Newyorkrita said:

You do know that the compost doesn't have to be plowed in. I put mine on all my veggie beds. I do rake it around so that it is sorta even. But I just leave it on top. Comes planting time I just plant direct into the compost. The veggie plants love it.

Of course everyone has their own way of doing things. Mostly they all work pretty well.

The plowing in I'm doing is completely deliberate. The plot of land I selected for my veggie garden was selected for the amount of sun it gets...however, the area this was in had no real soil to speak of...just sandy fill that was used as the base for an old shed that was one there years and years ago. To see what the ground was like originally you would have thought nothing would grow there, now it's some of the best land on my property...and I'm not done yet. I also top dress with fresh layer of compost before planting.

robertduval14 said:


The plowing in I'm doing is completely deliberate. The plot of land I selected for my veggie garden was selected for the amount of sun it gets...however, the area this was in had no real soil to speak of...just sandy fill that was used as the base for an old shed that was one there years and years ago. To see what the ground was like originally you would have thought nothing would grow there, now it's some of the best land on my property...and I'm not done yet. I also top dress with fresh layer of compost before planting.

Excellent. It is amazing what compost will do.

Hi everybody,

I just got back from my community garden plot where I discovered to my chagrin that my bok choi transplants are being munched. They have multiple teeny tiny holes in them and there were tiny bugs that were hard to catch on them. In addition there were small flies caught under the row cover. This row cover was not well anchored....obviously letting in all kinds of bugs! So, we tried to remove as many tiny bugs as possible & chased away the flies, then reconstituted the row cover much more tightly. Here is my question: does anyone know what these critters might be? And how to deal with them?

Can put a piece of bread on the soil and see what is under it the next day

Have no idea what would eat them, but I had a ton of pinholes in my kale last year....sounds like the same thing.....

My little home grown basil's are doing great. I should take a picture and will soon.

At first they grew so slowly. Not that they are growing really fast now. But at least they look like Basil!

Thanks @Onewish1 and @RobinD. I'll try the bread trick. I also read somewhere they might be flea beetles?? The site said to paint grease on a shingle and hold it 1" above the plants. The flea beetles are supposed to jump off the plants & get stuck in the grease.

Sounds like a plan......flea beetles sound like what they are......

Transplanted my little baby Cilantro seedlings out to the garden. Also the Bok Choi. A good day for planting out little plantlets as it is cool and the ground is wet. Probably rain again later.

Heading out now to cover my tomato. Seeing our low will be 40 gets me nervous.

pirl said:Heading out now to cover my tomato. Seeing our low will be 40 gets me nervous.

Yes, cover it!!

I did. Good thing I brought along the largest black bag I have!

I was at Ocean State yesterday, looking over the lettuce choices....a gentleman from another country, who spoke English very well, asked for help with the seeds....he's planting his first garden in the States, & had no idea when to plant what.....he chose about 12 packs of seeds, & wrote the planting date I gave him on top of the packets.....he was so excited....I told him he'd have a wonderful garden...wish more folks were as enthusiastic as he was!

RobinD said:I was at Ocean State yesterday, looking over the lettuce choices....a gentleman from another country, who spoke English very well, asked for help with the seeds....he's planting his first garden in the States, & had no idea when to plant what.....he chose about 12 packs of seeds, & wrote the planting date I gave him on top of the packets.....he was so excited....I told him he'd have a wonderful garden...wish more folks were as enthusiastic as he was!

That was nice of you to help!!

pirl said:I did. Good thing I brought along the largest black bag I have!

So did the temps go way down last night over at your place? I figgure your bag it method worked?

I wasn't too bad here last night although it still feels chilly this morning. Has a lot to do with the fact that the ground is so wet.

At least my transplanted Cilantro and Bok Choi look like they transplanted well.

The low was 42.3. I left the bag by the tomato cage because I'm sure tonight will be cool as well.

Great news about your cilantro and bok choi. I'll check on my second pea planting later.

My peas look fabulous so I am hoping for a nice harvest. But they are growing slowly.

I had started Dill at same time as cilantro. It didn't come up. I started it again and again it did not come up. So I Need new seed. The seeds must be bad.

I've had great success in allowing my dill to go to seed. Much better than trying with seeds I plant so carefully. Sometimes nature does best.

pirl said:I've had great success in allowing my dill to go to seed. Much better than trying with seeds I plant so carefully. Sometimes nature does best.

Wish that worked for me here but I move things around in the veggie gardens so much that I don't get self seeding.

I only need the dill to go with picked cucumbers so I have plenty of time to get the seeds started. Or I could cheat and buy plants!

Dill is pretty easy to grow....mine self seeds all over the garden, & I let it....I need it for pickles, but also love it in potato salad & tossed salad.