What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

@Wee Farmer Sarah I don't have any hot mulch, unfortunately, but those beds have had the black plastic on them for 3 weeks now so they are pretty warm. I'm hoping it'll be ok, but even if it isn't the bush beans were a mistake anyway so I'm not all that concerned. The lettuce is doing good, it's very warm under there. Steamy all the time.

 

[BullChick]

I’ve been meaning to ask, should I pull up the black plastic when I’m ready to plant, or just poke holes for the crops?

 

[Sueby]

I know people leave it in place for weed control & evaporation. But I'm pulling mine, it was only to smother the cover crop & warm up the beds. My nephew used black plastic last year in his garden & it worked well.

& with that, I don't think I'll bother with the cover crop again. If I tilled maybe, but it's much more work than it was worth. I have bits of it popping up all over. Even in pots outside of the garden, lol.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

You could poke holes for the plants, just make sure you put some slits in the plastic to let rainwater in. A lot of people use black plastic as mulch.

 

[BullChick]

I never want to see slugs or worms. Does black plastic make them more visible?

 

[BullChick]

After the trouble I went through trying to get a few plants in last year, I got a head start by getting the garden cleaned out last fall. I put down the plastic so that nothing could grow back, but also as you said, to help get the soil warm. If it were not for my fear of the ickies, I’d keep it down.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Wow! It is always a bad story when a kid gets attacked. And your daughter being attacked in your yard is bad.

when dog owners say “he/she doesn’t bite” it is such a clueless remark. Yes, a dog..any dog..all dogs WILL bite. Even timid dogs, nice dogs, sweet dogs, etc. of course, for trained or better natured dogs, it is less likely. We had a super-timid, very meek, very scaredy-fraidy dog that lived behind my dad’s ankle. If my dad was in his chair, she was behind his leg. If he got up to go anywhere, she was right there behind his ankle. She was a miniature long hair dachshund. A friend came to pick me up one day -never been to the house. Came inside and stood at the door. Did not move past the entry way bc we were going to leave. My dad/dog were 20 feet away, at least, I was walking down the stairs. All of a sudden, this meek-timid-fraidy dog zips out from behind my dad, runs over to friend, BITES their ankle, and runs back behind my dad. My dad and I watched this in shock, mouths open, and recovered our senses once dog had returned to dad’s ankle. Friend was bruised, but dog had not broken skin (small mouth, I guess). Have no idea why dog did that...never did it again. Anyway, ALL dogs will bite given the right circumstances.

@WthrLady -hopefully your neighbor dog situation improves.

Our next door neighbor breeds and sells Rhodesian Ridgebacks. For people who don't know that breed, it is very aggressive and used to hunt lions. The neighbors use a wireless fence AND a wired fence to keep the dogs on their property. A couple of years ago (before I lived next door), the dogs attacked and nearly killed a Terminex guy who was treating the property. The neighbors justified the attack by saying that the guy crossed the boundary into an area where he shouldn't have gone. That's probably a grey area that could be argued from both sides. However, just a few months ago, our OTHER neighbor who is 93 yrs old and severely handicapped was driving his golf cart (as he does nearly every day) down the street and the dogs came after him in the street. I guess the batteries were dead on their collars for the wireless fence, not sure.... But they bit the old man on his golf cart. Normally he has his small lab mix with him. If she had been with him that day, I'm certain the dogs would have killed her. I don't believe the old man ever reported the attack. Personally, I would have reported it. My husband works for the Health Dept and is responsible for handling dog bite cases in a different county. If ANY dog is a threat to the surrounding community, it should be contained like a dangerous animal such as a big cat, bull, or other similar animal. If those dogs ever jump the WIRED fence between our properties, they will be dead dogs.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I never want to see slugs or worms. Does black plastic make them more visible?

I hate slugs. Like, you have no idea my absolute hatred for the slimy beasts. I haven't had them in my strawberries yet but I'm sure it is a matter of time. A couple of years ago, I purchased some copper tape and put it around all my containers to keep the little buggers out. The problem with that long term is that copper corrodes and is no longer effective. I need a way to keep them out of my strawberries (planted in tires) before they find them.

 

[Elyrian1]

@TJAnonymous If you clean the patina off the copper it should keep working? Otherwise, you've just given me an excellent game plan! Thank you!

The neighbors up the street have a German Shepherd that they can't control. Wrong dog, wrong people. Not the dog's fault, but I'm very wary of him and have always been. I had my toddler in the stroller and went for a walk one day when the shepherd broke lead (he's too strong for their teen daughter) and barreled over the lawn at us.

So 60-70 pound dog vs 100 pound me at the time. I got between him and the stroller, braced for impact, and he fully body slammed me. Knocked the wind out of the dog, he fell over, must have really thrown him because he went running back to his owner. Toddler just watched in utter confusion, one of those "What happened, Mom?" kind of looks on his face. He's not scared of dogs, but is a little shy around them. We're working on it. I was fine, but extremely annoyed. When the owner apologized to me I looked her in the eye and said deadpan "Nothing I can't handle." Which is true. I'll leave it to your imagination, but suffice to say that the outcome that happened was by far the best possible outcome for everybody. They've been reeeeeeally careful ever since.

Same neighborhood, I had to save a lady and her dog from two loose dogs last year. They were going for her dog, she's starting to panic, so I just dropped my voice an octave and calmly told them to go home while pointing back up the street. They left! Craziest thing... I didn't think it would actually work. I was getting ready to call 911 honestly.

Going to get some dirt today. Don't have any to pot up that strawberry runner and need some. Plus, want to get one of my cheap pots planted up with basil for the other neighbor and surprise her before we leave. We had excess basil last year and after cooking with some once, she was very invested in my garden plot suddenly. Also, the aloe could really use a top-up of quality soil. It's still in the pot it came in, has nearly died at least three times, and is just now looking really, really good under the grow lights where the cats can't chew on it. Dang cats.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Crushed eggshells deter slugs. Sprinkle them around the base of plants. They don’t like to slither their slimy bodies over them.