Zucchini

The last couple of weeks was busy at work but managed to transplant a few plants on the weekend. The Yellow Zucchini which was being tended indoors flowered. Since pollination was not possible with the only flower I left it to wilt but transplanted it over the weekend. Also transplanted a few Tomatoes and gourds. Next weekend would be more transplants as the weather improves to over 20 degrees.

Lettuce and Mint

I am still waiting to transplant the tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants and the gourds. The weather is still cool for these heat loving plants. I was busy throughout the week and today noticed the larger leaves of the lettuce in the planter box on the patio. So is the mint which has over 4" leaves! This the first time we had mint with such large leaves. Probably this was due to the compost tea and fish fertilizer-that's my straight forward interpretation.

Meanwhile the butternut squash has sprouted. Two of the four seedlings died. This was due to exposure to cold as I kept them on the patio on a sunny day but it was the cold wind which did the damage.

Copper collars for cabbage

Looks like it is getting warm but some mild weather is expected the next week. Today weeded the raised beds, sowed some pole beans and runner beans along the fence. Checked the cabbages and broccoli. Although I didn't find and snails or slugs I thought of adding a barrier. Since the copper mesh is expensive I thought of getting a few strips of  copper sheet from the guy who soldered our copper bird bath. He gave away a 2" strip of copper of about 3' length. I made a collar and inserted around the cabbage plants.

Butternut squash

Seems like four of them would be too much for us. Probably we might transplant only the healthiest two or maybe all of them - space permitting and later give away excess squashes! As with any plant of the squash family they need supports to take the vertical route. So shoved in some wooden coffee stirrers into the peat pots.

Bottlegourd/Doodhi/Lauki/Sorakaya,..

Today was day five for the Bottlegourd seedling. In the last two days it grew four inches! Of the four seeds I sowed, only one germinated. Yesterday sowed a few more. I'll see how many grow well and will transplant the healthiest one.

Composting

Manjula - thanks for checking my blog!

We have been composting in these bins. We bought one from Home Depot which is a simple arrangement but the problem is with turning it over. It was hard to turn the compost over with a pitch fork and I decided to make one. So I brought a few pallets, stripped them and nailed them to make this open bin. We use this for grass clippings, stems, leaves and other waste from the yard.

Since the HD composter was full and we needed one more, we decided to make a composter which is easy to turn it over. After some good research I found one here. I found the plastic barrel on craigslist, followed the simple steps with some modifications for the height and made one. It works great! The best part is the internal aeration system. I didn't take any pictures when I was building it! Anyways, I hope this link describes all that is needed.

  Apart from grass clippings from the lawn (we sometimes leave it), green & brown leaves we add the kitchen scraps to it which we collect in a little bucket on the counter. Most of the fruit peelings, vegetable trimmings, egg shells (of late we have been saving it for the tomatoes), tea leaves, egg cartons,... all go into the composter. Usually we trim into small pieces so it composts faster.

If it starts smelling (if it's on the counter too long) or to avoid any smell we throw in a piece of charcoal.

Waiting to transplant

The wait for the weather to improve is agonizing. Meanwhile the seedlings have sprouted and standing tall indoors and in the seedling tray greenhouse. Most of them are Zucchini, Indian Cucumber(Keera), English Cucumber, Peppers, Egg plants & Tomatoes. The Ridge Gourd has sprouted and so is the Round Yellow Cucumber (Dosakaya). I'd wait till it gets warm enough. I have been feeding diluted organic fish fertilizer and they seem to be lapping it up!

Snails feeding on my broccoli,...

Since I sowed the Brassicaceae- Cabbage, Cauliflower & Broccoli I have been checking them for snails & slugs. After last year's experience I bought Copper wire netting from Lee Valley and nailed it to the sides of the bed. Since it is expensive I tried this for only one bed. I nailed some left over wire to a side of the second bed where I sowed Broccoli. The plan was to thin them after they grew a few inches high. It's here the leaves have been eaten. 

 

 Found the culprits - two snails. I crushed some egg shells, which I have been saving for my Tomato transplants, and spread around the seedlings & covered with milk cans. Will check to see if it's effective. 
Later in the evening went to Rona & Home Depot to find diatomaceous earth. Seems they have no clue what it is and I had to explain the purpose. Both stores assured they'd procure this product. Probably I might have to check at a local nursery if the egg shells doesn't work.

More herbs,...

Here are some more herbs which we are growing - Bay leaf

Since Bay leaf prefers well drained and moist soil I transplanted it in a ceramic pot adding a few pebbles at the bottom, home made compost, peat moss & garden soil. I inserted a watering bulb to keep the soil moist. Here's some good information which I found at http://theherbgardener.blogspot.com/ .

The Mint was gifted to us last year from a family friend who are avid gardeners themselves. Since Mint spreads wild on ground it was planted in a planter box. During the winter we didn't bother to take care of it as it is cold hardy and in spring a little tilling of the soil and a few teaspoons of blood meal did wonders to the plant. Since blood meal contains Nitrogen it helps in building green foliage.

Lastly we have Oregano and Thyme both of which are cold hardy. Since Thyme prefers alkaline soil I mixed garden soil, peat moss and wood ash (from the fire place).

Curry Leaf plant

Herbs are an important ingredient in any dish. The curry leaf (Murraya Koenigii) plays an important role in East Indian cooking. Since my wife wanted to have a curry leaf plant at home I tried searching for it online. I was amazed to see some long discussions on it, especially here http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/seed/msg0715445929720.html. It was difficult to get a sapling in Canada but after a few searches it was possible to find one at flora exotica in Montreal. It is a couple of weeks that the plant arrived in good shape. It is doing well except for a little brown patch on a leaf. I suspect it is due to inadequate sunlight as the plant was indoors due to cold weather. It usually thrives in warm weather.The plant was transplanted in a bigger ceramic pot in well drained soil with a good amount of organic matter. I added few servings of organic fish fertilizer and it seems to be doing good as can be seen with growth of new leaves. However I'll keep my fingers crossed till warm weather picks up.