Years ago, I chose to dig this piece of this past rental property. It was almost impossible due to rocks, so after asking my neighbor if he could help me by using his little John Deer digger; God layed it on his heart to do so. He even got me some soil. What a blessing that was. Unfortunately, I had got some disease to my potatoes & my carrots were full of holes. Did get to enjoy the fruits of my labor from some of my other veggies. Anyways, getting to the point. . . I thought that the holes in my carrots were from cutworms but as time went on it was discovered that those holes were caused by the larva of the carrot fly. See this great link on the carrot fly: http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_february_1b_carrot.asp
Last year I dug up this little piece of dirt with the permission of my resident caretaker and planted a few veggies. Unfortunately, to my demise, the owner of this building did not approve so it was destroyed. I was really upset regarding this and let the caretaker know. He talked to the owner re the situation and I was given a piece of dirt 3 times the size which was part of the parking lot of my building on the south side along with 6 bags of soil. On a very small portion of this dirt, I managed to dig up enough soil and replace it with some excellent compost from a generous neighbor & good soil from the store for 6 tomato plants. Also planted some Swiss chard & beets on the poor soil after taking the garden fork to it. After that, I began digging & sifting the rocks out of some of this portion of a parking lot. Those tomatoes, Swiss chard & beets were a blessing. Also, right flush with my building next to that piece of dirt was a skinny sidewalk of poured cement from years ago where I would have liked to take it out but it was impossible; so with Gods' provisions of 4 old wooden window boxes, some of that store bought soil and some brain storming, I placed them together and planted pole beans & corn. How beautiful & inviting it looked from the back alley. After using some coffee grinds sprinkled on top of this two veggies, the pole beans were 8 feet tall and I actually got some fully developed sweet corn (only 4 inches in size).
This year, it was my goal to finish digging & sifting out the dirt. The dirt was REALLY poor and I knew it needed help with earthworms which puts nutrients, helps aerate the soil and other things. See this interesting article: http://www.ehow.com/about_6596680_do-earthworms-improve-soil-fertility_.html Half way done, I dug the flower garden in the front and found lots of worms to add to my very poor soil which was full of sand mixture.
Discovered that near my house there was a huge compost bin at this little park that said "help your self". Went and got 2 garbage cans full of it to mix in. Was worried about the carrot flies so after checking out info according to this old cookbook about companion planting decided to plant in a way that carrot flies might stay away. Transplanted some chives from the front in with the carrots. Thought I would google to see if there was anything else I could do to keep those nasty flies from laying their eggs near my carrots. Found out to sprinkle ash from wood and plant certain herbs. Got the ash from a neighbors fire pit. Ash is also REALLY good fertilizer: http://voices.yahoo.com/wood-ashes-improve-garden-3-ways-as-fertilizer-soil-2803696.html?cat=32
Bought some beautiful blueish purple pansies for the front, a couple of bell pepper plants to add to the garden and some stinky marigolds & sweet marjoram to place with the carrots.
When I got home from getting the marigolds & marjoram, I googled on what companion planting thinking there might be some more info 4 my garden. This long article I came across is truly worth the read if you have a garden or if you know someone that does: http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html
Tomorrow I am going to plant the stuff I bought and am going to phone Super Store to see if they have zucchini (Canadian tire didn't have any). My ones that I planted aren't growing yet.
Also, I need to find out about rue. It keeps cats out. See: http://ezinearticles.com/?Cat-Repellent-or-How-to-Keep-Cats-Out-of-Your-Garden&id=6554
Went out later and I think I saw a carrot fly so decided to cut up an old peice of a shear curtain. Then after placing enough sticks in the soil where my carrots were to hold up the curtain, I placed it over top so it would be like a tent. Made it tight and place rocks on the curtain to hold it down. Praying there will be enough light and water for my carrots.
Hoping all this work will give me a productive garden.
My garden is skinny & long like this.
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