Rats in the Garden
A concerned gardener wrote in this week: "Rotten rodents!...I have some rodent, maybe squirrels but more likely rats, that help themselves to whatever is young and tender in the garden."
Gray Water for Vegetables?
A forward-thinking gardenerd wrote in this week:
"I am considering a gray water system to use on a vegetable garden. Is this safe to do? If so, is it considered organic?"
My first thought was, no - it's not really safe to use, but it might be with the right system. Then I took to the cyberspace waves and found a few bits of information:
In many states it is actually illegal to use gray water on vegetable gardens. You should check with your municipal sewage service to see what laws apply where you live.
In states where gray water systems are legal, they ...
Battling Mealy Bugs
One more question came in this week at Ask Gardenerd:
"I have large New Zealand Flax in planters on the balcony, they got white mealy buys - how can I treat it? I removed the nearby smaller plants where the bugs seemed to have invaded...but want to be sure I can save the large flax. Please help! Is there anything organic that works... the internet suggests malathion....ekkk! thanks...Beatrice"
I'm pretty sure we can save your New Zealand Flax (Phormium), Beatrice. But first, let's make sure we have the right bug. Is this the culprit?
http://floriculture.osu.edu/archive/oct97/mealy2.html
If so, there are a few ...
Crow Away!
Another great question came in this week:
"Crows! I had to deal with tiny snails which I handpicked daily out of my basil all summer, but I was not ready for crows feasting on my tiny green onion sprouts. Short of leaving my dogs in the front yard (they'd love that), any tips on how to discourage these critters?"
My grandfather used to shoot crows off of the telephone poles when I was a child. His neighbors didn't really appreciate it, and I can't say I recommend it either. I have a few recommendations for you that are a little ...
Epsom Salts
A gardener wrote in recently asking if Epsom Salts are organic.
I think we should break this question down into two questions:
1) Are Epsom Salts organic?
2) Are Epsom Salts safe to use in organic gardening?
The short answer to both questions is yes, but for the sake of clarity, I'll explain a little further.
Microsoft Encarta defines Epsom Salts as the following:
"Epsom Salts, common name for colorless or white crystalline salt (magnesium sulfate hepta-hydrate, MgSO4·7H2O) found in the minerals kieserite and epsomite and in mineral waters. Epsom salt was first prepared at Epsom, England. ...
Singin’ the NPK Blues
Another great question came in this week at Ask Gardenerd:
"[I] did the soil test today. Turns out the pH is 6.0-6.5. The N,P, and K were depleted (even paler than depleted). No wonder my cover crop in this virgin soil is defeated. What is your recommendation to get these elements into the soil?"
First of all, I want to raise my hand and testify with you that I, too, have gotten the same test results in my garden at times. If soil could walk, it would have been the walking dead. That said, there are many ways to get ...
Sour Blackberries
A gardener wrote in recently:
"I have thornless blackberries bushes, but every year the berries are sour. What can i do to sweeten them up?"
I don't have personal experience with thornless berries, but in my research I found two common answers to this question.
1) The berry bushes may be old and apparently there's nothing to be done about it. Time to get new berries.
2) It's important to wait to harvest the berries until they are no longer shiny. They will have passed from the dark black, shiny stage into a duller black stage and should come right off the vine ...
Green Beetles – What’s the Buzz?
Another question came in today:
"Metallic green beetles keep invading my garden--about 1" long. Green wings with brown edges. Friend or foe?"
Well - I know my Permaculture friends would say that there's no such thing as a bad insect, but to answer your question in a word: foe.I've watched these little buggers make lunch out of my neighbor's roses. They sure love 'em. They are known as Figeater Beetles with a Latin name of Cotinis Mutabilis. Here is a blog entry I found about them:
http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2008/03/08/figeater-beetle/
The bugs themselves are harmless, meaning they ...
New Gardener’s Dilemma
"I just started gardening recently, so my first garden is full of
mistakes. I was watering my cherry tomatoes every day, until I was told that was way too often. They didn't show any signs of being over watered, but I cut it down to twice
a week. Several of their lower branches have turned yellow or brown and died since I cut down on watering. What should I do?
Also, my squash and cucumbers haven't shown much growth in a little while. I made the mistake of planting them too close together. I'm also worried that I haven't given them
...
What’s a Fig to Do?
A savvy gardener writes in:
"My young mission fig tree has very few fruit forming, can I use an organic fertilizer now to encourage more fruit output?"
In general, the best time to fertilize fig trees is in spring and as needed until late summer (which is now for Californians) - so go ahead and fertilize your fig. Many fig trees don't require
fertilizing at all, but there may be some conditions that are contributing to your low fig yield:
Fig trees can take up to two years to produce fruit from their planting date. You mentioned that your fig is young, though I ...