Strategies for dealing with pests and preventing disease in the garden. And occasionally I just throw my hands up and surrender to the possums, squirrels, raccoons, and people who wreck havoc on my gardening spaces.
These gooseberries aren’t from my garden, although judging by the chewed up state of its leaves I’d hazard a guess that they have suffered a similar plight. A week or two back, what was supposed to be a quick trip to the community garden turned into a caterpillar squishing marathon. The gooseberry bush and the …
Question: We always love your articles and website. Keep it up!! In this past weekend article on tomatoes, you didn’t answer the burning question: what did your brother do about the squirrels??????? They have already chomped the small tomatoes that were forming on our one plant and I know they are just waiting for more. …
It’s like the wild animal kingdom around here lately. We discovered dozens of these newly hatched garden spiders (Argiope aurantia) crawling all over the sides of the compost bin at the community garden the other day. I’m glad I brought this little digital camera with me, even if it’s a crappy one. I wasn’t going …
I woke up this morning to the news that the mantids had begun hatching from the egg case (aka ootheca) and were filling up that little bag. I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen and had been wondering if the case was a dud. Turns out I was just too impatient. I bought …
As previously mentioned, I bought a praying mantis egg case at the Parkdale Horticultural Society Plant Sale the other day. It’s not exactly the most effective form of pest prevention in the garden for a few reasons: 1. Praying mantids are not discerning and will eat any and all insects in the garden, including the …
The snow has melted and it is time to take stock of what has accumulated in the street garden since the fall. In my neighborhood, gentrification is running rampant like a pack of drunken college kids and has brought with it bigger troubles than my little garden has seen in its decade-long existence. I’ve decided …
I listened to this essay about the importance of physical labor by urban gardener Mary Seton Corboy yesterday morning on the This I Believe program and thought it was so brilliant I had to share. Listening to her talk about digging ditches made me want to run outside and dig something… except that it is …
Look who showed up looking for lunch while I was out on the roof taking photos yesterday afternoon. He had absolutely no fear whatsoever. I could have reached out and touched him. I yelled and stomped around and he just looked at me like I was holding out a bag of peanuts. He ain’t care. …
I found an entire tree laying flat across the street garden this morning. Just, you know, laying there. How it got there or why is beyond me. Okay. Here’s the thing: The garden’s a mess. I have barely touched it since the last big incident. I just haven’t had it in me. Call in the …
… a ‘Black Brandywine’ tomato taken before its time was up by an unknown mammalian critter. This kind of thing is like a right-of-passage for food gardeners. Unless you’re gardening in a sterile bubble, you have probably experienced the blow of crushed anticipation when a ripening tomato, eggplant, or pepper is snatched in the night. …
