Saturday, June 30, 2012

Before I forget

Finally finished planting my garden
Before I forget to post this blog, I'd better get it written down. I swear, last Saturday I had every intention of writing a post, and I even had a topic: the death of Lonesome George, the last giant tortoise of his kind in the world. When I traveled there I met him, if you can call looking at his shell meeting him. In my mind, I had written and posted all about it, but no, I found that I completely spaced not only Saturday's post, but Tuesday's as well.

So all about my garden! Those closest three rows you see in the picture were planted yesterday, with collard starts and black kale. I also put some marigold plants in each row to discourage pests. Slugs are driving me crazy. Look what they've done to my squash plant.
It's not just the leaves close to the ground; they have almost entirely eaten my sweet basil, which it seems they love. I am reduced to using Sluggo (those little white pellets on the ground), since they don't seem to be deterred in the least by the eggshells. I have yet to try the beer solution, but someone suggested copper all around the entire garden. I just went out to inspect those last rows and they did munch on a few of those tender leaves as well. Since they were planted yesterday, I know they are either not taking the bait or there are just too many of them. Not everybody is unwelcome, though. Yesterday I noticed this guy who seemed to fall in love with the young radish leaves:
Is this a moth or a butterfly? He's really huge, beautiful and unafraid to pose for his picture, it seems. Such a pretty thing. He was in my neighbor's garden plot, just flitting back and forth around the newly sprouted radishes. I also saw this morning an exciting opening blossom on my Asian eggplant. Those slugs better not bother this guy, since I have every intention of eating the fruit of it myself!
Asian eggplant blossom, 30 June 2012
Yesterday I broke a few leaves off the kale plants I put in the ground last month, which are looking really good. Apparently slugs prefer basil to kale; although they've tasted them they haven't attacked kale in the same way as other plants. You can see there are two varieties of kale here, although now I don't remember which is which. One is more strongly flavored than the other, but the two of us took a stem each and raised them like glasses of wine before we devoured them raw. Yum!
When I awoke this morning to a light rain (good for the garden!), I decided to go ahead and go on the morning walk with my lady friends. On the way there, the rain grew heavy enough for me to wonder about my decision, but before we had gone once around Lake Padden, the rain had stopped and we even saw the sun a few times. Little Alfie was sporting a brand-new raincoat, with cute little buttons and a hood. When he jumped up in his owner's arms, she pulled the hood up, but I missed the shot. He reluctantly allowed me to get this picture for you to enjoy.
By the time we returned from going around the lake twice (a total of 5.2 miles), this little raincoat was completely muddy and dirty, much like our shoes. I was really glad I went, though, since I am now feeling much more appreciative of the overcast skies than when I first got out of bed. In a short while I'll head to the movies with Judy. It's already been a good day, and I managed to remember to write a post for my blog!
:-)

29 comments:

  1. smiles....i bet it did feel good to get out...we have more storms on their way anytime now...which i am torn about...it is 103 so i could use the break but...any way, hope you figure out something for the slugs....that stinks...

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  2. your life is full - we'll let you space out on blog posts. :)

    that's a swallowtail butterfly. :)

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  3. I love your garden. Slugs are a pest here as well - ditto snails. While the butterfly is simply gorgeous his/her offspring devour everything.
    I am also really appreciating your wet walk - thank you.

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  4. Oh that puppy face in his little slicker.. that's just adorable.

    Nice to see your garden coming along, and that you and your neighbour are attracting beautiful butterflies. That looks like a Western Tiger Swallowtail. I just photographed his cousin, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, this morning.

    Just in case you were curious as I was, one main difference between butterflies and moths is distinguishable at a glance. Butterflies have knobby things at the end of their antennae. Moths have either flat or feathery antennae.

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  5. I agree with TexWisGirl. It looks like a Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, and a gorgeous one at that!

    My mother is having the same slug problem. It's fun to see your garden taking shape. Congratulations!

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  6. Alfie is pretty darn cute. I bet he needed a bath when he got home.

    Can't help you with slugs. I know they're out in great force. I see them, evidence of them, or dead ones on the sidewalks when I walk. Nasty creatures if you ask me.

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  7. Yes, a Swallowtail butterfly, isn't it gorgeous !
    Sorry to read you are having slug problems, try the beer, it does attract them..
    Sounds like the perfect day for a walk, sadly not here in Tennessee, 109 yesterday, today more of the same..
    Love that little doggy in his raincoat :)
    ~Jo

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  8. Here's something you could try re slugs. It fits in with my nature religion. Plant something that the slugs like and they will eat that and leave your plants alone. Sounds daft? Well it isn't. If you had a patch of earth and all it had in it was your and their favourite plant, guess what they'd eat? Now think again. Give them a choice. Your neighbours will thank you too. (smile)

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  9. Your garden sounds wonderful, DJan! I've been so busy I hadn't hardly thought of ours, left at home! Now, I'm wondering what is happening in our plot of earth! We have house sitters, who are commissioned to water and pick as needed, and I hope they are getting something!

    I have some incredible photos of rural France to share, next time I load photos on the mac! i didn't manage to do that today, and it's already getting past my bedtime!

    We will visit a market tomorrow before we leave Caen that has been in the same place for hundreds of years, every Sunday morning. I can't wait! Then we drive to our last night in France at Mont St Michel, an ancient abbey. Then back to France with the rental car, and hop the train to Zurich. I'll be home before I know it! :-)

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  10. PS ~ I meant back to Paris to return the rental car!

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  11. Slugs! I can't picture them, but they sound kind of gross. Sounds like they devoured your basil (my favorite herb) but the rest of the plants are trying to make a go of it. I hope you can find something to deter them.

    Glad you got in a good walk and it didn't pour heavily the whole time. You'll have to let us know what movie you went to see. :):) Sounds like a wonderful Saturday.

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  12. I'm ashamed to say I have also resorted to slug pellets. Tried the egg shells and the beer but nothing is as effective as the pellets. That butterfly is stunning.

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  13. Slugs on the coast can be huge! here the slugs are small but they still do damage. They come about the beginning of August.

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  14. DJan, A friend of mine brought Kale Chips to book club the other day. Yum!

    Recipe: trim leaves from stems and discard stems. Dice leaves and coat with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and bake at 350 degrees for axp. 15 minutes.

    P.S. Use those slug pellets. You are not growing that beautiful garden for them to enjoy.

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  15. You sound busy. So sorry about the slugs! How are your friends dealing with them?

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  16. I do believe you might be busier than any other six people I know.

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  17. yes Hilary is correct..Butterflies have knobs at the end of their antennae..I agree a Swallowtail..and a beauty at that.
    Good luck with the slugs..Sluggo may work I have never tried it. Have a great Sunday..I suppose you are going to go jumping out of perfectly good planes:)

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  18. In our earth boxes the plants grow undisturbed. In our raised-bed garden, not so much. Still, that kale looks very edible!

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  19. There's a book somewhere in these blog posts, DJan. Maybe it starts with your sunday posts and morphs into these. Not sure. But you write beautifully.

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  20. Yes, a Tiger Swallowtail it is. I remember them from my childhood. Letting them hatch out of their chrysalises in the sunny kitchen window.

    My dad used beer for slugs. Said it works every time. One good use for beer.

    Hope you keep walking, riding, and gardening.

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  21. Slugs are always a problem here in the cool, wet PNW. Beer does work, but for newly set out plants, I wouldn't trust anything but slug bait. And you will need to reapply it after heavy rains. Once your plants get established, the slugs will be less of a hazard for them.

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  22. Hi Djan! I have hardly any slug damage at all. I even have big chewy hostas all over the place with nary a chomp taken out of them. I suspect the ants creeped them all out on the way to my kitchen.

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  23. Listen to your comments DJan. Slug pellets do work and be generous with them. We use seaweed ourselves and we just pile it on around the entire plants and it seems once your plants get grown to a certain stage, the snails move on to wherever the young tender plants are. Both of these have worked for us. Beware of those pretty moths, for they will lay their eggs on the underneath of your leaves of your plants - then babies hatch and chomp away. Garden is shaping up and looking smart.
    Nice photo of Paw paw and walk sounds energizing. Have a great day :) Off to celebrate our BIG Birthday:)

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  24. Dear DJan, what movie did you see and did you like it?
    Try the beer in the pie pan. Peace.

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  25. The slugs have been particularly nasty on our garden. We use egg shells, which seems to work.

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  26. Sorry to hear the slugs are eating so many plants. I have resorted to the chemical defense with them also, nothing else seems to work.

    The swallowtail is gorgeous and little Alfie is just adorable.

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  27. The butterfly looks like a tiger swallowtail. Too bad about the slugs taking over. I know my dad used to put out tobacco around some plants that continued to be infested with insects. I guess it helped some, 'cause he did it every year.

    What a cute dog...precious in his rain garb.

    By the way, once the butterfly lays its eggs, watch out for the caterpillar [they're huge, green and ugly...with 'horns'] ==they'll eat anything in no time flat.

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  28. Glad to hear you got your garden in. We are watering like crazy to offset our heat wave. And some like it hot. So I'm doing just fine! And thanks for letting me know the Lake Calhoun post inspired you. That meant a lot to me.

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  29. Good luck with keeping the slugs at bay. My grandfather also used tobacco around his plants and sprayed the leaves with a combo of tobacco and water. There's a brand called Native American without yucky additives.

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