If you look at the pictures of my garden on this blog, it might seem like a perfect garden flourishing well with absolutely no problems. But like any gardener, I face a lot of challenges in my garden.
My backyard is a place where I LOVE to spend a lot of time. Every morning after my kids are off to school, I spend some time in my garden, walking thru each & every part of it, inspecting all my plants to make sure that they are growing well. What can give you more joy & pleasure than seeing your plants growing & producing for your family? After school hours, my kids join me in helping me around my garden. They love to see when new changes have occured in my garden - for eg: a ripe tomato or beans & okra that are ready to pick.
But with all the pleasure, comes a lot of challenges. First, the weather - sometimes the extreme heat & at other times, the sudden drop in temperature are obstacles preventing the plants from producing well.
Second, the bugs - In several occasions, I've had seedlings "disappear overnight"....nice healthy seedlings of spinach, carrots & other tiny seedlings which grow nicely until they are about 2-3in high & then suddenly disappear overnight. This is in spite of having a 3 ft chicken wire around them. Its so frustrating to wake up in the morning & see that ur seedlings have been eaten up by bugs. On the advice of my local garden store associate, I used diluted dish wash soap to spray my plants. It didn't work. Neither did spraying them with Neem oil...the bugs just kept getting at my plants anyway. Now I've almost given up on my spinach & carrots.
The third & worst of all - A "rabbit". I had mentioned in an earlier post about a rabbit getting into my vegetable patch. It keep happening often & keep damaging my plants. My garden store associate suggested spraying the plants with diluted hot pepper sauce. I'm going to try that & see if it works with the rabbits.
There was an instance where beautiful my store bought Marigold plants with lots of flowers on them were completely chewed down by these rabbits. Now only the stubs remain.
But even with all these challenges, I love my garden & am planning to expand it a little more next season hoping that Mother Nature with bless us with lots of produce for our family.
I hope this blog post has not discouraged anyone from starting a garden. Despite all the challenges, gardening is a wonderful way to use your time fruitfully. Nothing more rewarding that see your basket fill up with all the vegetables & fruits picked fresh from your own yard.
If you don't have a garden space yet, start one right away & enjoy ur produce Fresh from your Garden!!!
Here are some pics of my beautiful plants still producing....& some Marigold plants started from seed...I have placed them on the window ledge to protect them from the rabbits.
My backyard is a place where I LOVE to spend a lot of time. Every morning after my kids are off to school, I spend some time in my garden, walking thru each & every part of it, inspecting all my plants to make sure that they are growing well. What can give you more joy & pleasure than seeing your plants growing & producing for your family? After school hours, my kids join me in helping me around my garden. They love to see when new changes have occured in my garden - for eg: a ripe tomato or beans & okra that are ready to pick.
But with all the pleasure, comes a lot of challenges. First, the weather - sometimes the extreme heat & at other times, the sudden drop in temperature are obstacles preventing the plants from producing well.
Second, the bugs - In several occasions, I've had seedlings "disappear overnight"....nice healthy seedlings of spinach, carrots & other tiny seedlings which grow nicely until they are about 2-3in high & then suddenly disappear overnight. This is in spite of having a 3 ft chicken wire around them. Its so frustrating to wake up in the morning & see that ur seedlings have been eaten up by bugs. On the advice of my local garden store associate, I used diluted dish wash soap to spray my plants. It didn't work. Neither did spraying them with Neem oil...the bugs just kept getting at my plants anyway. Now I've almost given up on my spinach & carrots.
There was an instance where beautiful my store bought Marigold plants with lots of flowers on them were completely chewed down by these rabbits. Now only the stubs remain.
I hope this blog post has not discouraged anyone from starting a garden. Despite all the challenges, gardening is a wonderful way to use your time fruitfully. Nothing more rewarding that see your basket fill up with all the vegetables & fruits picked fresh from your own yard.
If you don't have a garden space yet, start one right away & enjoy ur produce Fresh from your Garden!!!
Here are some pics of my beautiful plants still producing....& some Marigold plants started from seed...I have placed them on the window ledge to protect them from the rabbits.
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