The European earwigs appear to be gone, and now the slugs are eating my pea leaves and the snails are eating the dahlia I bought. I am coping with slugs and snails and feel that I will pull through this latest invasion without too much of my spirit crushed. It is heartening to hear that expert gardeners also experience losses and setbacks like the dying cucumbers and pole beans that didn't come well in the modern victory garden. I made a trap for the slugs in an old yogurt container filled with yeasty water and found it dug out and overturned by my suspected feline trouble-maker. I put a ring of crushed egg shells around the dahlia and it seems to have kept the snails away last night. Either than or they didn't bother coming back because they'd already completely defoliated the thing and even nibbled on the flower.
Otherwise things in the garden are coming along, slowly with the cool weather. Lettuce should be ready to pick for a small salad soon.
I may not have mentioned yet that we have a giant walnut tree in the yard. As a result of dealing with the harvest last fall, there are cast off walnuts pretty much everywhere, being collected with leaf debris and used as mulch, or tossed in the compost and also ending up the the garden. So now we have little walnut trees popping up everwhere. I've put three in pots to grow them just as a fun experiment, but the rest I have to pull up. Check it out.
6 comments:
Cool! Little walnut trees! If you've got any extra, I'm sure my parents would love to plant one at their place (my dad loves nuts).
Too bad about the pests - my parents are having a lot of trouble with rabbits right now, the dog isn't doing his job very well!
Beautiful flower shot by the way!
Sure you can have one for your dad! I don't know how many years before it would produce nuts, but it's a fun experiment.
What sort of walnut? We've got a black walnut tree, and the leaves are not only impossible to compost, but apparently quite toxic to other plants.
Yes to borage! Those flowers are a great salad garnish.
What sort of walnut? Well that's a good question. I dunno. Um, okay quick Internet search. Not black walnut because the flowers are green, not yellow, so I think it might be a Japanese walnut. I've heard that it's the fleshy part of the fruit, around the nut that is toxic. I learned that after I put a bunch in the compost. I think the toxic properties will leach out after a while, and I've already used some of this compost with no ill effects, as far as I can tell.
If you have a chance, download the 2005 BBC Earth "Life in the Undergrowh" series, specifically the "Invasion of the Land" episode. Has some amazing clips with macro footage on many things including earwigs (adults and nymphs) and slugs and snails.
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