Grubs

Preparing the raised beds

I've been using these raised beds for a while, but two years ago, I had a Japanese beetle grub infestation. I didn't know how destructive they could be so I ignored them (the "organic" thing to do, right?). Well, I ended up with very low yields last year and sickly plants.

This year, I decided to solve the problem. I dug all of the dirt out of my smaller planter and replaced it with new dirt. But the larger planter box was going to be more difficult, so my husband built me a frame for a 1/4 inch steel mesh. I dug out all the dirt and sifted it through the mesh. This helped me to pick out all of the grubs and put them into the trash. I hope to finish the job this weekend.

Seedlings (and weeds) thriving

The seedlings were thriving on April 10th. I started all of them from seed back in mid to late March.

The center container has three types of tomatoes, using Burpee seed: Sugar Snack Cherry Tomato, Roma VF, Bush Big-Boy.

Center back container has Country Gentleman Shoe-peg Corn, from Bountiful Gardens.

Far left container has Spearmint Herb and far right container (front) is Imperial Star Artichoke, both from Burpee. Right back container is Black Beauty Zucchini, from Bountiful Gardens.



Some other seedlings were ready to transplant outside. Those include mostly Melon plants: Burpee Early Crenshaw, Orange Sorbet Honeydew, and Honey Bunch Cantaloupe. Also one Bok (Joi) Choi plant.