Garden Fails
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?
Filed under Around the Garden, Insects, Pests | Comments (2)
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.
to kristin @ going country's comment
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.
to Anna's comment