Raised Bed

Loaded up the truck to head of to our next project. Picked up some ratchet straps for the truck. They made securing lumber into the truck's roof rack really easy. 

So we built another commissioned raised bed, this time Martín was my helper. He helped move the lumber, and then hold it in place while I started drilling. 

Some Tips and Tricks to Fight Miserable Mosquitoes : You Bet Your Garden : WHYY

Some Tips and Tricks to Fight Miserable Mosquitoes : You Bet Your Garden : WHYY

The BTI strategy has been proven to help reduce the numbers of Mosquitoes. Each neighbor puts out buckets of water treated with a piece of BTI dunk, which was replaced monthly. People have found that this helped keep the summer relatively mosquito free. As long as people don't become lax about replacing the dunks whole neighborhoods can remain relatively mosquito free all summer long.

* credit Howard Garrett, “The Dirt Doctor” down in Texas

- See more at: http://whyy.org/cms/youbetyourgarden/some-tips-and-tricks-to-fight-miserable-mosquitoes/#sthash.ee2PsVKy.dpuf

Squash and tomato seedlings

The tomato seedlings were transplanted into yogurt cups so they have a little more space to grow but are eagerly  awaiting warmer temperatures to get outside. 

The last of my squash has started to come up. 

Vine Squash Borers

Here is a short article from "You Bet Your Garden" that talks about methods of combating the vine squash borer, which can be detrimental to all types of squash plants. I may have to give the wrapping the bottom of the vine in gauze a try.

Vine Squash Borers

Vicky in Philadelphia, PA has pumpkins, that were grown from seed, in her well tended school garden. Sadly they have been invaded by pesky vine squash borers and she wants to find out how to avoid this as she plans her garden this year. Mike gives a brief introduction about the vine squash borers: They are night flying moths who lay their eggs at the base of very hallow vines. A physical barrier for her pumpkins, Mike points out, is what will be the best option for Vicky. Mike suggests to grow them out doors in containers and remove them from the containers to plant them in the garden when they are about two feet long. Additionally, Mike recommends, with gauze bandage, to “wrap the whole bottom of the vine going down to the dirtball with this gauzy material”. If Vicky wishes, she can also spray under the leaves every couple of days, forcefully, and where they lay there eggs. This process washes them away.

Here is an image of the telltale sign of Vine Squash Borer damage.

Spring

Spring has finally started to arrive in our garden. The peach tree is full of blooms. I treated it for the leaf curl it had last year, so hopefully we see less of it. The early and mid variety blueberry bushes have blooms, and the late variety still has a bit to go.

Raised Bed

First commissioned raised bed of the season done. 

Summer and Butternut Squash

Today I started our summer and Butternut squash. Last year our supply of butternut squash we grew lasted us until winter, hopefully this year is the same. 

Cucumber Sprouts

My cucumber sprouts are starting to slowly emerge from the soil. 

Peach Blossoms

The peach branches the kids and I pruned off the tree a few weeks ago have started to bloom just in time for Easter.

Converting Lawn into Raised Garden Beds Without Waste

Converting Lawn into Raised Garden Beds Without Waste



Over at Garden Therapy they wrote a really nice article about putting some raised beds in your yard, going through all the thought processes of how to make them, what to put in them and how to maintain them. Enjoy.