Ready To Battle
Posted: 4/6/2009 1:39 AM
I think I've won the battle against the mushrooms. Each day there are fewer and fewer of them. Now, it's time to get ready for the rest of the intruders around here. Where I live, the potential garden visitors include: snails, slugs, moths, caterpillars, pill bugs, ants, rats, mice and squirrels. To ward off rodents, once a month, I sprinkle Critter Ridder around the garden. It's a non-toxic pepper powder. I put it all around the outside of the Backyard Botanical and in the walkway, but not on the garden soil. With rodents, you have to be pro-active. If you wait until they've discovered your backyard buffet, it's very hard to get rid of them. So, I use Critter Ridder before I see any sign of trouble. I also keep a few products on hand to battle the snails, slugs and insects. Unlike with critters, I don't treat for these pests until I see evidence that they've been dining in the garden. If I see bite marks in the leaves or find a bug, snail or slug in the garden, I immediately go to battle. I use natural or organic products when available, and I only apply them to the affected area. For ants, I'll place a bait station outside of the garden area, to draw the ants away from the plants. I've found that if you act quickly, it's easy to nip the problem in the bud. If you wait, it's a lot of work to eliminate the pests. They're extremely persistent and you must be also. I keep my pest control products in a storage chest right by the garden.
This week, I pulled the biggest radish I've ever grown. It almost looks like an Easter egg.
I also moved the Serrano pepper plant closer to the red bell pepper plant. The Serrano was being shaded by the potatoes, which continue to grow at an amazing pace.
Since my son loves pesto, I decided to plant a second basil plant as well.
The tomato plant is starting to flower. But, I haven't seen any flowers yet on the peas or green bean plants. Since it's been nearly eight weeks since I planted the garden, I decided it was time to feed my plants. I sprinkled Gro-Power Flower-n-Bloom along the hose lines at the back of the garden. The fertilizer will sink in each time the watering system comes on. Hopefully, I'll see pea pods and string beans soon.
This week I did quite a bit of cooking. We had salads almost daily and I've also been using our home grown lettuce on sandwiches. I cooked Spinach Sautéed with Raisins and Pine Nuts (www.williams-sonoma.com recipes); Southwestern Turkey Meatloaf, which required fresh cilantro (www.grouprecipes.com); Baby Spinach Salad with Mandarin Orange and Red Onions (www.rachaelray.com recipes); and Seared Tuna Pepper Steaks, which called for fresh chives (http://www.epicurious,com). Next week, the arugula will be ready. I look forward to finding some delicious recipes that use this ingredient.