Building your soil and grub removal

I have been talking and emailing with Denise about soil building and she had some excellent advice I want to share with you. It was one of those AH HA! moments. Actually there were several AH HA!! moments because it explained things I was subliminally aware of not knowing (grin).

It has never been really clear in my head at what depth I should add the various soil amendments nor how to calculate how much to add back to the bed after I took out my tomato dirt.

What is tomato dirt?
That is the soil that was UNDER your tomato plants during the spring/summer gardening season. In a small 4' x 8' bed it is very difficult to rotate your vegetables very effectively to lower your disease pressure. To increase the chance of successfully growing tomatoes in the same bed the next year, we highly recommend you remove the tomato dirt and then plant the tomatoes at the opposite end of the bed.  EVERY YEAR.

In the fall you are replacing the volume of the tomato dirt that was removed as well as replenishing soil nutrients. In the spring you are adding in amendments to replace the nutrients your plants used during the fall, winter and early spring. In other words, the amount you add in the spring is less than in the fall - usually.

What level your soil amendments should be incorporated:

Our beds are 12 inches deep. You need a base level of 8 inches of soil before you start incorporating any amendments.

If you are starting with one of the beds that has been half emptied out (see picture to the side), fill it with the bagged topsoil until there are only 4 inches remaining (after grub removal and sifting - see bottom of this post for link and why you want to do this). I would mix the bagged topsoil with the soil from the original bed so it is blended well before mixing in any amendments.

You are making a soil cake here and want all your ingredients well blended!

For the healthiest production from soil that provides nutrients on a constant and balanced level, it is important to consider a few different concepts when adding amendments and at what depth to add them.  

1)  Consider the root structures (the main and feeder roots) of what you will grow to make sure food will be readily available at all levels.  For example - if you were growing radishes with short roots. If all your soil amendments were at a depth of 8 inches and below, the plant would be totally dependent on your fertilization practices above ground to thrive or the theory that your soil is already healthy and productive.

2)  Consider your additions.  For example, if you are adding items like leaves, coffee grounds and egg shells, they would be considered unfinished compost items. They need to be placed lower in the soil, closer to the reach of the earthworms.  This will speed their decomposition into available nutrients deep within the soil so when the plant roots get there the food is readily available.

3)   If soil life is already healthy, meaning full of life and visible activity (worms are excellent indicators), turning amendments into the top layers enhances the activity and appetite of earthworms, fungi, and bacteria.  They will all work in harmony to take matter deep within the soil wherever it needs to go. Nutrients will then be readily available at all levels for healthy root development and balanced plant nutrition.
    

Gardeners Math, Part 1

How to calculate how much to add to build up your bed
Our gardening beds are 4' x 8' = 32 square feet.

To replace a third of the bed - you need 10.67 cubic feet of amendments

To replace a quarter of the bed - you need 8 cubic feet of amendments

Jungle Grow  - 2 cubic feet

Mushroom Compost - 1.2 cubic feet

Black Kow Cow Manure  - 1.2 cubic feet

Worm castings (entire bag from Pike's) -  1 cubic foot

Bag of Top Soil   - 1 cubic feet

If you are building a bed from scratch you would need 21 bags to create your 8 inch base layer.

Vermiculite really doesn't take up that much space as it is more of a fine powder that is incorporated through out the bed when you mix it in. It is wonderful at absorbing and then releasing moisture and nutrients back as needed.

Chopped up leaves fluff the area up but don't keep much bulk in the bed after a couple of weeks. It just provides lots of good organic matter while decomposing and feeding the worms.

Coffee grounds and egg shells also don't provide much bulk but are very good additives because the worms utilize them. Whatever makes the worms happy, makes the plants happy.

If your soil has been depleted by heavy feeders you need to ramp up your additives to support growing tomatoes in the spring. And also so your fall and winter vegetables will do well. If your bed doesn't have many worms definitely add in the things that will make them happy because the more worms you have, the better your plants will do.

Compost Tea and Coffee grounds will help activate microbes and get your worms going in your bed before the cold weather arrives. This helps to build healthy soil which leads to healthy plants.  Compost Tea and Coffee grounds are also known to repel some insects and grubs are listed as one of them in the book, Teaming with Microbes, by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis.

Approximate Cost of Amendments

Jungle Grow - $6.98

Black Kow Cow Manure - $4.98

Mushroom Compost - $3.96
Worm Castings (20 lb bag) - $20.99

Top Soil -$1.29

Coffee grounds - ask anywhere they brew and serve a lot of coffee if they will save it for you. You need 5 pounds of coffee (with filters) for your bed in the fall and again in the spring.  As for the filters, I just tear them into strips and then into smaller pieces before I dig them in my bed.

Grub Removal:
We highly recommend you work on removing the grubs before filling or refilling your bed with dirt. It makes a world of difference. There is a reservoir of grubs in the first 2 to 3 inches of the red clay that the beds are sitting on. They WILL work their way up into the bed.

Also, if your bed has never been sifted and you plan on growing carrots, now is the time to do it when you have LESS dirt in the bed! If you just got a bed and you don't know if your bed has been sifted, just ask us.  There is not a need for sifting amendments.  However, if you notice any rocks or large particles from their processing, you will want to pick those out.

Here is link to a previous post on how to sift, what to look for and what equipment to use
http://greenmeadowscommunitygarden.blogspot.com/2014/02/what-is-sifting-soil.html

When I dug down through my bed and into the red clay area in Fall 2012, I found 110 grubs. I did it again Spring 2013 and only found 30 grubs. Each time I find fewer grubs moving up through my soil because I've cleared out my reservoir of resident grubs. Unfortunately, you will always have some grubs because you miss a couple and because new ones are "deposited".  Denise's soil continues to remain grub free, with never more than a couple, through what we expect is due the use of compost tea on a regular basis.

Good luck building your soil for the fall/winter growing season!

Vicki & Denise 

Mystery Eggs on a Tomato Leaf

Here is a photo essay on the development of some mystery eggs that were found on the TOP of a tomato leaf. Luckily before they hatched I put them in a plastic bag because otherwise, I would have had 4 of these critters running around in my house!

These eggs were a pearly translucent color and very oddly
shaped. They weren't spheres, more like half a football
or a Viking burial mound. 7/11/14

They have turned an amber color and red marks
 are appearing on the eggs.  7/14/14

It is fascinating to see how the insects cut out little doors and left the eggs.

Leaf-footed bugs. They hatched out on 7/22/14 (in the bag)  and when I showed them to Denise
on the 23rd they were still alive. But I allowed them to die for a better photo opportunity.

 

Vicki - Bed 41

What is Sifting the Soil?

A number of gardeners have asked "What do you mean when you say sifting when you talk about soil rejuvenation." 


Cheryle ready to sift the soil in her bed

That is really a good question and it isn't necessarily obvious. Sift? You sift flour and sugar together when making a cake to lighten the texture but how does that work with soil rejuvenation and bed preparation.

 In the garden we use a huge wheelbarrow as our "bowl" and have a piece of hardware cloth nailed into a wooden frame as our "sifter". Place the frame over the wheelbarrow, shovel dirt on top of it and then move the dirt around with your hands.

Sifting removes lovely critters like these grubs (Yuck).  Grubs are really bad critters to have in your vegetable bed since they eat the roots of your tender seedlings. The other bad bugs you want to look for are wireworms and centipedes.

Wireworms eat into root vegetables which spoils them and centipedes eat tiny earthworms. You want earthworms in your garden bed because they are beneficial to your soil structure. The earthworms aerate and leave behind worm castings which is highly desirable.

The other reason you sift the soil is to remove rocks and sticks as well as make the soil "fluffy". If you are trying to grow carrots the lighter and fluffier the soil the better. Also, if a carrot hits a rock or stick, it has to grow around or over it and you end up with carrots that aren't straight and perfect.

The good news is that once you sift your bed to remove "stuff" you don't have to sift it again unless you add amendments that have large bits of "stuff" in them.

Vicki

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

During our first Bed Time Walk and Talk on August 6, we found this little critter on a tomato plant. (Yes, another tomato problem. Sigh......) Denise knew it was a nymph but we didn't know what it was a nymph of.

Last night, I was looking at a blog I follow and what do you know...they had a picture of this exact same bug - Brown Marmorated Stink Bug.  It definitely isn't a good bug for us to have, especially in the numbers that we have.  Denise says she has been catching 15 - 20 nymphs every day at the garden to take home to feed her praying mantids. When I was reading up on them, one article I read said they were a favorite food of praying mantids.

Do you remember all those brown armored looking bugs that were in the shed all winter and early spring? I do believe this is one of their babies after looking at the pictures of the adults.

Unfortunately for us, the harm they cause is vast. They love to pierce and suck juices out of fruits and leaves of beans, tomato, okra, corn, pepper, eggplant, etc. Where they pierce the fruits and leaves they leave pimples, warts and discolored areas. Have you ever picked a tomato that had cloudy white colored spots on it? This is called cloudy spot and is what happens after the fruit has been pierced by a stink bug.

Here are several links if you want to learn more about them :
Stink bugs
This link has a description of what harm they cause, recommendations of how to deal with them and where they like to hide (like our shed in the winter).

Pictures of all stages of growth of brown marmorated stink bugs
Egg stage through adult. Watch for and kill all stages!

Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs with video
Has the exact same nymph picture I have as well as a little video showing the bugs crawling around on corn, piercing and sucking the juices out of individual kernels of corn. They like to pierce and suck the juice out of lots of different veggies besides corn.

Mosquitoes and Taxes

This year the first mosquito bit me on April 15th. Kind of appropriate I thought since both are vexing issues.

All the rain we've had this year has been good - it means we haven't had to water in the garden as much and all the veggies are doing exceptionally well.

But all this rain is also bad because it is really hard to keep up with dumping out all the rain water that accumulates in anything that will hold water. We don't have too many places in the garden that collects water but there are a few so we still have to be pretty diligent about it  After all, mosquitoes only need a teaspoon of water to lay eggs, hatch and grow to maturity.

Don't forget to keep checking your slug and snail traps - if they aren't refreshed or emptied constantly they can end up raising a crop of mosquitoes instead!  (see picture to the left - oops!) Warm weather makes mosquitoes breed faster because there is nothing to slow down their life cycle.

There are two easy ways of combating mosquitoes. Do mosquito patrol after every rain and try to tip over everything that has caught rain water. (If possible, try not to have anything that does catch rain water. Or at least minimize what does catche rain water.)

Use mosquito dunks to prevent mosquitoes. These work really well to kill any larva present and prevent more larva from hatching.  The dunks are non-toxic to birds, fish, frogs, cats and dogs.  If you have spots that are hard to get to or you catch rain water to reuse when it is dry, just put some of the mosquito dunk in there and voila, your problem goes away. You just have to check every few weeks to see if you need to add more mosquito dunk pieces.

Usually you only have to add pieces every 30 days but because we have had so much rain (6.5 inches since June 1st), it is washing out my mosquito dunk crumbles that I had put in the saucers under my pots with plants.

You do NOT have to put dunks in birdbaths unless you never empty or clean them out. If you are keeping clean water in your birdbath you will never have a problem. If you don't do anything with your birdbath for a week then you will end up with mosquito larva in it.

Mosquito dunks can be found at Home Depot and Lowe's in the insecticide for homes area. At the Lowe's on Dallas Hwy it is found on the same aisle as bird feeders and birdseed.

Another bad bug to destroy - Leaf-Footed Bug

Today's bad bug to watch for - leaf-footed bug. This particular species is Leptoglossus phyllopus. There aren't high numbers in the garden yet but they are showing up.

If you look at the lower part of his leg there is a big flat/winged spot which looks like a leaf (which is where the common name comes from.) In large numbers they can do a lot of damage just like squash bugs. Unfortunately, leaf-footed bugs aren't specialists like squash bugs and they will feed on tomatoes, bell peppers, egg plant, beans, cucumbers, and squash. They also like blackberry, apple, pears and pecans.

Leaf-footed bugs pierce plant tissue and fruits with their proboscis and suck the juices out. Unfortunately, their saliva injects toxins which do even more damage. And even more unfortunately, these openings create a pathway for secondary pathogens to enter and cause further damage to the fruit and/or plant.

We won't be able to control them on the blackberry bushes or pecan trees but we can control them in the garden. The best thing to do is hand remove them and squish them if you see them to prevent more eggs being laid. Consistent use of an approved insecticide (as in approved for our community garden) will help to control the nymphs and adults.

For more information and to see various stages of their life cycle -Leaf-footed bugs

Mexican Bean Beetles

For some reason I thought all lady bugs were good bugs. Unfortunately, there are a few lady bugs that are very destructive to plants. One of them is the Mexican Bean Beetle.  The adult is a yellow to copper color and has 16 black spots on it.  In the garden right now I have found the larva feeding on leaves but not the adult or the eggs even though I know they are there since I've found the larva. So here are two links to show what those forms look like.

This links shows the adult, larva and pupa stages of Mexican Bean Beetles. This link shows eggs through adult stages of development for the Mexican Bean Beetle.

Good lady bug larva
     You really DO want larva that looks like this in your bed! They look mean and fierce but they are not harmful to humans, only other insects. This lady bug larva is a very beneficial predator since it eats aphids and other bad bugs. You need to be careful not to spray pesticides on them because you don't want to kill them.

Good lady bug larva

Bad lady bug larva ie Mexican Bean Beetle
When the leaves of your beans start getting spots that are skeletonized, look on the undersides of the leaves for what is eating them. Just as with the squash bugs, you need to look on the undersides of all the leaves to find and remove the the bad critters.

Bean leaves that have been eaten

 

More than likely you will find a larval form that looks like this (see picture below). They don't sting which means you can just pick them off by hand if you don't have too many. Be sure and take them home and throw them in the trash at home. Or if you enjoy squishing them, do it on a hard surface.

Just as an FYI.....squishing bugs in loose mulch doesn't always kill them. There is too much give in the mulch. You really need a solid hard surface like a rock or a piece of wood.

Mexican bean beetle larva

If you have a bad infestation you need to be very diligent about spraying insecticidal soap, Azamax or Neem oil on them. Be sure to get the undersides of every leaf and spray way down into the plant so every surface is coated. Even then you will have to pay close attention to keep them under control because it is very hard to get an entire stand of beans sprayed properly.

Squash Bug Life Cycle

Squash bugs unfortunately are one of our biggest pests at the garden. For some reason we have been afflicted with them in great numbers ever since the garden first started. Squash bugs are bad because they spread disease from one squash plant to the other and they also reduce the productivity of the squash plant.

It is easy to see the adults but not so easy to see the nymphs when they hatch out.  You have to really examine all your squash plants (leaves, stalks, base of the plant) on a very regular basis to control them. Usually the eggs are found on the undersides of the leaves however in one bed the eggs were found on top of and underneath the leaves.

Look for the adults and  nymphs down in the base of the plants, along stems and the undersides of leaves. If you hand pick (and kill) every adult you see, you won't have nearly as many eggs to remove. And if you remove the eggs as soon as you see them, you won't have any nymphs to deal with either.

Spraying with Azamax will help but you have to be careful not to spray any beneficial insects and to spray at the correct time of day as well as when it isn't windy.

Here is a very handsome specimen, lurking, waiting to find a mate.

Ah ha....several squash bugs have found significant others and are now mating

 

Squash bug eggs are really gorgeous however every one of these eggs will become a pest. All of these need to be removed. The best way to do it is to just cut off the piece of leaf and then take it home to put in the trash. If you just drop the eggs on the ground, throw it in the compost pile or in the woods, the eggs will STILL hatch out!

These eggs are very close to hatching. Notice they have

 turned very translucent and some are almost white.

 

Baby squash bugs that have just hatched out. Soon

they will be adults looking for mates.

Magnifiers to the rescue

 

Sometimes you just need a little extra help to see those pesky spider mites, insect eggs, or to determine, yes those are black aphids in my spinach, not just dirt splashed up from the ground.

 

We now have two small magnifying glasses in a green box in the shed that you can use. And they are right above the yellow sticky traps that you can also use to help monitor if you are developing pest problems in your bed.

 

 

If you don't have a trellis or a metal stake in your bed, just get a stick that has a twig sticking out and you can attach your yellow sticky trap to the twig. (But don't forget to actually push the stick in the ground in your bed!) Lou and Ryan have done that and it seems to be working out just fine for them.

More pictures from our workday

Grub Hunting

Planting tiny seeds




Happy weeders

Eating, talking and holding our
new treasures from the door prize drawing

 

Compost Sifter

Paulie is shoveling dirt while Eric, Patsy and Cina watch.
And yes, they found some grubs but no pupas.

Thanks to Mike for making a great compost sifter. It fits over the top of the wheelbarrow which makes it handy to transport and dump what you've sifted.

It also work very well if you decide you want to take out ALL the dirt in your bed and sift it looking for lumps, grubs, pupa, pecans and other assorted undesirables.  I'd heard about it and seen the end results but hadn't seen it in action.

If you want your own personal sifter at home I have one that is extremely easy to make and is very light so it is easy to use.  I got the idea from my friend Hal Massie about 20 years ago.

I use an old plant tray I got with plants one year (you want to use one with an open weave - a solid bottom one won't work.) Vic had a piece of hardware cloth that we cut down to size and then I attached it with twisties to the plant tray. Voila...a small, lightweight sifter.

Vicki's compost sifter

Denise  had sifter envy so went home and she made one for herself. She didn't have hardware cloth so she used a mesh with 1/4 inch holes which works well also. She also used zip ties (cable ties) to attach her mesh which I'll do the next time my twisties break.


Great Big Thanks to All!

Hey Everyone,

Just a great big THANK YOU to all those who came out and supported the workday Saturday afternoon!

It is so nice to assist the Master Gardeners who do so much and provide us with such a nice place to come out and play!  They even feed us yummy cookies.  Those were delicious Carol!


What a wonderful turnout!

We truly hope you had a great time mingling and working as we continue to form a wonderful community of gardeners.

All of us are such a vital part to its success and it is such a pleasure to garden alongside each of you.


Sphinx moth - adult form of
 tomato hornworm

Whether doing battle with the weeds, learning how to prune fruit trees, checking out the hornworm pupa, or simply having fun with Door Prize Bonanza, a great day seemed to be had by all.



Weeding under the shade and door prizes on the table.

Door Prize Bonanza is always fun and it was so nice to see everyone go home a winner.
Hope you enjoyed!



Have a great week and thanks again for all your help!

Denise & Vicki, Beds 25, 29, and 41

Tomato Hornworm Pupa

During Saturday's workday Wendy found 3 pupa and Mark found one. At first we thought they were luna moth pupa but after consulting the bug book in the shed we discovered they were HIGHLY undesirable pupa as they are tomato hornworms waiting to emerge.

If you want to learn more about tomato hornworms in all stages of their life cycle, this link tomato hornworms has great pictures and information about hornworms.

Notice the handle like thing on the pupa on the left. Hornworms

 have "handles" and luna moth pupa don't. Also, hornworm pupa are

 found in the soil and luna moth pupa are found in cocoons above ground.

Prepping the Garden Beds for Spring!

Hey Everyone,

Isn't this an exciting time of year?  I stand and stare at my little 4 x 8 field of dreams with such anticipation of all the wonderful plants and produce to come.  The last of the carrots have been pulled, the dreaded grub search (Yuk) performed, and I am well on my way preparing for a good old-fashioned spring sow down.

Many have asked why is it so important to check for grubs and for better details on how to revitalize their soil for planting, so I thought it would make an excellent post.  If you look back to the post, "When is it Warm Enough to Plant", I have some details for you there as well.

Grubs - feed on the roots of plants in the soil.
Beetles that hatch commonly feed
on the foliage or fruit.
Grubs are known to attract raccoon's.

The main reason to check your soil thoroughly is not just for the grubs, but to assist in promoting a healthy organic garden.  In a garden of this size we will be faced with many a pest and that is why it is so imperative to be preemptive.  We will have two choices, deal with pests now and reduce their numbers, or deal with even more of them later.  Decreasing their numbers and interrupting their life cycles, as best we can, is a proactive approach that will serve us very well down the road.  It will also assist us in growing healthier plants with increased vigor, better disease resistance, and greater yields.

Soil Centipede - While these guys will
feed on the larvae of other insects,
they are especially fond of earthworms.

The soil in your bed can potentially harbor many undesirable pests. Several will either feed on the roots of your plants (decreasing their vigor and potentially killing) while others will hatch and do their damage above ground to foliage and fruit.  Many will also spread disease throughout the garden.  I was surprised to find bugs in my bed that are actually very dangerous to young earthworms.  These
little guys to the right had to go!

In prepping Bed 29 for spring sowing, I felt fortunate not to be loaded with grubs as many have found.  However, in thoroughly checking
the soil, I did find several undesirable pests that had the potential to damage many root crops and other young seedlings.  

Wireworms- damage the roots of herbs and feed on
potatoes, onions, beets, carrots, and the like.
Can feed for several years.

Aside from the grubs, each of the photos in this post represent what was found and the potential damage it can cause.   I put liquid soap in a five-gallon bucket, added about 3 inches of water, and proceeded to drown to kill all the undesirables.  The total findings were a wealth of earthworms at every stage of growth, including egg cases, four soil centipedes, several wireworms, three carrot beetles, a half dozen carrot rust fly larvae, and a partridge in a pear tree.  Okay, I just wanted to make sure you were still reading.

The only disappointing action I took was to drown several of the earthworm egg cases.  I have not seen these before and followed my instinct to get the undesirables out of the soil.  After running across one hatching, well let's just say, my badness!  You know what they say about those garden lessons learned, that was definitely one of them.  Next time, I will take the unfamiliar egg cases home and identify them first.

Earthworm Egg Cases - so disappointed
 in my actions!   Hopefully this photo
will keep someone else from making
 the same mistake!

As far as revitalizing the soil, you will notice that everyone has a special recipe, and in time you will find what works the best for you. Mike and Sue of beds 30 & 51 have a wonderful philosophy of feeding the soil and treating the plants if any problems arise.  Jim of beds 34 & 35 has a recipe that requires very little additional fertilization.

I follow this practice both here and at home.  Most often, I will remove a small amount of soil that will be used elsewhere for fill dirt or for tilling into new planting beds (non-vegetable).  Next, a complete and thorough search is done for everything detrimental needing removed. This allows an excellent opportunity to learn from what is in the soil and anticipate what measures to take early on for a more proactive and preventive approach to pests.  Imagine planting carrot seed with rust fly larvae left in the soil.  Now that those are removed, dusting with a little wood ash at planting, inter-cropping with some green garlic or radishes, and using a yellow sticky trap should work at keeping those pests at bay.
 

Carrot Beetle - form from grubs.  Adults feed on
beets, carrots, corn, parsnips, potatoes,
sunflowers, and sweet potatoes.  Can cause
serious damage to all small seedlings.

The addition of organic matter is next.  It is important to add several types of organic matter into the soil as each will possess different beneficial bacteria and food that create the environment of success for your plants.  Bed 29 was home to several Brassica's this past season, which are very good at depleting the soil of nutrients.  To maintain a high fertility, one bag of Jungle Growth Professional, one bag of Composted Cow Manure, two bags of Mushroom Compost, four cups of dried Pelletized Garden Compost, fifteen cups of coffee grounds, and a dozen or so biodegradable filters, cut into small pieces, were all added.  The coffee filters and coffee grounds are used to feed the worms that are now becoming active as the soil warms.  I also am going to add some of the black gold delivered to the garden as well in specific areas to see how it performs.  Do I need to add all this?  That would be a question for the Master Gardener's; however, this is my recipe that brings me great success.  These amendments are all worked well into the soil until I have a nice loam and consistency for planting.  If my soil isn't crumbly or loamy enough, I will then add some vermiculite to improve its texture.  Some people use peat for this process, however, that can have an effect on your soil's ph, resulting in the need for a lime application.

Carrot Rust Fly Larvae - laid by the carrot rust fly.  Starts
out as a small brown colored pupa, hatches into a
yellowish-white maggot and then feeds on the
roots of carrots, celery, parsley, and dill.

Lastly, is addressing the needs of fertilization.  Once your bed is revitalized with organic matter, you need to make sure food will be available for young plants and seedlings.  Vicki had some excellent information on this at her last class.  Whatever type of fertilizer you choose to utilize, scratch it into the top six inches of your bed before seeding or planting for the best results. Chemical based fertilizers can be appealing based on the claims touted.  And yes, you can get impressive results.  For me the choice is always an organic one. That is just my preference.  I am trying to eat cleaner, if that makes any sense at all.  I like the EB Stone products from Pike's as a starter fertilizer.  However, I will tell you that if you are new to gardening, do not have a soil test, or know how your soil performs, it is best to start with a 10-10-10 fertilizer, and then use something more organic for side-dressing after that.

Much like my soil, I have my own little fertilizer recipe as well.  I use the recommended EB Stone rate on the box for a starter, adjusted for the square footage of my bed.  I then add two products I have much success with.  One is Actino-Iron, the other is Azomite.  I utilize these sparingly and only on beds that have seen several seasons of growth or when I start to notice a decline in yield.  Lastly, are the worm castings for water retention.  One half cup of these goes into each planting hole to retain water for release at night when the plants are recovering from the heat of the day.  After plants are up and flourishing for about 6 weeks, I side-dress with chicken manure and pelletized garden compost every 15th and 30th like clockwork.  I love Vicki's example of making a deposit.  I make a deposit into my garden twice a month, so the produce will be there when I want to make the withdrawal.  I use the monthly rate and break it down to a bi-monthly schedule, as my plants seem to flourish that way.  I keep all side-dressings 6 inches out from any stems to prevent burning.

Newly hatched earthworms will be small and most
often white in appearance.  Many say
they resemble apiece of string. 

Much attention is focused on the soil, its structure, drainage, organic matter, and fertility. I can't tell you if what I do is right or wrong. What I can tell you is in time you will find what works well for you and it will become your "go to" garden prep each season.  I hope this helps our new gardeners prepare their beds for spring and maybe others could post their recipes to share.  This would be a wonderful way for us all to learn from each other.

As we all prepare for spring, may the grubs in your bed be few, your soil be enriched with fertility, and the harvest you reap full of bounty!


Happy Gardening,

Denise, Beds 25 & 29

Count the Grubs

If you are thinking maybe you are going to skip turning the soil in your bed before you plant this spring, think again! As the two pictures demonstrate, you really SHOULD turn your soil to look for grubs.  Rita completely turned the soil in one bed during the workday and this is what she found.

 All these grubs came out of one bed!

How many grubs can you see in here?

(Don't count the brown mealworms.)

 

A close up of the grubs. Noticed they range in size

 from big fat ones to small white ones.

Bad Grub Kit

No...we aren't giving out bad grubs. Instead I'll show you my favorite Catch A Bad Grub/Bug method.

What you Need:
1 pair of hands
1 or 2 newspaper bags (or gloves if they are handy)
1 plastic container with a lid
Some bad critters

Put the newspaper bag on one or both of your hands

if you can't stand to touch the bad critters.

Reach for the critter you don't like

Put the bad critter in the container that has a lid

Put a lid on the container so the critter doesn't

escape when you aren't looking

Take the critters home and freeze them to kill them. Or put them in a blue bird feeder so the birds will eat them. I personally like the bluebird feeder by the birdbath because more birds go to it and the bugs get eaten faster.

 

Just keep an empty container stuffed with several empty newspaper bags in your "go the garden" work bag and you'll never find you don't have something to pick the bad critters up with. Or worse yet, let them escape you after you picked them up.

Grubs in the Garden

Dalita has been thoroughly turning, amending and refreshing her garden bed to prepare it for spring planting. She has found quite a few grubs like the ones in this picture. I know it is easier to just fluff a little and then plant the new plants but these are undesirable grubs and need to come out.

There are two ways you can fluff your bed - with a shovel or digging fork while the dirt/soil stays in the bed or by putting a tarp down and taking all the soil out and then putting it back in.

While you are fluffing your soil, be sure and watch for all the pecans the squirrels planted this fall. If you don't remove the pecans now, you'll be removing baby pecan trees all spring and summer.

The BEST way to remove the grubs is by hand picking. If you use Sevin you will kill all your good bugs and critters like the earthworms which have hopefully started moving into your bed. Sevin is not organic at all and kills everything.

                  Thanks Dalita for sending me this picture to share with everyone.