RaeChill's Garden

A Home for the Bees

2011-07-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to keep bees for a long time now. You see, my Grandpa Krause was a beekeeper back in Humbolt Co. and it has always fascinated me... BUT! I have taken a solemn vow to hold off on the hives until I graduate from Vet School. Now, while that vow is still safe, I do have a new home for bees in my garden!!! HURRAY!

It's for Mason Bees!

I've been hearing for years from Mike McGrath on "You Bet Your Garden," that native pollinators are just as (or more) important to gardens as the non-native honey bee. So, when I recently discovered that these poor guys had been trying to live in the handle of one of my watering cans, and then drowning, I decided to build them a little condo. I also turned the can upside down. Hopefully they'll get the hint.

I have found this project to be really, really simple and very cheap.

What I used:

-a drill
-a 5/16 drill bit
-a piece of scrap wood (preferably un-treated)
- 3 screws
- a fence post (near the garden)

This is the scrap piece of wood that was left over from a garden bed I put in out front. I am unsure if it's treated.

These are the bits that I had to choose from. In my very brief research I found out that 5/16 inch was the size hole that mason bees prefer to live in. LUCKY ME, we had that size.

I drilled a very crude hole in the back to fit over the screw so it could hang from the fence.

Then I Drilled

a lot.

I kinda felt like a "Maverick!"

Pretty Nice

I did have to put a few extra screws under the condo as bracing. I think this may have had something to do with the crudeness of the hanging hole.

I have the "Bee Condo" kinda highlighted in the background.

I think if I make another one I'll put more holes in it or maybe do something like this. All in all, I think this project went pretty well. If I see any tenants I'll post an update.

Here is a link to instructions to build a Mason Bee House.
Here's a nice house you can purchase that my buddy and classmate Andy found. (It seems us vet students are often geeks in similar ways)

(another link to Mason Bees)

BONUS PHOTOS:

#1
The hens enjoying some watermelon. Those poor girls are really stressed by this heat.

#2
I mowed around the pumpkins. So far, even with some squash bugs, they are growing well. Although, I haven't seen them setting any fruit.

Salsa, Ears and Strawberry Stress

2011-07-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hello again

Well, the garden is really cookin' (HA!). Apparently it was the hottest June Oklahoma has had since 1911. The heat has been pretty good for the tomatoes, great for the corn and super bad for the poor poor strawberry plants.

Salsa!

I have been making fresh salsa since I first started gardening. It's just fun and easy!

I use:
-a handful of fresh cilantro
-fresh squeezed lemon juice
-home grown garlic & onions
-Anaheim peppers
-salt & pepper
-and a whole bunch of home grown tomatoes
(cherry & standard sized).

Someday I hope to get it all from my garden, but this year I grew peppers that are MUCH too hot for me, my cilantro bolted in early june and well I don't know how to grow lemons here. (I guess I could get a dwarf variety and grow it in doors...)

maybe next year...

not sure what this die off is about. The rest of this tomato plant is great though

YUM!!!!

And now The Strawberries!

This how most of my strawberry plants looked after forgetting to water them for ONE DAY!!!

It's just not fair.

So, I moved them to the shady side of the house (the front) and I hope they will survive this super summer out there.

Another factor that seemed to play a roll was the type of container. All of the plants in plastic pots were much less stressed.
I may have to re-evaluate keeping them in terracotta pots... or not.

*** update: Terra Cotta Pot Sealer. I'm not sure how toxic it is, but it may be worth looking into.***

AND the EARS!!!

I have Corn Corn Corn!! And I did not have to grow it in a block! TAKE THAT CONVENTION!

Oh and there is more where that came from!

The 2nd crop just started pushing it's tassels out.

Here are 2 bonus pictures

I love this Bell Pepper (Golden Bell) I haven't let them turn yellow though.
I always pick them when they're light green.

Brussels Sprouts! I hope they turn out because I really love to eat them.

Garden Update with Rose Photos

2011-06-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends! (and Enemy...)

My tomatoes are huge & red, my peppers are doing great, carrots are thirsty & heat stressed, squash plants are in several stages of death, melons are pathetic, corn is looking good (ears are hand pollinated as silk emerges), garlic + onions seem happy, asparagus is doing it's getting established thing, brussels sprouts have not yet bolted, the lettuce has more than bolted, beans are starting to produce (but not much), and herbs are as vivacious as ever.

In short, just like every year it's gonna be a mixed bag.

Here are pictures of my two Knock Out roses. The perfect rose for the busy human

the tomatoes (behind the roses) are about a foot to 2 feet taller now

a poem:

If I had a gun I'd stalk

Squash Vine Borer Moths,

which is why I should never have

a gun.

~R. Davis

Quick Post: Squash Trouble

2011-06-13T17:07:00.000-07:00

I had a squash plant fail.

It seemed to melt at the soil line over night. So far, the other one is good. I was thinking "Vine Borer Moth"? But, I had wrapped the stems with tin foil to prevent them. (maybe I did it wrong)
Anyway, that was a bummer, but we're getting more tomatoes.

The happy squash

Well, You win some, etc...

Junk Mail, Chickens, Compost

2011-06-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

So here's the deal...
I take all of our junk mail and shed it in a paper shredder. Then I use it as chicken bedding in the coop. Then I take the paper (+ manure) and throw it in the compost bin. This goes from mailbox to finished compost in about 8 to 12 weeks.

SO LET's EXPLORE THIS CONCEPT!

Cons:
There are MANY people who find tons of flaws with my system including: junk mail has stuff you might not want in finished compost, shredded paper is not ideal chicken bedding and chicken manure has more nitrogen than is ideal for fruiting plants.

To those people I say, "I do not care."

then I dance around laughing like a maniac

Pros:
I use the junk mail that I had been throwing away. I no longer have to purchase chicken bedding for the coop. I have a plentiful carbon source for the compost year round. I am using the chicken manure to help my plants grow. (yeah eggs and compost I love those hens) AND, I get lots of compost pretty fast (LOTS)

Some of the finer points:

1. I really try to exclude obviously "bad" stuff like plastic, chunks of glue or perfume samples.

2. I sprinkle diatomacious earth on the paper before I put it in the coop to help to control mites/insects. (only use "Food/Feed" grade DE. The other type, used mainly for pool filters, is heat/chemically treated which makes it very dangerous if inhaled)

3. When using paper as bedding one should make every effort to keep the paper "dry" in the coop. This is because if rain gets in and makes a damp environment then some nasty pathogens could grow in the bedding (just like in most conventional bedding). It's also nice to do this just to keep your chickens comfortable.

Some people are more concerned about this this, I am not.

This may be because my coop is elevated and dry or because I have a healthy immune system

(ie. I'm not under 5 years old, immune-compromised or elderly).

I do not let my 3 year old son play with the soiled bedding.

Maybe that's because I'm:

a. really smart about zoonotic diseases

b. a superior mother, or

c. not a complete moron...

(partial maybe, but whatever)

4. This is working really well for me and all of my plants (fruiting & non) are responding in a very positive way everytime I apply the compost to them (or tea made from this compost).

So, here is the inside of the coop...

Here are the hens (or 3.6 of them)..

Here is MBC! (love it!)

And the finished compost.

The Tomato

2011-06-07T10:58:00.000-07:00

Oh Yeah!
Kool-Aid Voice

but... a bug already chomped it.

I don't know, it could still be okay, right?

:-|

Also, I found a pretty big spider on the pumpkins. I left her there as pest control, but now I'm kind of scared of that area.

Well There's Good News & Bad News

2011-06-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

Good News First...

I made "Compost Tea"!

I expect that I'll dial in the process in the future, but for a first attempt I think it went well.

So, First I watched a bunch of you tube videos about making the tea and then I totally modified everything to fit with what I already had.

Here's MBC.
I have it divided in half now because it makes compost much faster this way.

I sift it through this bucket, that my sweet and handsome husband Chris, made for me.

I end up with this. It's beautiful compost and I get a great upper body workout from shaking it all through the sifter bucket. I'm convinced that I'll soon have American Gladiator Girl Arms.

pretty pretty pretty nice...

perfection

Meanwhile, in another corner of the backyard, I'd been saving rainwater in a rubber-made container.

This was necessary because our tap water has chloramine in it. Chloramine will kill the microorganisms that you're trying to grow and it won't "gas off" like regular chlorine, yuck.

I could have used tap water and just treated it with aquarium tap water dechlorination drops, but I didn't. Although, I do have them. I decided that the rainwater would be better because well, my plants just love rainwater!

So, I put a little compost in the leg of a pair of pantyhose that had a run in them and hung it in the container along with a water pump.

Now, I know you're supposed to use an air stone to keep the tea aerobic, but I didn't have one. I had a pump. So, oh well!

I say "Get Over It" to the Tea Nazis!

Later, I decided to hang it from a fence post.

I let this sit for like 12 hours then removed the Tea bag and added watermelon juice. They reccomended molasses, but - again - that is not what I had.

10 hours later I sprayed it on everything!

This...

and this...

and these...

And this stuff too.

Now for the Bad News...

I found some Squash Bugs and their Evil Eggs!

I ran this leaf through the garbage disposal

So, I guess it's go time.

That's right! I'm coming for you squash bugs and I don't care how bad you stink when I squish you.

What a Difference a Weekend Makes

2011-05-31T14:19:00.000-07:00

For the last three years my family has attended Backwoods Bash over Memorial Day Weekend. It's super FUN! We camp and listen to great music. When we return home my garden has always changed.

This year, I returned to find a ton of green tomatoes, roses covered with a second flush of buds, 3 to 4 fat baby squash and one huge bell pepper. I also found a ton of weeds. (yeah, those jerks!)

I spent my first morning home pulling weeds and sitting in the garden. I love that. I love just sitting out there when it's still early and everything is beautiful. This morning while I was enjoying the zen of the garden I was pooped on by a bird. That brings you right back to reality. Thank you random bird, for reminding me that we are all connected and while I may think my life and garden are profound, really they're just your restroom.

In other news, my orange lilies are blooming!

A Remedy for Seed Packet Chaos

2011-05-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

I have never been accused of being an organized person. In someways I'm really thankful for that, but it wasn't serving me well in the realm of seeds.

Until recently, I kept all of my seed packets in a really pretty box. A box which I often lost. Yeah, I'm quite the chronic loser.

Good Grief

So, if confronted with seed displays while out and about I'd commonly buy stuff I had at home or, even worse, I'd freak out and not buy something because I thought I had it.

SO, WHAT'S THE SOLUTION!?

Well, I saw this awesome idea on "Gardening by the Yard."

A Great Show hosted by a Tulsa Local

First, I grabbed the mystery box of seeds from under a pile of plastic pots in the garage or somewhere similar

Then I laid them all out

(this picture keeps loading upside down, whatever.)

Then in one of my old school binders I filled plastic photo holders with the seed packets.

I held them in the little pouches with a piece of tape

This was looking pretty good! So, now what?

Should I carry this binder at all times?

Should I memorize it page by page?

Should I just forget the whole thing and take a nap?

NO! I should do data entry... (lame)

So, I entered everything into MS Excel and made a spreadsheet (gag!)

The end result is that I am now able to print off a very portable list of my seed catalog.

HEY! I can probably even load it on to my phone so I'll never be without this valuable information.

I envision a lot of efficiently purchased seeds in my future!!!

I still have all of my flower packets to do, but Pa'Sha to that!

What's in My Garden? (2011)

2011-05-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here's what I have so far...

30 different edibles growing this year (not counting herbs).

I've provided links to some of the plants. I tried to find reputable sites.

1. Asparagus (jersy)

2. Asparagus (mary washington)

3. Bell Pepper (better bell, green)

4. Bell Pepper (golden bell, yellow)

5. Blueberries (type 1)

6. Blueberries (type 2)

7. Blueberries (type 3)

I lost the information for the blueberries, but I know I chose them to cross pollinate for a larger yield

8. Broccoli (calabrese)

just pulled these out because I wasn't happy with them and I wanted more room for a modified 3 Sisters Garden

9. Brussels Sprouts

10. Cantaloupe (hale's best jumbo)

11. Cantaloupe (sweet'n early hybrid)

12. Carrots (danvers)

13. Garlic (late season)

14. Green Beans (bush blue lake symphony)

15. Lettuce (grandpa admire's)

16. Melon Green Flesh (eden's gem)

17. Onions (yellow)

18. Pepper (tabasco)

I had no idea how hot this cultivar was when I picked it out. Oh well... 5,000 to 30,000 Scoville Units

19. Pumpkin (jack O'lantern)

growing in the chickens yard

20. Raspberries

yeah once again I have no idea what type

21. Spinach (bloomsdale long-standing)

22. Squash (summer crookneck)

23. Squash (early prolific straight neck)

24. Strawberries (ever-bearing )

25. Strawberries (june-bearing, early)

the strawberries are from last years garden, but I have them potted up now

26. Sweet Corn (ambrosia hybrid)

first time growing corn

27. Tomato (better boy)

28. Tomato (cherry, Lycopersicon hybrid)

28. Watermelon (bush sugar baby)

30. Watermelon (sweet crimson)

I'm excited to see if I'll have enough room!!! I plan to use trellising for somethings, but it's all looking pretty tight.

Oh no, is that "tight" like in cool hip slang or "tight" like squeezed to close!?

Only time will tell...

Thank You Come Again.

ALERT: EARTHWORM FROM MARS!!!

2011-05-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

"AHH, there's a snake in My Beloved Compost!! Wait, no it's just the BIGGEST WORM EVER!!!"

I pulled this beauty out of my pile and it has caused me to question things...

You see, it's like 5 times bigger than all of the red wigglers (Which I added a while ago) so...

(a) It's just a Super-Sized Mutant red wiggler (It does look red-ish) or

(b) It's a regular sized Native worm of which I am not familiar

I was unable to get accurate measurements on the creature (it kept changing lengths), but It was about 7 inches long and as big around as my pinky finger. (WHAT!? Yeah)

(you may think that's a penny... it's a dinner plate)

So anyway, I named it "Babe the Big Worm" and released it back into my beloved compost (MBC).

I must also report that this has left me with quite a sense of accomplishment. As I set the monster free I smiled and thought, "Well, I sure do raise-up some big ol' worms."

World Record Worm : Microchaetus rappi or "Giant South African Earthworm"

***Update*** GGG says it's a Night Crawler. She had a bunch of them in Her Beloved Compost back in Humbolt Co. (See, I told you I was totally NorCal). It's a great spooky name for a BIG Worm, though!!

Ghosts of Gardens Past

2011-05-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

First True Garden:

While I had always been a container gardener, this real garden was a birthday gift from my husband. He built me 2 raised beds which together looked like an hexagon split in half.

It was such a cute little garden but also riddled with flaws. The main issues were that it was too wide for me to reach the center for weeding, we had filled it with the worst/cheapest bagged dirt we could find (sigh) and there was no easy watering system.

Later that year we had our son and moved into a new house. (BYE first cute, but flawed garden...)

I skipped one season of formal gardening.

Reasons: 1. New Baby 2. New House 3. Accepted in to Veterinary College

I don't remember that time very well. We existed in a constant state of sleep deprived chaos.

Second Real Garden:

In 2010 I set up a Lasagna/No Till Garden at our new/current home.

I was so excited about this style of gardening which was not only recommended by my Gardening Guru Grandmother (the GGG), but also promised a great yield with little to know weeding. HURRAY, right?

Well, maybe it worked for The GGG (Whom I love dearly and also has the greenest of all thumbs), but I fought slugs, misshapen veggies and the most weeds I have ever had. This was not the style of garden I wanted.

Three things I kept from this incarnation of the garden were the over all shape, the neat drip line/soaker hose combo irrigation system and my beloved compost pile.

By the end of the season this garden was a JUNGLE!

Garden Design

Starting the layers

Cutest Helper EVER!

Finished 2010 Garden

The first version of My Beloved Compost Pile (MBC)

(now this pile is a BEAST!)

My Current Garden:

So for the 2011 season I built on top of the previous years catastrophe, covering it with weed block and framing it in with 12X2 untreated lumber.

We had a 50/50 mix of Compost and Garden Soil delivered

I built the frames

Filled them with soil and laid in my irrigation lines

Filled them with frost sensitive plants

And took off for a Spring Break Trip to California!!! (WEEEEE)

to my great surprise everything survived and the garden is now thriving.

Next time I'll try to list everything I'm growing this season or maybe just list my favorite gardening podcasts.. who knows

Bye For Now!!!

Firefox was the agent of my original blog's demise

2011-05-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here we go again... I'm sorry if this inconvenienced anyone, but this blog will be bigger and better I'm sure.

I'll try to get a real post up in a few hours...

(original blog was: http://raechillsgarden.blogspot.com/ new blog has no "s" between raechill and garden actually you're here now http://raechillgarden.blogspot.com)