Category Archives: vegetable garden

Digging up Grubs

[caption id="attachment_2728" align="alignnone" width="2448"]Photo Mar 30, 4 09 14 PM Enter Grubs dug from the overwintered veggie garden[/caption]

Preparing the street beds for spring planting I first pulled the winter plants (kale, cilantro), hoed the weedlets, and mixed in complete organic fertilizer (COF). During this process, I unearthed nearly 40 large grubs of varying designs.

Happy happy day for the hens.

Is there a professional or amateur entomologist out there who can help me identify these guys? What do they become? Continue reading

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Complete Organic Fertilizer

[caption id="attachment_2766" align="alignnone" width="1024"]Photo Mar 05, 1 55 55 PM Complete Organic Fertilizer (COF) a la Steve Solomon – and pretty![/caption]

If you’ve been following this blog you may have noticed my struggle with soil fertility. The first few years of the garden were prolific Continue reading

Posted in rain, soil test, vegetable garden | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Year of Nitrogen

[caption id="attachment_2502" align="alignnone" width="400"]Soil Test Kit Soil chemistry testing with LaMotte Soil Test Kit![/caption]

I have tested my soil nutrients and composition before. I made some lame attempt to address deficiencies, adding compostfor depleted nitrogen and fireplace ashes to raise the pH. Results were Continue reading

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Tomato trellis 2014

What is the best way to grow tomatoes? The answer will partly depend on the variety grown and partly on the climate, but I think the descriptor ‘vines’ is part of the answer. Every garden year I challenge myself with … Continue reading

Posted in DIY, tomatoes, vegetable garden | Tagged , | 2 Comments