garden chores

More work today. First rescued some more Sunflor seedlings- a few of the second planting two came up in the same spot, so I separated them, put one in a blank spot of the row, and covered with cloches. Others that are a big larger now and getting their first true leaves took the cloches off and tried a new preventative trick- a ring of sandpaper around the base, and Fennel sprinkled about. Heard that slugs don't like fennel.

Next the kiddo helped me check under boards for slugs and pillbugs. Found a couple fat slugs- squished 'em. Then we checked out the long beds- after I looked up online what the seedlings look like when they first push out of the ground. Tomato seedlings are sprouting! And the Cucumbers- getting eaten immediately. No sign of Green Beans- but when I was working to put bricks in (more about that) found a bean seedling leaf in the soil- riddled with holes. I see small black ants everywhere there, but few slugs. Are the ants eating my seedlings? I think I'm going to try one more time, and start the plants indoors. Covered the few we found with cloches.

Then put up branchy twigs from the brush I cleared the other day to support the growing Snap Peas. Weeded their bed, too. The Garlic wall along back edge of all the long beds is coming up strong.

Next tackled the brick project. My paths made between the beds keep getting messy when it rains- the wooden edges simply float, and the bark shreds I'd put down go all over the place. I started raking them all out again (filling back in that gap by the small patio- hopefully to plant more marigolds or something there). Then found someone on craigslist was tearing up a patio and getting rid of the bricks. Yesterday I made two trips in the car to get bricks, stacked them all at the bottom of driveway, worn out for the day. Today shifted all the bricks over to the beds- in rougly equal piles at the end of each path/row. Pulled out the boards and recut the edge with straight shovel, then laid row of bricks in to make the edge. It's tedious work, but looks so much nicer, and it will stay in place! After I've got all the bricks down (I know I'm not doing it properly with sand and all underneath, but just want something to mark my path decently) I'm going to put a layer of gravel on the paths themselves- to keep out the weeds, make it easy to tell what to step on, and have something that will be relatively dry to walk on after heavy rains, not the soggy muck I get between the beds now. Phew! I'm guessing I can brick-edge two paths a day, and be done in a week.


The porch flowers are filling out nicely.


And I bought some Hostas the other day. Put them on the ends of front flower beds.

At the end of day, when cool again, pulling weeds and clearing litter from the walled bed. Isa discovered slugs- minute ones- all in the Lettuce leaves, and together we handpicked at least forty or fifty off of them. I moved on to inspect the Chard, Beets for slugs, then came back and immediately found one or two more slugs on each lettuce plant again- I had no idea there were so many!

I did manage to save some Cucumber seedlings- put cloches over spots where other seedlings had come up and got chomped, and went back end of day to check- another one had sprouted up next to the chomped one. Then remembered I'd planted two or three in small groups. Glad I did.