them off, but I want broccoli more than cute worms in my garden! I did some research and heard about biological bacteria called BtK that kills them without harming the plants/environment so I'll have to get some to mix up and put on my plants. Until then I am for sure going to attempt Terror's cucumber/pie tin method to see it that will work.

Dirty Finger Nails

Today I had to go to my home to meet the AC repairman and while Becky and I were there we decided to go ahead and get the Azaleas that were on life support into the ground. I felt like they needed to get out of those 1 gallon plastic pots and into some good soil if they were really going to have a good shot at making it. So now, underneath a bedroom window and in a nice part shade area I have 5 white Azaleas situated to grow into a beautiful addition to my front yard. In addition we weeded out some of the flower beds that have been a bit neglected since I moved out. Since I know for sure I am moving back in September I want to make sure my yard and garden stay looking good. In fact, since the renters don't care, Becky and I are going to start going over there periodically to work on the yard and house to try and get it in the direction I want it in before the move back in. I have designed a BEAUTIFUL front yard on paper and am in the process of putting a plan down for the neglected back yard. I am SOOOOO excited to get my house back and have a "never-ending" project!

Myrtillocactus Geometricus Crest

This is one of my FAVORITE new Cacti! It just screams unique and has lots of potential to be a major focal piece in a planter.

Falling in love with Cacti

Recently I have really been becoming a fan of Cacti, all the different shapes, textures, colors....and it doesn't hurt that I love New Mexico and they really take me there. Over the past few weeks we have accumulated a few really neat Cacti and I wanted to share them with you.

My Kalanchoe

My mom gave me this awesome plant last year and I must say that I never paid it much attention or thought much of it. It grew real lanky and never impressed me much. This spring when I transplanted it I grew kinda fond of it and wanted to see it do better, unfortunately it just looked weepy. When Mom came to visit me for the Sand Springs Herbal Fair two weekends ago she took drastic measures with it and almost made me faint...she cut it back to almost nothing! By the time she was done with it all that was left were some cuttings to propagate and a basic stem. Needless to say I feared it would just fizzle out, but Mom did her best to reassure me it would make it healthier and prettier...and she was RIGHT (I know, it pains me to say these words). It already has 4 or 5 spots where new growth is starting to break through the main stem and the cutting are already rooted well enough I can plant them...Can't wait to see how it looks by the time I have to bring it in for old man winter.

My vegetable garden is doing ok, not sure if it is getting too much sun, but all-in-all I am pretty happy with it. My jalapeno pepper plant seems to be a little yellowish green and I do not have any blooms on it as of yet. Also, you will notice my cauliflower and broccoli have been a feast for some grubby, fat insect. Since then I have sprayed it down with some Organic garden spray that is okay for pets, hopefully they will make a full recovery. My green beans are taking off like Jack's magic beans, I had no idea they would grow so fast But again, I am worried the color isn't as "green" as they should be.

EAT YOUR VEG!

I thought this was too cute to pass up since my next post is about my vegetable garden!

Does Anybody Know the Genus/Species Names?

I got two Hostas last Friday from a lady's yard but don't know the specific species of these two, does anybody have any ideas? I was afraid they wouldn't make the transplant at first, but they have perked up nicely and looks like they will do well :)

Azaleas On Life Support

INTENSIVE CARE!

Last week at Home Depot they had Azaleas on sale for $1.97 a gallon bush so I went to see if they had any white ones left (I have decided to do a solid white wall of Azaleas on one foundation wall at my house). The selection they had left were so sun scorched and bone dry it looked as if the might cease to be at any moment. I asked the cashier if she would give me a discount and I got them for $1.00 a piece, I was soooo excited! I have been babying them all week; taking off dead and burnt leaves, giving them extra water, making sure they are shaded, and I am hoping to get them planted at my house this coming up weekend!

SEEDS, SEEDS, and more SEEDS!

I am officially running out of room to plant seeds! I started gardening again this year after pretty much taking last year off due to all the going, going, going of a newly single woman. This year however, the garden bug hit me twice as hard (I guess to make up for a year off) and now I find myself eating, sleeping, and living gardening. It started when I decided I wanted to plant a few veggies, nothing major. I went to a nursery and Becky built me a bed to plant the broccoli, cauliflower, onions, asparagus, and garlic I bought. The next wave of gardening hit me when I finally piked up my plants that had been staying at my friend's house in her greenroom for the winter. Once I had the garden planted and my plants back it was like I couldn't stop. I replanted my plants, decorated pots, and was constantly rearranging everything. Next I bought a little seed starting kit and planted some green beans and cilantro...NEITHER came up! I was really disappointed and thought that maybe I wouldn't be any good growing from seed when i remembered I had packets of seeds from my trips to Mount Vernon and Monticello last summer. I decided to give it a go and started the seed kit all over again. I planted heirloom cantaloupe, pumpkins (some from Monticello and some from a pumpkin I had 2 years ago), lemon balm, sweet basil, and blackberry lily (flower). Surprisingly lots of stuff started to sprout!! I was SOOOOOOO excited I could hardly contain myself...here I was starting a plant from the tiniest piece of earth, what a miracle!! Since then my mom has come up and brought me seeds from her garden to get started and helped me with my potted plants. We went to the Sand Springs Herbal Fair where I fell in love with succulents and started a new love affair with cacti! All-in-all, I am officially obsessed!! This blog will be my personal record/diary of my garden and my life gardening. I plan to upload photos and video of my trials, errors (hopefully few), and triumphs in the dirt. Tomorrow I many pictures to post that will hopefully be the begining of a green life in more ways than I can imagine!