This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
Thank you for all your support over the years!

Garden Fails

September 27th, 2017

Every year there are failures in the garden. I believe that failure is often one of the best ways to learn, it’s seems easier at times to figure out what works and what doesn’t when we have failures. This year one of my giant failures is in my ornamental cabbage crop. I seeded them in July, moved them outside in mid-August, then they were found by the caterpillars.

I had big dreams of pots of ornamental kale beside my front door until well into December, this is what they look like.


I don’t use any kind of pest control, even “organic” varieties. Often even those (like Slug-O) have consequences down the line. I’m thinking that I need to attract more wrens and birds to my garden. Perhaps a few guinea fowl will do the trick as well, they are fantastic at controlling squash bugs and cabbage worms. My dreams of giant drifts of ornamental kale are gone, but I’ve now learned that there’s just too much pressure at the current moment to try it. Perhaps I’ll just put one of my many pumpkins in the terra cotta pots by my front door. In the future, I may try ornamental kale again, but keep it under an insect barrier until it’s quite large. I may try seeding it a little earlier so it’s larger and more robust. I may just use my time to read a book instead though, sometimes it’s just easier to let dreams go.

What pest issues are you having this time of year? Are there any garden dreams you’ve had to let go of?

2 Comments to “Garden Fails”
  1. kristin @ going country on September 27, 2017 at 8:03 am

    We’ve had terrible slugs this year, thanks to the wet weather. They’ve eaten a hole in almost every one of the Mortgage Lifter tomatoes and didn’t do the green beans any good, either. Thankfully, they do not seem interested in the Juliet tomatoes, so those are in good shape.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  2. Anna on September 27, 2017 at 7:51 pm

    I feel your pain, same thing happened to me. Few years back. I never tried again because I did not want to designate space under agribon-covered brassicas…I suspect commercial growers spray the heck out of them! Some things, you just have to buy.

    Reply to Anna's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

Admin
Read previous post:
Reaping Rewards

This year I feel like I'm finally starting to reap the rewards of all my hard work over the past...

Close