80 degree weather here this week, that will pay huge dividends for those that have had plants in the ground developing root systems that have been watered adequately. If not don't worry we have a long season... but get on it! My hops have reached the top of the line this week to give you an idea of the power we are dealing with.
I just came in from a slug an snail cull, another important thing to get on at this time of the season as you want to really get the population of these pests down. Sure some softies don't like the idea of bumping off organisms, and i get that in a sort of philosophical way, but in another more harvest centered mindset it makes no sense. That is why it was easier to sell pesticides to farmers back in the day... this chemical will take care of things and you don't have to witness the horror of the carnage. The trick is to develop a healthy hate for your pest that will power a will to get out there and meet them Mano to Mano. Obviously if i had a hundred acre farm i couldn't possibly be out there killing pests one at a time... i would have to choose my crops wisely, and learn.
I could never condone pouring chemicals on the earth... there has to be another way, and the chemicals can only come back to hurt you. Like the bees... apparently conclusive studies have confirmed that pesticides are mainly responsible for the decline of the honey bee. Imagine that... a chemical designed to kill insects is killing insects! But if that chemical makes a lot of money for a said company then perhaps it's OK... that is the story we get apparently... but that is another dark rage to fall into at another time. For now we need to bask in the glory of the 20 plus snail and slug kill i pulled off tonight... that is 20 less snails and slugs reproducing in my little micro ecosystem. I get the story all the time from other local strawberry farmers... all my strawberries get eaten by slugs they say... they say. You see my strawberries have a patrol Sargent with a heart full of hate and a keen eye for late night revenge... but that's just me, and remember I'm a weirdo.
Luckily for me i live in a city the celebrates weirdness... believe me it's a lot easier to be weird than it is to be "world class"... first of all what the hell is "world class"? The dictionary tells me that it is "being of the highest caliber in the world"... does that mean arrogant, or just a term thrown out as a result of a marketing study to sell sell sell. Getting off topic here... i love all of the cities i have lived in even if their choice of Mayors is bat shit crazy.
Apparently bat shit makes good fertilizer... most fecal matter does for that matter, bird guano is very good i have been told. But as fun as it might be to have a colony of blue footed boobies above my garden, i might regret it on other levels... and it's not going to happen given the geographical limitations.
OK, the garlic i transplanted that i mentioned in the last post is far behind the garlic that i didn't transplant... therefore my assumption about transplanting garlic may have been flawed, although i still say given the price of garlic if you need that space for a better cash crop go for it. The garlic is alive and doing well, it is just not nearly as robust as the garlic i didn't transplant. I mention this as a matter of scientific fact that came about from an ill planed man gardening frenzy, that said I'll take a man gardening frenzy over inaction any day. Looking back i could have done a better job of transplanting taking more of the soil around the root base as i transplanted, but that is the thing... we learn as we go. Don't be afraid to make mistakes if the alternative is inaction, and of course do observe with a mind free of prejudice to what you thought. So many times in life people refuse to learn from things gone wrong because they can't accept they might have been wrong. That's why the garden is the key to life... the garden teaches you how to live if you let it. It is just life growing under your guidance and the cues and keys are all there if you choose to see them.
I just came in from a slug an snail cull, another important thing to get on at this time of the season as you want to really get the population of these pests down. Sure some softies don't like the idea of bumping off organisms, and i get that in a sort of philosophical way, but in another more harvest centered mindset it makes no sense. That is why it was easier to sell pesticides to farmers back in the day... this chemical will take care of things and you don't have to witness the horror of the carnage. The trick is to develop a healthy hate for your pest that will power a will to get out there and meet them Mano to Mano. Obviously if i had a hundred acre farm i couldn't possibly be out there killing pests one at a time... i would have to choose my crops wisely, and learn.
I could never condone pouring chemicals on the earth... there has to be another way, and the chemicals can only come back to hurt you. Like the bees... apparently conclusive studies have confirmed that pesticides are mainly responsible for the decline of the honey bee. Imagine that... a chemical designed to kill insects is killing insects! But if that chemical makes a lot of money for a said company then perhaps it's OK... that is the story we get apparently... but that is another dark rage to fall into at another time. For now we need to bask in the glory of the 20 plus snail and slug kill i pulled off tonight... that is 20 less snails and slugs reproducing in my little micro ecosystem. I get the story all the time from other local strawberry farmers... all my strawberries get eaten by slugs they say... they say. You see my strawberries have a patrol Sargent with a heart full of hate and a keen eye for late night revenge... but that's just me, and remember I'm a weirdo.
Luckily for me i live in a city the celebrates weirdness... believe me it's a lot easier to be weird than it is to be "world class"... first of all what the hell is "world class"? The dictionary tells me that it is "being of the highest caliber in the world"... does that mean arrogant, or just a term thrown out as a result of a marketing study to sell sell sell. Getting off topic here... i love all of the cities i have lived in even if their choice of Mayors is bat shit crazy.
Apparently bat shit makes good fertilizer... most fecal matter does for that matter, bird guano is very good i have been told. But as fun as it might be to have a colony of blue footed boobies above my garden, i might regret it on other levels... and it's not going to happen given the geographical limitations.
OK, the garlic i transplanted that i mentioned in the last post is far behind the garlic that i didn't transplant... therefore my assumption about transplanting garlic may have been flawed, although i still say given the price of garlic if you need that space for a better cash crop go for it. The garlic is alive and doing well, it is just not nearly as robust as the garlic i didn't transplant. I mention this as a matter of scientific fact that came about from an ill planed man gardening frenzy, that said I'll take a man gardening frenzy over inaction any day. Looking back i could have done a better job of transplanting taking more of the soil around the root base as i transplanted, but that is the thing... we learn as we go. Don't be afraid to make mistakes if the alternative is inaction, and of course do observe with a mind free of prejudice to what you thought. So many times in life people refuse to learn from things gone wrong because they can't accept they might have been wrong. That's why the garden is the key to life... the garden teaches you how to live if you let it. It is just life growing under your guidance and the cues and keys are all there if you choose to see them.
