Finally a few Pix.

OK friends, I finally have a few pix of my SFG to share.


My 2 4 X 4's


My Strawberry 4 x 4


My Vegetable 4 X 4


My Kale and the Kritters that ate it.

My Edamame Soybeans are Huge and over shadowing my Red Bell Peppers, but the Peppers don't appear to be suffering. And my Snow Peas, which are a dwarf variety, are actually doing OK in this awful heat. They are starting to blossom. I do however need to make a small trellis for them. I picked up some Peppermint Castile Soap yesterday to make Insecticidal Soap. I tried it on the Caterpillars eating my Kale and it didn't seem to phase them. I had a large triangular shaped bug on my Zucchini this morning and it took him out quick. However it didn't seem to do as well on the small yellow and black striped bugs. Chased them off but didn't kill them. I've harvested a lot of Lemon Basil. (About $20 worth or more, considering in the store, regular Sweet Basil is $1.39 per 1/4 oz.!.) My Okra plants are also growing nicely and my Swiss Chard is doing well. Over all I am very happy. The Mels Mix is so awesome in our extremely hot summer climate. I water both beds 2x a day - once in the early morning and once in the early evening. And the mix has never dried out and my plants are green and happy. I am getting some rot on my Strawberries, but that is probably because of the extreme humidity. I have a small ant problem in the Strawberries as well which I'm hoping the Insecticidal Soap will help. I've actually sprayed it around the perimeter of the beds to help discourage would be pests. So there you have it. Thanks again for a great forum.
RC

Love your boxes. Everything looks great (except the kale of course) Darn kritters

oh what a pretty garden!!

hugs
rose

A whole 4x4 full of strawberries?! Um, are you married?

Rev your garden looks great! I like the double duty stones, not only do they hold down the bird netting but they give a nice finished look to your garden.
The soap will kill the wee buggers it takes a little while though. If you want a quicker knock down try adding some hot chillie oil. You can find it in the ethnic food section of most food stores. Or if you have fresh chilies whir them up in the blender with a little water strain and add to spray with a little veg oil.
I use this spray and it works pretty fast. I don't spray the whole plant just target the insects.

Thanks everyone. And Mamachibi, I am married. 13 years yesterday. My family eats a lot of Strawberries. That's one reason for a full 4 X 4. The other reason is with a little maintenance, those plants will be on autopilot for a few years. And Shannon1, I will add the chilli oil. With the Kale I figured the plants were pretty spindly because I couldn't transplant them soon enough. So, if the kritters were eating those, they were leaving my other plants alone.

RC

Very pretty stuff! Thanks so much for sharing. I love the rock border. It adds a very nice touch.

Cinnamon works for ants too, I keep a small container in my "garden box" that I take out with me each morning.

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:Very pretty stuff! Thanks so much for sharing. I love the rock border. It adds a very nice touch.

Thanks BackyardBirdGardner, Glad you like it. Now I just need to finish the stone pathway between the beds and plant more Kale.

FarmerValerie wrote:Cinnamon works for ants too, I keep a small container in my "garden box" that I take out with me each morning.

Thanks FarmerValerie, I'll try sprinkling some cinnamon in the Strawberry bed.

Beautiful beds you've got there !! You might want to add some BT.. http://homeharvest.com/bt.htm to your selection of garden aids. Its always worked well and very quickly for me !!

sceleste54 wrote:Beautiful beds you've got there !! You might want to add some BT.. http://homeharvest.com/bt.htm to your selection of garden aids. Its always worked well and very quickly for me !!

Thanks sceleste54. That looks good. Is it considered organic? I'm not against non-organic, just curious. I used Sevin last year (before SFG) on my Thai Peppers. Worked wonders and I'm considering it again for my zucchini (potted non-SFG) which is under attack from cucumber beetles.
Thanks again,
RC

Also pulled all the leaves off of my Kale today. There were no caterpillars feeding on what was left. The stems look healthy, so we'll see if anything grows back. If not I'll replant.
Thanks again to all,
RC

BT (thuricide brand at box stores sometimes) is a natural bacteria that attacks caterpillars and makes them quit eating. After spraying, you might see them for a couple days, but it works. I am spraying squash, tomatoes and all of the broc/cabbage/brussells sprouts...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis

Squat_Johnson wrote:BT (thuricide brand at box stores sometimes) is a natural bacteria that attacks caterpillars and makes them quit eating. After spraying, you might see them for a couple days, but it works. I am spraying squash, tomatoes and all of the broc/cabbage/brussells sprouts...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis

Cool Thanks Squat_Johnson. Good to know. I'll get some soon.
RC

Good job! - Enjoy all your goodies

LittleGardener to the Forums.

Thanks LittleGardener and Welcome. You are going to love this forum. Lots of good people with good advice.
RC

Thank you! both Kelejan, & Reverend for your Welcome

So I puled off all the Kritter damaged Kale Leaves shortly after I took these pix and am starting to see new leaf growth. Time to but the Thuricide!

RC