Java Day in the Garden

Yesterday I finally got off my tushy and transplanted the lettuce that had been growing on the deck into the garden boxes.  Though the 1 year old that survived the winter has been doing quite well in the planter box on the deck the little guys (10 in all) really weren't looking too hot.  Big mama was basically encroaching on their space!  So I planted them in the garden and hoped against hope that they would survive the night.  The best part is that they did!

Okay now for phase 2. Several of my friends have been saving coffee grounds for me.  The reason?  Because the soil where I live, even though it has been composted and prepped for planting is very base 7.5 to 8.  Thus a lot of my plants were stunted and didn't really start growing the way they should have grown.  So the acids in coffee grounds and coffee "tea" help the plants get that extra java jolt they need to begin growing like mad again.  I've found that for transplanting this is doubly true.  It's better than miracle grow!  So now my lettuce is perking up nicely.  

The next thing that I did was take pictures of my garden just so I would have a good record (and to add to my website http://stringarden.weebly.com)!  As I looked around my garden I saw early strawberries starting and the poor bell pepper plant that I thought I'd killed in transport home started new leaves!  Its great to see the miracles that are forming in my garden.  

Varmints!

So I’ve been working really hard on the garden for several weeks now.  I was so close to my first victory!  One of the strawberry plants that I’d planted had two almost perfectly ripe strawberries on it!  Success after two summers of attempting strawberries I was going to taste the victory!  I checked on my little victorious fruits at 4PM yesterday, they were happy, healthy and overall looking awesome!  Then I came back out at 5 and wanted to cry!  My poor strawberries had been eaten!  Just the most red scrumptious parts.  Two very distinct tooth marks could be viewed in the riper of the two strawberries.  Now I have two theories.  Both of them involve furry fluffy tailed critters weighing less than 10 lbs who love my fruits!  So, we will be putting chicken wire up around the planter boxes to keep bugs bunny out.  But really I believe that this is yet another squirrel conspiracy.  Those dang squirrels are there every time I turn around.  They make suicide runs at my car! They have attacked me from garbage cans!  They have stalked me when I’m out side of the building and then WATCHED me when I’m inside the building.  I’ve seen more squirrel porn than I care to admit.  Those little critters are not cute and cuddly, they are part of a conspiracy to eat vegetables and play as many tricks on me as possible to try and get me killed!  I have half a mind to set squirrel traps and see what I can catch or let my kids have bb guns and tell them that it’s open season on squirrel.  Then I take a deep breath and think about my poor vegetable patch.  Maybe it was a bunny, maybe it was a squirrel, maybe it was an act of some god trying to play a trick on me… (Thanks a lot!) but I can’t declare open season.  So, I’m going to protect my fragile veggies, and start my winter project early.  If I have the framework for a greenhouse already installed then I’m sure my winter garden will do SO much better this year.  Trying to stay positive… otherwise the varmints get it.