So Many Bugs!!

Yes, there are tons of bugs in my garden, some good, some bad. I've noticed a bunch of small praying mantises hanging around. I know these are good bugs, since they eat bad bugs, but they are sooooo freaky looking! They totally freak me out. One molted in one of my okra containers, and the exoskeleton is even weird to look at. I hope they don't get too big, because then they'll be even freakier.

I noticed some bugs clmbing out of my compost the other day. At first I thought to myself "wow, I need to get rid of this compost if these weird bugs are climbing out of them". I did some reserch, and discovered that these bugs were really soldier fly larvae. It turns out that these are actually GOOD for the compost, as they help decompose the food waste. The soldier fly lays eggs near a food source (the compost) and when the lave hatch they munch on the food source. Then, when they are ready to become pupae and become adult flies, they climb out of the compost bin. In the evenings, when I can remember, I remove the lid of the compose so they can go be free to become adult flies.

The bad bugs include these little white flies hanging around my kale. I'm going to try spraying this organic pesticide, but I don't want to hurt the praying mantises. Tiny flies are also infesting the corn.

Tomato Plants Getting Big!

My tomato plants are growing really fast! And little yellow flowers are starting to appear! I'm really excited about the progress of these plants. I need to move them into bigger containers. I read that a 5 gallon container is the minimum size for tomatoes. I went to Home Depot to find some 5 gallon nursery pots, but they only had 7 gallon and they cost around $8 a piece. I thought that was way too expensive since I need six of them. I ended up ordering some containers online. I hope my tomato plants won't mind their tight quarters for a few more days.

Window Garden

I've been making the most out of the space around my window that overlooks my patio. It is getting hot here in Phoenix, and I'm finding that many plants prefer the shade since the sun is so string. First, I bought a parsley plant and a jalapeno plant from home depot last week because parsley comes in handy when cooking, and my jalapeno plants that I tried growing from seed didn't make it. I am hoping that the jalapeno plant produces!

Second, I decided to plant a window box with kale. I did some research, and it looks like kale plants prefer colder climates, so we'll see how it does now that it's getting hot. I'm hoping that by keeping it in the shade, it will grow better.

The third thing I did was move my hanging pea plants some hooks over the window. Here they have shade almost all day. I think the pea plants are doing much better now that they are out of the harsh sun. I've already gotten some peas from them, and it looks like they are still blossoming. I've decided to freeze the peas I harvest until I have enough to make something with them, since I've only been collecting 4-6 pods every few days.

Potted Mini Roses

I bought some mini rose bushed in February from my grocery store (Fresh and Easy). They are so beautiful and I think they were on sale for $2 or something. I've tried keeping mini rose bushes before in the house, and they always died. Once I put one out on the patio in a pot, but I forgot to water it regularly, and it died too.

This time, I re-potted the plants and put them by my front door, were they get full sun. I've given them some rose food once. The plant in the photo is doing great, look at those gorgeous blooms! The other plant is doing ok, but it's looking a bit yellow and there are just a few buds on it right now.

My Tomato Plants

I planted 12 tomato seeds way back in February. Six died and I have 6 left. I think most died because I didn't water them enough. I had little hope for my remaining plants a few weeks ago. They looked like they were really weak and I thought it was because I used the wrong type of potting mix. Now they seem to be thriving! I've heard that tomato plants are delicate, so I'm not sure if I'll need to put them in shade when the summer sun really kicks in. That's a nice thing about a container garden, the plants are movable!

I noticed today that aphids were on my tomato plants! I did a google search on how to get rid of them, and a few websites suggested spraying the plants with soapy water. I did, and it knocked off the aphids. I hope they don't come back.

Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow! Or at Least Peas and Beans...

Check this out! My pea and bean plants have been blossoming, and are now producing vegetables! They are very small now, like baby veggies. The peas are not growing as I expected. When my grandparents grow peas in their gardens, the plants grow out, whereas my plants are growing up. I kinda thought the pea plants would grow long tendrils that spill over the sides of the baskets, but that is not the case. I wonder if I should put some poles in the baskets so they have something to climb on.

The beans are doing well so far. I thought they might be too crowded, but the seem to be doing fine. they looked like they were falling over, so I put some thin wood rods to hold them up. Remember, these are bush beans, rather than pole beans.

Corn, Beans, and Spinach Update Plus Okra!

The beans and corn plants that I plated 7 weeks ago seem to be doing great. They are getting tall! As I mentioned in a previous post, my dog destroyed one of my bean/corn containers, so I replanted and the new sprouts look very healthy. I'll probably have to thin out these new plants a bit by removing some, so they don't get too crowded. For the new plants, I used Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting Soil. I think it's working out.

Check out this spinach I planted about 7 weeks ago. I expected it to grow a lot faster. I suspect the slow growth has to do with me using the wrong type of soil. I used "Garden Soil" instead of "Potting Mix" and mixed some of the local dirt in with it. I'm considering getting a second box container and planting new spinach seeds using proper potting mix.

I have given up on the orange seeds. There is no life at all coming from those seeds. I really would like some citrus trees though. This is the time of year when orange trees blossom and smell so wonderful! I want that on my patio! So I'm considering buying some trees from WalMart because they have them for only 15 bucks!

I also planted some okra seeds about a week and a half ago and they are just beginning to sprout. I love okra in gumbo, so I think it would be awesome if I can get some produce out of these plants. It's going to be an interesting experiment.

Compost!

I've decided to try something I've wanted since I've moved into my house: start a compost. I've been worried that I don't have enough space or a good place to put one, but I got over it. I purchased a 20 gallon plastic trash bin from home depot for around 12 bucks, and I started filling it.

It turns out that when creating a compost bin, you have to have the proper ratio of brown to green materials. Brown material is dry stuff like brown leaves, paper, small twigs, etc. Green material is grass clippings, old veggies, weeds, etc. You should have more brown material than green in your compost.

Since I have no dry leaves to compost, I will be getting all my dry material from my mailbox. Yes, I will be composting my junk mail. Some folks say colored ink is bad for composts while others say it's ok. Since I don't have a lot of brown material, I'm going to go ahead and use ads that use colored ink. I am going to avoid glossy paper though, because I read it doesn't compost well.

First, I shredded a bunch of junk mail and put it in the bin, then I gathered all the nasty old fruit and vegetables I had in my fridge, which included some rotting tomatoes, a couple packages of old herbs, and a rapidly blackening banana. All this went into the compost. I also added some egg shells, which will give the mixture some calcium.

After adding all the ingredients, I gave the bin a good shake, sprayed some water (the bin must stay moist, like a wrung out sponge). It's going to go in one of the corners of my patio for now.

Destruction Dog

Arg, so my dog totally destroyed all the plants in one of my big red containers that had beans and corn in it. It took those plants a month to grow as much as they did! I'm going to replant, but instead of starting the seeds in those jiffy pellets, I'm going to plant directly in the container. The weather is much warmer now and there is no chance for frost. I'm going to have to protect my plants more carefully from now on! I'm pretty bummed about the death of my plants.

Patio Tips and Hanging Pea Plants

One of my favorite things about my house is my patio. It's quite large for a townhouse, and I love throwing parties and having everyone chilling outside on the patio. I recently came across this article: 5 Ways to Create a Stunning Patio and I realize that I am already doing most of the things this article recommends.

1. Lighting - I already have some awesome stringed light hanging along the house which really looks great at night.

2. Fire - I totally have a fire pit that becomes the main attraction of my house parties during the colder months.

3. Add some green - Of course, the main subject of this blog is starting a patio garden containing lots of plants, so I have this taken care of too.

4. Water - Ok, I don't have this yet, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I would really like to get a small fountain.

5. Patio Floor - This part of my patio needs some work. Right now it's just plain concrete, but I really want to stain it to make it look not like concrete. Another thing I could do is get a large patio rug, but the staining idea would be way better.


Anyway, check out what I've done with my pea plants. I bought these 14" baskets from Amazon marketplace, and the cool hanger thing came from home depot. I can't wait till these plants fill out and start spilling over the sides of the basket, it's going to look super cool.

Pea Plants!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my little sister Jessi asked me to plant some peas. The reason for this is because we have fond childhood memories of picking pea pods straight from my grandparent's garden, cracking open the pods and devoured the little morsels inside. My grandparents have always had a huge garden with several rows of pea plants.

My 12 pea plants are doing well. The roots were outgrowing the little jiffy pellets I started them in, and I don't yet have their final containers. So I decided to plant them in small peat pots for now, so their roots can continue to grow. I will be planting them in their final containers early next week (I hope).

Trial and Error

My tomato plants are not doing very well. I put my little tomato plants in those peat pots, and they totally dried out. I watered them, but not enough, and I did not notice that the dirt in the pots became hard and dry. Out of the Jiffy pellets I planted with tomatoes, I have maybe three sprouts that still look healthy. I think the peat pots make the soil dry out fairly quick, and putting them in the sunniest place I could find may not have been a good idea either.

In an attempt to recover these poor plants, I soaked the peat pots with water to be sure all the soil is moist. I moved the plants to a place that gets less direct sunlight, but is still really warm and sunny. I think I'll plant new seeds in the peat pots that have no more growth, I would really like some home grown tomatoes. I'll be watering generously from now on!

On a happier note, I read an article that suggested planting peas in hanging planters. I ordered three hanging wicker planter baskets from amazon and will be planting my peas when they arrive. The article also suggested planting sweet peas in the same containers for aesthetic purposes. So I've planted some sweet pea seeds in little peat pots and will plant them along with the regular peas. Hopefully these pea baskets will turn out really cool.