Mexican Bean Beetle Infestation

So the thing that happens when you neglect your much-loved garden for weeks, is when the weather cools, it stops thunderstorming, and you have a block of time to really do some work in there, you find a total, complete infestation of insect pests - in this case, the Mexican bean beetle. Most of the leaves on my sugar snaps have taken on that characteristic lacy look, created by the larvae and beetles chomping away - mostly on the undersides of the leaves. We're near the end of the bean season anyway, so after picking the last pocketful of sugar snaps, I figured the best way to take care of this problem would be to tear it all out. Almost every leaf was home to either pupating beetles, feeding larvae, clusters of eggs, or adult beetles moving around! I made a special effort to watch for the faster moving beetles that easily drop to the ground because they can burrow into the soil and overwinter.  I do NOT want this kind of problem again next year. It all - in every stage - had to go!

Clusters of 30-40 eggs, laid by adult beetles as frequently as every 2 days. Will hatch in 1-3 weeks.
Can be squished, but not by me!

Fuzzy-wuzzy was a pupa

Feeding larva with it's black-tipped spines does the most damage to leaves

Adult bean beetle. To be thrown in a bucket of soapy water till drowned. 

Now, on to remove all bean plant debris where the beetles or eggs could be hiding so my garden has the best chance of being pest-free next summer.

Then later, to research early bean plants to try next year. Most of the damage done to crops happens mid-late summer, and I can try to get most of my harvests before that time.

And mental note from here on out: be in the garden more to prevent a few beetles from taking complete control! Not only could my sugar snaps have continued to produce for a few weeks, but oh, the heebie-jeebies when cleaning up.  I don't want to go through that again.

How to save garlic that's been in the ground too long

I should cross title this post “How to make garlic powder” because that’s the solution.

As you see in the photo above, I had a great garlic harvest.  It just happened to be harvested a few weeks too late!  A combination of heavy rain, intense heat, mosquitoes, and a summer vacation was what did this garlic in.  By the time I was able to dig up the bulbs, the leaves had completely dried up and you can see that most of the papers surrounding the cloves and the whole bulbs, had nearly disintegrated.  I did not think this garlic would store like garlic harvested at the right time would. 

In my freezer is a container of peeled cloves ready to go, and I did not need any more to be added to the already large amount. Fortunately, a Facebook friend happened to complete a project at the exact time I needed a solution for saving this garlic. 

To make Linda’s garlic powder, I sliced the garlic*, dehydrated the slices in the oven on the lowest setting with the door cracked (my food dehydrator was being used at the time), and when fully dry, flaked some and powdered some in the food processor.  Using my oven gave the garlic a more toasted color and flavor than Linda got in a dehydrator, but with garlic, a toasted flavor is ok with me.  As you can see from the jar of Linda’s garlic chips below, her garlic retained a lighter color.  Because she wanted to avoid clumping, she will store the fully dried chips in a jar and flake or powder them in smaller batches as she needs more.

I’m so excited that all this garlic could be saved and am looking forward to using my homemade garlic powder and garlic flakes in dishes throughout the year!

*I have cut garlic many thousands times of times without an issue.  When I did this project, I learned something important – garlic burns! If you look at the amount of garlic I cut, and realize that raw garlic juice was on my hand for a very long time, it makes sense that a mild irritant could really affect the skin.  Shortly after I finished and washed my hands, my left hand started burning pretty intensely.  Intense enough to do some research on garlic burns and get to the aloe plant to use.  The whole-hand burning lasted a good 20 minutes or so, but my left pointer finger and thumb continued to feel swollen and hurt for about 2 days as if I burned them on a hot pan.  Crazy.  Next time I will definitely wear gloves!

Growing Chard in My Windowbox

While I've been delighting in watching this chard growing in my windowboxes for the past few weeks, one day recently, my husband said to me, "Those are ugly flowers growing in the windowboxes"!

Well, guess who doesn't get to have any of this beautiful leafy green?

Since I have limited good gardening space, I'm always looking for creative places to plant edibles, and I think this "Rainbow Chard" with its bright colored stems is just perfect where it's planted, don't you?

Where have you found spots to tuck edible plants?

Seed Starting: multi-cell seed-starting kits versus individual pots

The first time I started seeds on my own, I bought a 60 cell seed starting kit complete with a styrofoam tray that floats in a bottom tray (so you can't over or under water), a clear "biodome" to provide a warmer and more humid environment, and moist little pre-fab plugs I was supposed to simply drop a seed into.  Easy as pie.

Ten days later, the tomatoes were 3 inches high and threatening to pop the biodome off, a few of the eggplant had just started to germinate, and there were no signs of life from any of the peppers.  With the variety of seeds at different stages - some requiring heat, some needing to be moved under the grow lights, and some nearly needing to be potted up already, a multi-cell seed starting kit for the backyard gardener is just not the best method for seed-starting.

Recently, I bought a few 10 cell kits thinking that I could simply put a single variety of seed in separate trays to avoid the problems I had with the 60 cell kit.  The idea of not worrying about watering and the ease of simply dropping a seed into a plug and then plopping that plug in the hole in the tray was so appealing.

The results? Tomatoes germinate reliably and quickly as usual.  Peppers were not reliable and as seen in the photo above, it was a great waste of valuable space under the lights to keep this whole tray with just a few seedlings going.  By the time I consolidated the seedlings that DID germinate by potting them up and labeling them, I could have just done it the right way from the beginning.  And the tomatoes that are looking great?  Well, they're quickly outgrowing the 3/4" plug and will need to be potted up.  The final word on these seed starting kits?  A waste of time and space.  What I would consider almost a gimmick - that I fell for again.

Today, I started a second batch of seedlings using the method that I've used for years prior to being hyponized by the apparent ease of the seed-starting kits.  I also potted up some plants have have outgrown their tiny plugs.  My hands get dirty.  It's a lenthier process.  I make a little bit of a mess on my kitchen table. I have to keep an eye on watering.  I had to go to my local coffee shop to steal my plant markers (and to pick up a latte because this seed-starting process takes more time and energy). But it's simple and effective.  I can recycle the medium-filled pots if seeds don't germinate.  I can move individual pots around that are ready to go under the lights or keep pots that haven't germinated together in a warm environment or on the heat mat.  My seedlings also have a longer period of time in these larger pots before they need to be potted up and most can go directly in the garden.  Am I the only gardener that continually needs to learn you shouldn't try to fix what ain't broke?

Scamp and the fence

If you've been following Scamp's story, he's been doing great. A little wobbly and arthritic-looking, but he seems to have a happy life with us. He's the kind of dog you can dress up in a bonnet and push around in a baby carriage. He's just a sweet and quiet dog who tolerates (and has been through!) a lot.

Unfortunately, he's also been routinely destroying my precariously stacked raised beds and sleeping and peeing in the vegetable garden. When you try to tell him to move, he sits and just looks at you. When you try to move him, he lays down and closes his eyes. Below, you see him in the strawberries. In the irises. In the raspberries. This behavior can't continue.

Sooooo... the yard that had been metal fence free for several years, is once again surrounded by the unattractive but necessary green metal fence. Above, Scamp is enjoying his last moments before being moved to the garden-free portion of the yard.

week 12 run recap - fat (asparagus, that is)

I never tire of these gorgeous magnolias. Could a bloom period be any shorter though?!


Race is approaching and my running is decreasing. Not smart. These posts, which I have set to post automatically for "accountability" every week for the rest of this year are actually really annoying me. I deleted all my posts scheduled to post after the race to spare you and me. This week, I ran twice. Didn't time it. I'm finding the whole thing getting old.

But here's an instance when getting old is good! In this photo (in which my daughter looks really horrendous for some reason), I found the fattest spear of purple asparagus yet - proof that patience is really a virtue for asparagus growers. My small asparagus bed was planted about...7 years ago I think?

week 11 run recap - no running, lots of excuses

Truth be told, I did no running this week. BUT! I did stay active with many gardening tasks to make up for the mileage. Plus, I plan to get back to it this week. As usual, the confidence was going to my head as I started improving my pace and so I started slacking. Not good since the 10K is just over a month away... Anyway, this week, I:

• Raked all the sweet gum seedpods from the slope and the back yard.
• Removed about 70% of the onion grass from the slope and vegetable garden beds.
• Pulled all the dandelions and shotweed from the perennial beds, garden beds, lawn, and vegetable garden.
• Repaired the four stone raised veggie beds.
• Put up a wire fence around half my yard to keep the dog out.
• Amended a few of the veggie beds with Bumper Crop.
• Planted some annuals (yellow viola and pink ranunculus) in the big planter on the front porch.
• Started seeds indoors and set up the grow lights, potted the baby lemon tree I bought.
• Planted some purchased plants in the garden (rhubarb, cauliflower, spinach)
• Sowed some beets, carrots, lettuce, cukes, dill
• Did general clean up of all the perennials and herbs - everything wintered over!
• Pulled all the carrots
• Pulled ivy off the fence.

OK. Really, I thought I was going to do a half-assed excuse job here, but after listing all this, I did a LOT! All that, and I had time to play some bocce ball with my 7 year old. Spring (or at least spring-weather!) is so fantastic.

Above: rhubarb and Meyer lemon tree.

I love gardening (and books, and birds, and toads)

Last weekend, I took Veggie Pak's advice and went out to do some weeding. Though I'd planned to take the whole season as a loss after months of neglect, his advice about pulling weeds before everything went to seed was not only timely and sagely, but made me realize how freaking much I love gardening. Several times, my husband peeked out, and with dirt on my clothes, sweat pouring down my face, I stated, "Gardening is so fun".


It's incredibly rewarding to be on the ground hyperfocused on a task, and then stand back and see how much progress has been made. I love filling this blue can.


I even got to sow a row of fall greens.

I'm glad I got in the mood because this weekend, my new order of perennials from Bluestone arrived. Along with planting new additions, I moved several plants around. I absolutely LOVE moving plants around. Anyone the same way? I'm sure the moonbeam coreopsis will be so much happier in this spot - and passersby will more enjoy its reliable loveliness.




Above - lingonberries fruiting one tiny, tart, delicious berry at a time...

Below - the pepper garden going full force - poblano, cayenne, habanero, and jalapeno.


Tucked in the back, where I would never have strolled if I were sitting on my ass indoors like I have been all summer: pretty, delicate cyclamen.



And another benefit of all the fresh digging - birds coming to visit! I've never seen a woodpecker like the one above . And below, I've never actually seen any birds perch here, especially three! My husband bought me a really crazy bird book (was a birthday request). I wanted to learn more about birds and at least be able to identify some local ones. I even thought that as the talented whistler I am, I'd be able to learn some bird calls. But this book is really wacky. If you see a Great Blue Heron, you can communicate by saying deeply, "frahnk, frahnk, frahnk". A Scarlet Tanager will say, "hurry, worry, flurry, blurry". More literately, an Eastern Towhee will say, "drink-your-tea", and the elusive Olive-sided Flycatcher will say, " quick three beers"!


And last night, one of my favorite fall sights - garden toads. I don't know much about toads, but I'm certain that I never notice them except for around this time of year... I need a toad book.

In other book news, I'm excited about three books right now. The book above is a collection of stories written by women about turning points in their lives. One of the stories is written by Grace, one of my favorite bloggers (who happens to have a spectacular flower garden). The book below, is written by Ricki - another favorite blogger who has written a lovely, personal, common sense guide to gardening (and also makes these beautiful banners!).

Finally, I have been completely consumed by reading The Godfather. For the past two weeks, I have carried this book everywhere, have gone to bed at 9pm just so I can read for a couple hours, have brought a chair next to the stove to read while cooking, have skipped calling ahead for carry out just so I could order at the counter and read at the restaurant while waiting for my food, have encouraged the family to stop the convo and eat quickly so they can leave me alone at the table to read. For 2 straight days, I fantasized about being a crime boss. A generous one. You know. One that gets respect. Then I started getting paranoid - One day I dog-eared a page, ran out to pick up my daughter and at the stop sign down the road, I saw an unmarked delivery truck. As I passed it and looked in my rear view mirror, my first thought was that someone in there was paid to follow me. Anyway, despite having to set some fantasy vs. reality limits, I can say this is one of the best books I've read. I'm so sad that I only have about 50 pages left...

By the way, I know the movie is awesome and all, and we actually started watching it, but there is absolutely no comparison to the book. I would say the movie only includes maybe...1/2 of what's in the book. If you've seen the movie and enjoyed it, you REALLY need to read the book.

Garden failures

A little while back, Ricki was brave enough to post some of her garden failures, so I thought I should fess up as well. I can't believe I'm about to tell you this. The stupidest thing I did this year was to not turn my horrible crappy soil before planting. Imagine clay. Compacted. With tree roots growing up into it. With rocks. The kind of soil you don't really dig, but more chip away at. This spring, I was just so tired, I convinced myself that I was following the no-till method. I literally thought this in my head, even though I knew I was seriously mistaking the intention of the no-till method. Anyway, the result is what you see above and below. Seriously stunted plants - plants that were lovingly grown from seed and cared for indoors for weeks. What a shame.

In the photo above, you can see a tomato in the ground and one in the pot. A couple weeks prior, they were the same size. What a shame. Below, bolted Asian greens from sowing seed in a too-sunny spot, too-late in the season. Duh.

Above, a blueberry shrub that never knew what hit it. Below, a result of sheer laziness. I know you can't leave this stuff outside through the winter, but I live in denial that my pottery will break.

Lesson learned. I only hope I can be disciplined enough to not repeat these mistakes!

Garden to Table Challenge - roasted asparagus with shaved Parmesan

After five or six years of keeping the faith, there is finally enough asparagus to warrant the energy to cook it. The spears, purple upon harvesting, green up while roasting in an oven with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle of salt and pepper. To serve, they're drizzled with balsamic vinegar and garnished with shaved Parmesan. It was quite nice served this simple and elegant way!

What's going on in your garden and kitchen? To join the Garden to Table Challenge, post about what you're cooking, including a link back to this page. Then, link below to be entered in a drawing for prizes at the end of the gardening season. Each week's GTTC post will be up on Saturday. Feel free to add your post any time during the week!

Mud pie season begins today

I love it - the patio is littered with plastic cups, bowls, knives, and garden forks, watering cans, and spray bottles. All evidence that a 6 year old had hours of independent fun while mom got to sow spring veggie seeds.

Tucked into the garden today: baby corn, gai lan (Chinese broccoli), bok choy, atomic red carrots, chantenay carrots, sugar snaps, snow peas, and a lively red spring lettuce mix. French filet beans, edamame, bolita beans, black-eyed peas, red raspberries, and blue potatoes need to go in the ground later. Signs of life in the vegetable garden: yellow raspberries, asparagus, chard, rhubarb, strawberry, and the garlic growing like gangbusters. Around June 15, I'll be harvesting inchelium, early red, ajo rojo, and elephant varieties. Herbs are poking through and greening up: mint (grown in a pot in the ground), thyme, oregano, and I don't think the parsley ever stopped growing all winter. It's now lush and gorgeous.

Indoors - my tiny little orchid that I bought on a whim last year is actually in bloom! These pretty flowers have been open for probably a month. It's shaken my orchid-killer rep and moves me to lovingly care for the orchids I got for free at the National Museum of Natural History's Orchid Show (still running if you're near the DC area).

By the vents and on the heating pads are seeds started last night. Come summer, I will be harvesting: tomatillo, charentais melon, tomatoes (hillbilly, Cherokee purple, isis candy cherry), peppers (ancho, cayenne, jalapeno, habanero), watermelon, and basil.

And my favorite early spring sight - hellebores. How did you spend YOUR first day of mud pie season?

Happy New Year! GTTC and Gifts (part 3 of 2)

Happy New Year!!

It's cold in the 'burbs of Maryland with dustings of snow. I have my eyeballs on the little clump of dried leaves near the top of this bare fothergilla, for under it - an egg sac with a billion spider babies-to-be rests. Remember the story of my Charlotte spider? I hope I will not live to regret leaving this egg sac alone. I do want them to live, but I just REALLY hope they all blow away in the spring. Anyway, when the leaves blew onto and covered the egg sac a few weeks ago, I thought about removing them, but on second thought, it's possible that the leaves are actually protecting the egg sac, right? Then again, they're also creating more surface area for winds to blow down. I don't know. I'm just leaving the whole operation alone and keeping my eyeballs on it.

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I wanted to share a few more gifts sent and received this season. I thought I was going to stop after "gifts part one" and "gifts part two", but there is more to share. Below are some of our Secret Santa gifts. My husband, brother-in-law, sister, and I draw names and exchange homemade gifts with materials not to exceed $15 or so. For a few different reasons (timing and logistics), I don't have everything to show you.

Here's my gift to my sister. This is her adorable baby Emmy. Emmy and I went to a paint your own pottery store and made this vase (and a video) for my sister. After you paint it, they glaze it for you and you pick it up in a few days. It was great because not only did my sister get a very pretty vase, but I got to have some quality alone time with Emmy!

Here's my sister's gift to my husband. She has gotten him some sort of Star Wars or Star Trek gift every year for probably close to 20 years now. This time, she made him a Star Trek pillow (insignia knitted on the bottom, space-themed fleece on the top) and an R2-D2 beer cozy. I thought this was hilarious!!!

Here's my gift to my husband from 2009 that I just gave him. We didn't see my b-i-l and sister last Christmas so we extended the deadline. I made some nerdy dice (for Dungeons and Dragons and games like that) out of polymer clay. This stuff is difficult to work with! I messed up on the 20-sided, but was fairly happy with the finished product!

Here, you see my older daughter unwrapping her new electric guitar. The funny part is that the gift giver is more hands-on than the recipient! Isn't this truly the case though - it really is more exciting to give than to receive most of the time...

...unless...what you're receiving is the ONE thing you've wanted more than anything else in the world - a FUSHIGI (until you take it out of the box and realize it's totally lame and doesn't actually float by itself).

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In the garden last week, I was still able to remove snow and harvest some beautiful and very hardy parsley! This was my first time making polenta like Mamma used to make (well, not my mama, but maybe like someone Italian's mama) - great stuff worth the pot-stirring. The beans, garlic, onions, and parsley were braised with tomatoes for about 20 minutes or so. I will admit it was QUITE delicious.

What's going on in your (mega) bit of the world (wide web)? Are you challenged by the Garden to Table Challenge?