The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good:

1. Still picking tons of peas. Looking forward to cooking them this weekend.
2. Cleaned up dead bulb foliage from front flower bed today, and planted marigolds.

The Bad:
Original raised bed has always had problems with ants. Ideas from garden web: Orange oil, Diatomaceous Earth (crushed shell calcium), coffee grounds, or Auntie Fueg0 soil conditioner (mixture of compost tea, orange oil and molasses). All should be found the organic garden sections and if nothing else should enhance the soil.

The Ugly:
Found cabbage loopers (inchworms) eating my broccoli. Two plants have tons of holes in the leaves, and I picked off three of them. I learned that insects are more likely to attack stressed/sick plants--which my broccoli is. Lady bugs are natural predators. There are a ton on my daisies, so I think I will move some to a new home this weekend. If things get bad I can use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) for caterpillars.

Note to self: Next thing to learn more about is companion planting. One good website is Plants That Attract Beneficial Insects. Many of these plants are herbs, so perhaps that will influence me to get going with fresh herb growing faster. Other major flowers are Queen's Anne Lace, Sunflowers, Marigolds, and Yarrow. One book that was recommended is Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte as well as her second book Roses Love Garlic for flowers.