one little tomater

My friends Lauren and Viv were the first to try a cherry tomato from the garden. It was wonderfully sweet and juicy. 


As pictured above, the garden is doing well. The morning glories are taking over from the rope trellis I put around the raised garden bed. I blogged about how to diy here. Can you believe the difference?! The white container hanging off the side is filled with bee-friendly plants (more about that here) and I am happy to relay the success of the bee mix - the bees and butterflies love it! The pak choy is exploding, a few cherry tomatoes are ready to be plucked from the vine, cucumber flowers promise some yummy cukes and then a pic of me (courtesy of Viv) cutting the first cherry tomato to share the first taste. Yum! 

sage bouquet

I made this little bouquet last week when I needed to keep the bad energy out of the house.  Also, these daisies and little yellow flowers are the only flowering plants I have in the yard. It's pretty and fragrant. Plus, I can dry the sage and burn it to stave off bad vibes.

bzzzzzz plzzzzzz

My friend Viv gave me some gardening stuff that she can't utilize in her new apartment. I hung these little metal ikea "pots" from the edges of my planter boxes packed with wildflower and bee mixes to attract some honey beeeez.

You can tell from the pictures that the morning glories are loving the diy zig zag rope and have wound up the rope since last week. And in the last photograph you can see my cukes have sprouted kitty corner from the husky cherry tomato plant. (Which, by the way, is a midwestern way of saying "catercorner" but really, isn't it just diagonal?!)

diy pest control sprays

 Lacewings love to eat aphids...

...and so do Ladybugs

If your bugs aren't eating fast enough, consider these do-it-yourself remedies... use thoughtfully and directly on affected plants. 

DIY dish soap spray   

Controls: aphids, leadfhoppers, thrips, scales, and mealy bugs

Benefits: non-toxic to people and pets, dehydrates the buggies

Cons: harmful to beneficial insects, use carefully and directly on affected plants; careful not to use too much on fruit bearing plants or vegetables as it can interfere with fruit production

DIY: mix 1 to 3 teaspoons organic/biodegradable liquid dish soap or castile soap, like Dr.Bronner's, with one gallon of water. Spray directly on affected areas

DIY soap and oil spray 

Controls: soft bodied bugs such as aphids, mites and mealy bugs

Benefits: non-toxic to people and pets, oil smothers the bugs

Cons: can burn the leaves of sensitive plants; harmful to beneficial insects, use carefully and directly on affected plants

DIY: mix one tablespoon veg oil and a few drops of biodegradable dish soap into a quart of water. Shake well and pour into a spray bottle. 

Note: Apply them early in the morning or just before dark. Re-apply after a rain. Wear protective clothing when spraying insecticides. 

buongiorno ziggy zag

 According to Wikipedia, morning glory is a common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants. I was researching whether morning glories are native to New York because I see them everywhere. What I did find out about these Ipomoea purpurea (this might be what mine are, but there are numerous species) is that they reseed easily, so, although they are an annual they easily come back year after year.

This is my DIY planter box beautifier. Some zig-zaggy twines for my buongiorno glories to climb. You can easily make this yourself with some twine, wire nails, a hammer and scissors. Make fun shapes or spell a word... something creative. I think this will make my garden boxes pretty, but beware of the nail heads jutting out - I hammered mine flat against the wood but they are still a little dangerous. 

I just read a really intense thread on Morning Glories vs. Field Bindweed. Field bindweed is an invasive plant that hurts crops. "Biological controls" were used to combat this conceivably destructive plant, meaning a moth was imported and released to kill this invasive plant. What a horrible idea...We have a problem with a non-native plant so we bring in a non-native moth to make our problems down the road worse. Awesome planning guys.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that whatever is growing in my urban garden is a) not toxic to grazing animals (because I don't have any) and b) isn't affecting any farmers crops. Whew! So, I guess I don't have to worry too much. If you want to take a look at the thread, you can read it here.

herbal armor & dirt lines

I haven't been updating the urban garden blog as much as I would like, but it's growing like crazy! Ben (my neighbor) built 2 new boxes!! We are experimenting with sizes. The big one is split in half and really tall because I order sweet potato tubers and then like deep soil. We spit that in half to cut down the need for tons of dirt, but I think we are a little shallow on the non-potato planting side. Oh well, I threw in the "Husky Cherry Tomato" plant I picked up at Lowes and planted the parsley that I started indoors a couple weeks ago. The were living on the edge being outside while I was away camping over Memorial Day weekend. I'm glad they pulled through! 

Pictured above: My dirty-ass feet coming in from working in the garden - my all time FAVORITE thing about gardening is getting a little dirty!! Any excuse to get dirty is fine by me!; my best friend - bug repellent, this is not a sponsored post, but if you want to sponsor me I could buy this stuff by the gallon! We have an army of mosquitoes in the backyard; Shots of the garden from my porch.

diy garden organizer

I created this little bucket shown in my diy garden bench makeover to keep my gardening essentials on hand and lookin' good. It was super simple and I only used items I had on hand. You can really get creative and use things around the house without having to buy a single thing!

diy garden organizer

Things you will need: Old plastic nursery pot, scissors, spray adhesive (or glue), hot glue gun, patterned paper, EnviroTech lite

Step 1: Wash plastic nursery pot well to remove loose dirt

Step 2: Cut patterned paper to fit the nursery pot, leaving some room at the bottom to fold under if desired

Step 3: Spray plastic pot with spray adhesive carefully on the desired location, use another form of glue for a more precise application

Step 4: Adhere patterned paper and let dry, use hot glue to fold and adhere paper to the bottom of plastic pot

Step 5: Cover generously with EnviroTech to waterproof if desired and let dry for 24 hours

Step 6: (Note: I was going to add the rope around the edge with an extra loop for hanging, but I didn't do it... I'll post that option if I can get myself out of the garden and in the house crafting!)
Step 7: Store all your garden essentials! In my garden organizer I have All-Terrain herbal armor bug repellant, gardening gloves, little trowel and a spool of twine, the duct tape of the garden!

grab your crafty pants night

My May motto is "May is going to be the best month!" and it already is...

Thursday night I went on an adventure to Lowes with my good friend Viv and her mom Mrs. Alverez - the best two ladies to hang out with ever!! We browsed the outdoor isles to look at every blueberry, raspberry and blackberry bush that Lowes carries - and then the tomato, pepper and 'broccoli' plants (turns out that this particular plant was not actually broccoli but a flower that looks like broccoli before it blooms!)

We loaded up the cart with soil for the first planter box that was built on cinco de mayo, picked up more seeds (because who doesn't need more seeds?!) and a bucket of primer for Viv's move-out unmakeover.  

Viv, who is modeling the Atomic Red Carrots above, brought over supplies she had on hand to "diy" plant markers. She came up with the idea to paint the garden markers with chalkboard paint and label the painted markers with a bistro chalk pen. A bistro chalk pen is a really cool chalk marker that washes off with water! You really have to scrub to remove the chalk, so it probably won't wash off in the planter boxes with watering and rain - I'll test them out and report back!! The best part about this project is that we didn't buy a single thing - just used supplies we had left over from other projects.

Great idea Viv!!

diy chalkboard plant markers
Things you will need: popsicle sticks - any shape or size can work, clothes pins, scrap wood, get creative with your marker; paint/chalkboard paint; paint brush; chalk bistro pens, sharpie, waterproof marker;

Step 1: Paint your marker(s) of choice, wait to dry or use a hairdryer to speed up the process if you are impatient like Viv and I; A second coat might be necessary, let dry

Step 2: Now you have lots of plant markers to put in the ground next to your new seed plantings! Enjoy!

watermelon cinco de mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Ben, my wonderful neighbor, build our first planter box today. I am so excited!!

This holiday, while is often thought of as Mexico's Independence Day (which is September 16th) actually commemorates the victory over the French army at The Battle of Puebla in 1862. We think of it as a drinking holiday and a day that means summer is right around the corner! In honor of Mexico's victorious defeat, I made watermelon margaritas and guacamole. Ben was cutting wood by spotlight and we were joined by party crashers who tried to climb into the guac. Nice try. And no, we didn't give either one a salty margarita - I just peeled them off my plate and let them go their merry way.