Still Trying...

Well, I've let my blogging get behind, but honestly I haven't had much to say. My plants have still been pretty sad-looking. Some of them have yellowed leaves while others have leaves that have been munched on by bugs.

It's rained a lot here, and so I haven't had many opportunities to go out and do much of anything to help them lately. I did buy some fish fertilizer over the weekend, though, and finally got the chance to go out and use it yesterday. Unfortunately, when I went out I also found that the ants have come back in full force. They were literally swarming over the mounds of soil where I planted my cucumber seeds. After fertilizing the entire garden, I liberally sprinkled them with Borax. Hopefully they'll be gone this evening and my plants perked up.

One happy surprise I found yesterday was a small yellow squash. It's about 3" long. At least something is growing!

Unhappy Plants

When I got home yesterday I immediately went out to check on my new straw bale garden. Unfortunately, I didn't find happy, healthy plants like I wanted to. Most of my transplants looked pretty pitiful...wilted, droopy, and generally unhappy. :( I watered them really well before going back in. I hope they'll look better this afternoon. Maybe I should use the Miracle Grow again...

Straw Bale Gardening, Day 21: Finally Planted!!!

There was a break in the rain today and I didn't see any ants in my straw bales, so I went for it and planted all of my stuff.  I hope I didn't overcrowd everything!  What do you think? (Click the picture for a better view!)

After I got everything planted, I watered it with my Miracle Grow liquid feeder that attaches to the water hose.  Hopefully everything will do OK!

Here is my little herb container garden that sits at the end of my straw bales.  My cilantro & basil are doing great.  I'm wondering if I need to thin the basil though.  What do you think?  My dill has come up in the large container. I thinned it a little bit, but I wonder if I need to thin it more.  I want as much as I can get, but I don't want to sacrifice the rest doing well if I don't thin it enough!

Trying Something Else...

Well, I'm trying one more thing on the ants before I finally get to transplant my plants: borax.  I saw here where borax mixed with sugar will get rid of ants in your house.  I guess the sugar is to attract them.  I decided to forego the sugar and just sprinkle the borax directly on the bales where I had seen the ants before.  

It's been raining for days, so when I went out just now I didn't actually see the ants...I suppose it's possible that they are already gone from all the Sevin I've been spraying on them.  I doubt it though and think it's more likely that they are down in the straw.  Anyway, I sprinkled the borax and am hoping when there's another break in the rain I can transplant all my stuff!

Straw Bale Gardening, Day 15: Ants!

It's rained almost every day since my last post.  My bales have pretty much cooled down, and have sprouted some mushrooms.  I was really excited to start transplanting my little plants, but when I went out this afternoon, I found that my bales have been infested with ants.  It looks as if they have moved in. :(  I sprayed them down with Sevin (again), but I'm afraid it's not helping.  Suggestions???