First Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) bloom. I grow these outside, so they bloom much later than ones forced to bloom during Christmas time.
Category Archives: Gardening
Guinea Pig Waste?
My nephew has two Guinea Pigs and I noticed they poop a lot. I got to wondering if I can use their droppings for compost and fertilizer? (Kinda like how you would use rabbit droppings.)
Also, if the Guinea Pig poop is okay for compost/fertilizer, can use also compost their soiled bedding (paper pulp pieces, urine and poop)?… or is this not advisable?
Also posted in the compost_wackos community.
Succulents…
I checked the Peas that my Mom saw the bird eating yesterday and they looked like they were bald. I hope they will recover… My Mom but some netting around it, but I think I’ll go to the store and get the thinning netting for gardens.
I thought I was going to do more gardening, but there was not much to do. So I moved a few things around and watered a bit.
I also took a photo inventory of most of our Succulents and Cactus… I didn’t realize how much we had. I don’t even think I got everything…
Here are photos of four more additions that I purchased recently from the dollar store
I’m pretty sure the tall white one is Variegated Indian Corn Cob (Euphorbia mammillaris var. variegata), but I don’t know what the others are.
Murderous!
When I got home from work, it was almost dark, but I wanted to just put the Elephant Garlic into the ground to start growing. Before I started, with flashlight in hand, I checked the Swiss Chard, Lettuce and Boy Choy I repotted yesterday…
AHHHHRRRGGGG! Something ate them!!!
All the Lettuce were completely gone. All the Bok Choy were gone with the exception of a few decapitated ones. Luckily, most of Swiss Chard were fine, but it looked like a few were pecked at or nibbled on. (I guess birds–or whatever ate the seedling–don’t like Swiss Chard that much)
I’m suspecting that the birds ate them, because I’ve noticed them in various parts of the garden, when I have been gardening. I also found these marks on one of my Snow Pea leaves:
I resowed Lettuce and Bok Choy seeds and hope they grow quickly to replace the ones I lost. I placed the plastic cover from my large Jiffy Greenhouse Trays… Luckily it’s the perfect size for these trays.
Weekend Gardening…
I did quite a lot of gardening this weekend.
The weather is getting cooler and it was overcast pretty much the whole weekend. Leaves are changing colors and the summer vegetables are slowing down. There was a lot of leaves from the Pears and Apples to sweep up and I cut off more of the dying leaves on the Tomatoes and Cucumbers.
The Lettuce, Swiss Chard and Bok Choy that I planted about 2 weeks ago are getting crowded in the six packs, so I divided them up and planted 3-4 seedlings into 3 inch pots. (I have to remember that one Swiss Chard seed actually comprise of many seeds) I’ll let these grow a bit until I have space to plant them in the vegetable beds.
( before photo – after photo )
My brother went to a yard sale and bought a whole box of terra cotta pots (with 3 bags of cactus mix included) for only $3.00… what a deal! ( photo )
I potted the three $1.00 Cactus and Succulents into pots. ( photo )
As I was planting the Cactus, a spider paid a visit and I think it took residence on the Cactus. ( photo )
It seemed to be a spider weekend. I must have seen 4 different spiders, but I guess that’s not too unusual when you are cleaning up around the garden. Here are two of my favorite photos:
Lastly, I harvested the first big batch of Tomatoes… along with Pears and Lemon Cucumber.
Yeay! Good night :)
My New Orchid + Seedpods + Seed
My friend Darwin and I bought this Orchid this weekend for under $20. I spilt it into two and kept half for myself.
I’m not sure what cultivar it is. Anyone know?
The Amaryllis seedpod that I’ve been watching has started to pop open, so I collected the seeds, which I will plant as lblanchard did.
Speaking of seeds… I found this seed in a parking lot near my work. At first I thought it was just a coffee bean, but it had a skin (similar to a peanut skin) that came off. I’m not really sure what it is, but I planted it to see if it grows.
It’s Hot…
Yesterday, I spent the day in San Francisco, celebrating my friend Wincy’s Birthday. We went to the West Portal district and had a Mexican lunch… Yumm!… Afterwards, we walked around the shops. I happened to see a hardware store that was selling a Coleus… so, knowing me I had to get it. Hello Coleus ‘Red Ruffles’.
Today, it was really warm, reaching the mid 90s (°F). Once it cooled down a bit, I fertilized with a water soluble fertilizer, spray almost all my plants. That was pretty much the extent of my gardening.
I did notice that the tomatoes are finally fruiting… and I saw my first tomato!!! YEAY!!! It’s a Great White Tomato that is about half an inch wide. The Cucumbers are also starting to flower. Below is the Sikkim Cucumber blossom.
While in the garden, I snacked on some of our yummy Italian Plum, which I think is my favorite fruit in the garden.
Oh yeah, one of the Message Bean has emerged. The other one rotted :(
Stockpiling and Mulching Question?
I have written entries before how my brother gets pallets of damaged bags of potting soil, garden soil, soil conditioner, manure, bark mulch, river rocks, etc… but I don’t think I ever showed photos, so I took some today to show you how much we have!!!
We have a lot of ground cover bark… and I’m thinking of using this instead of the newspaper in my veggie beds.
What are the pros and cons of using ground cover bark in a veggie bed?
Does it change the pH? Should I add something to the soil if it does?
We have lot of pill bugs and earwigs. Does this deter or encourage pests?
Thanks in advance for all your comments :)