Playing In Dirt

[hallow]

Originally Posted by rainbow.sprinkles

I'm not sure I would like having a toad around any better than having slugs haha!

there's a pepper type spray you can spray on plants. It's meant for deer and rabbits. I am sure it would work for slugs too

[linen53]

I've had toads that live in my raspberries every year. tons of bugs in there hidden in the damp and dark. And a turtle named Joey (I named him) comes and scarfs up the raspberries that fall to the ground.

[Chrysalis]

I was out this morning watering the little veggie plants and saw a hummingbird hovering between the garden 'fence' and garage. After that, I started watering a row of corn and a frog hopped and landed right in front of my feet. That little one had quite a journey from the dugout to end up in the garden.

I like those two, they eat mosquitoes.

The turtle sounds so cute. It's good that something eats fallen raspberries.

[linen53]

What wonderful surprises in the morning.

I was pulling weeds the other day and noticed my blackberry canes are loaded with buds and blossoms. First time in almost 15 years! I was so discouraged with it I stopped watering and fertilizing it. Now I will give it the attention it deserves! Can you imagine??? Fresh sweet blackberries in Colorado!

Wondering why it took so long to produce? Anyone know anything about blackberries?

[hallow]

Originally Posted by linen53

What wonderful surprises in the morning.

I was pulling weeds the other day and noticed my blackberry canes are loaded with buds and blossoms. First time in almost 15 years! I was so discouraged with it I stopped watering and fertilizing it. Now I will give it the attention it deserves! Can you imagine??? Fresh sweet blackberries in Colorado!

Wondering why it took so long to produce? Anyone know anything about blackberries?

do you know if your soil is acidic? Black berries and raspberries grow wild like weeds here. Typically in spots where other plants won't grow with no special care. But they like acidic soil.
For the last 3 years I have been trying to grow a sage bush with less than good results. It grows 4 to 6" then seems to dry up. But it will grow new shoots away from the main plant and the same will happen to the new shoots. After 3 years I have a large mat of 6" tall of sage bush. Since what you said about your black berries has me assuming that the soil here might be to acidic for sage to grow well. You ever test your soil pH? If you have or do. I would like to see what it is in Colorado. The only thing benifiting from the sage problem are the birds. I see them picking out the dead strands for there nest. So it always looks well maintained. Maybe there cleansing there nest from negative things. Lol

[linen53]

I have tons of thornless raspberries growing close to the blackberries and the raspberries grow like crazy and produce buckets (of raspberries ) with very little fertilizing or adjusting of the soil. Maybe blackberries need to 'mature'??? I will know if that is true in a few years if blossoming continues each year or not. The canes are still producing buds, right now, so hopefully I will have blackberries all summer???

Interesting about the sage bush. I looked it up and my neighbor grows it. It flourishes here in Colorado, apparently.

My tiny tomato plants are stationary now. I found a spot that gets morning sun, noon and early afternoon shade and late day sun. I have shiny metallic bubble wrap surrounding the pots to keep them from getting to hot. And I water them twice a day.

Today I will give them a shot of natural fertilizer.

I bought two tomato plants from Whole Foods (natural grocery store) last week that had tags saying they were Early Girls. I got them because they looked cute and small (have you ever bought a plant because it's 'cute'? ). Well, these are not Early Girls. The plants don't grow up, they grow out and stay low with tiny leaves. And the tomatoes do not get larger than a small cherry tomato size. I don't know if these are organic/non-gmo but I will save some seeds and see if I can grow some myself next year. They would be ideal for a hanging basket.

My rhubarb seedlings just didn't thrive. I do have some starts I ordered and will arrive in a couple of weeks, thank goodness.

[linen53]

My tiny Sweet and Neat tomato plants are about to bloom.

The tedious part is having to water every day. It seems forever before harvest.

Yay Blooms on the mato plants!



We have some radishes ready to eat and I have been eating my spinach. Our mato plants are in the ground now, they are still tiny.

[linen53]

Nothing like fresh radishes.

I started my tomato plants in the house in March so my plants are actually 'mature' even though they are only 6 inches tall.

That is about how tall ours are too. We planted them from seeds and kept them by a window in our garage. We did that in may. Do your plants get big? Ours will get as tall as me usually.