I use this one. I bought it 2nd hand for $20 and it was an excellent buy. I just dilute the liquid gold worminess with water and feed my plants. They love it. I love my worms!
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I think shade sails look great. You might have enough structure on the existing trellis to do one without adding any poles. Or plant some trees and wait 20 years.
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We were able to place an order ahead of time to pick up our plants next weekend. If a lot of people did that then that may be why you can’t find things available.
i just made a leaf pile and threw a package of worms in there. every so often i throw veg scraps on it. worm population seems robust.
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I’m not quite sure tbh because I have compost bins also that I use. I just put some stuff in a couple of times pw. You’ll get a feel for it just by checking on them. I bet the kids love them?! Oh another thing I was advised by the guy who sold them to me was to let the tap water sit for 24 hours before using it on them. This farmer had cancer and he credited drinking the diluted worm juice with him still being alive.
tangential gardening content. if you have never tried to split a log with an axe, i highly recommend this very satisfying weekend project.
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Also woodchucks. Fuck woodchucks so much.
here’s a pretty much live picture of my pile of leaves and worms. after awhile i empty the wooden box of compost and refill it from the pile held by chicken wire. happens maybe 2-3 times a year. in the fall i steal neighbors filled bags of leaves and make a big pile.
i probably would like to get a worm bin sometime though.
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It’s been such a warm spring in the northeast that I’ve been putting stuff in so much earlier, maybe folks every where are doing that as well. I had asparagus popping up in April which is unusual. I don’t transplant corn until June (people say not to transplant corn, but I’ve never had any problem with it), but I put in 16 ears last weekend, and I put some seeds straight in the ground as well, since it’s 80 degrees here all week. I put tomatoes in last weekend, too The onions and spinach I put in at the very beginning of April are doing well.
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I wrote a while ago that I was trying jalapenos/pepperocinis/habaneros for the first time, just putting them in seed trays by sunny windows, no warming or anything. The jalapenos and pepperocinis did really well, I’m optimistic for the jalapenos in particular, they look great. I only had two habaneros sprout and they’re really lagging on growth, so it seems like those definitely need some extra heat assistance.
I defeated my rabbit nemesis last year by improving the fencing in my garden, but it looks like this year I’ll be battling chipmunks. I had some nice sunflowers that I started inside and the bastards have killed all of them. I even cayenne peppered the last couple, no luck.
Flower wise - I split dahlia tubers for the first time with a saw. I’ve always been worried about doing it wrong, so prior years my tuber balls were getting to be the size of a kid’s basketball.
I have a bunch of 4 O’Clocks doing great - I don’t know if any of you have problems with japanese beetles harassing your plants. If you do, maybe grow some 4 O’Clocks. For whatever reason, at least in my yard, the beetles only seem to like the 4 O’Clocks, so all I need to do is check those plants. I’ve only ever seen a few on any other plant since I started growing them.
I googled 4 o’clocks and the japanese beetles - the internet is telling me that’s right, but they’re also toxic to people and pets. We have a dog now and she’s dumb as hell and puts everything in her mouth, so I might want to re-think this a little I guess.
Q. I recently read that four o’clocks were poisonous, yet Japanese beetles love them. Is this a way to get rid of Japanese beetles?
A. Plants that are poisonous to us may or may not be poisonous to animals and insects. And vice versa. You are right: Japanese beetles love to dine on four o’clocks, and according to several university sources these plants are poisonous to them. They are also toxic to people and pets. They can cause vomiting and diarrhea if eaten and the sap can cause dermatitis. Keep pets and children away from the plant to avoid problems.
finally added more fish to my aquaponics. you can’t tell from this pic but there’s 10 tilapia fingerlings in the right tank.
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My garden produces the hottest jalapenos I’ve ever eaten each year no matter the variety I grow or my neighbors grow. I roasted some over charcoal the other night which usually makes them pretty mild but they were still hot af.
I wonder if my hotter pepper varieties are hotter than normal also? Grocery store produce is such garbage it’s tough to judge from that.
Same experience here with Serrano peppers. 
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Have a ton of peppers ready and tomatoes are just starting to turn. BLTs for a week straight soon.
How spicy are they?
No joy on the habaneros that I started from seed with just a window for light/warmth. But the jalapenos/pepperocinis worked out great, definitely doing jalapenos every year from now on. The other great fail I had were garbanzo beans - we eat a lot of chickpeas, so I ordered some seeds to try, but I think they were all destroyed by marauding chipmunks.
We’re remodeling a bathroom, and I have two old frosted glass shower doors. Going to speak it into existence that I’m going to turn at least one of them into a cold frame for the spring (most folks on the internet think the frosted glass won’t hurt and could actually be beneficial). I’m pretty lazy though…
