[omnivorette]

Garden inspection on this sunny morning, after 10 days away - so much arugula!!!! Time for arugula pesto. My spinach looks particularly great, and my cukes are growing like crazy, finally!

Peonies are in full bloom - so gorgeous.

I guess it's all the rain we've had up here - everything is so lush and green and all the flowers are intensely colored and full. My roses are doing so well, too - all the varieties.

[buona forchetta]

Garden inspection on this sunny morning, after 10 days away - so much arugula!!!! Time for arugula pesto. My spinach looks particularly great, and my cukes are growing like crazy, finally!

Peonies are in full bloom - so gorgeous.

I guess it's all the rain we've had up here - everything is so lush and green and all the flowers are intensely colored and full. My roses are doing so well, too - all the varieties.

Quick question about your arugula.... did you plant seeds, or buy small plants?

I've got some extra room in the herb garden and I want to plant some lettuces. Arugula is one of my favorites and I'm pretty sure you mentioned mache at some point (which I LOVE!!!), but I feel like that might be more difficult to grow.

[omnivorette]

I have not had good luck with mache. Maybe GG Mora will chime in here...

I did the arugula from seed, sown right into the garden. It is doing very, very well. Almost too well - some of it bolted already. But I made a big container of arugula/walnut pesto today and it's delicious.

But at this point in the season - if you can buy small plants, why not? Same for lettuces.

But really - I am not the person you should be asking for gardening advice from.

Where are you located?

[flyfish]

Arugula does have an unfortunate tendency to bolt. My first batch is gone; I'll plant another this weekend.

The mesclun is coming along nicely. We've had a few salads with nothing but lettuce, because the lettuce is so nice!

[GG Mora]

The only time I buy plants for greens is if I'm getting a late start on the garden and want a few heads of lettuce without waiting forever. Otherwise, seed is the way to go. None of the greens – lettuce, spinach, mache, arugula, mesclun (mix) is terribly difficult to grow. It just requires keeping the seeds and soil moist enough for germination, and keeping young plants watered well to get them on their way.

Mache is a little fussy at the germination stage – it can take several weeks, with constant moisture. And it grows rather slowly. But it's quite tolerant of temperature extremes, loves the cold, puts up with drought, and doesn't seem to be liked by many pests.

The others will germinate in 4 or 5 days (I've had arugula germinate in 1 day when the weather was very hot and humid).

[omnivorette]

So should I just pull out the arugula and re-seed?

[GG Mora]

Yep. If you're using a lot of it, I'd seed a fresh little patch every two or three weeks.

[omnivorette]

Thanks.

My broccoli is coming along so quickly!

On the other hand, my dill looks awful.

[voyager]

They sound like flea beetles, they decimate my rocket (arugala) every year, but it's only cosmetic, they don't actually poison the crop, it's oine of the problems with organic gardening, you have to get used to less than perfect looking crops.

Damn! They've found the chervil seedlings. What to do? Mist/pick them off? Let them be and inspect while washing produce? Aarrgghh.

[racheld]

Saddest of all was my Meyers Lemon tree. When last I saw it, it was covered with blossoms, bees buzzing about noisily. My daughter tells me that now it is sprinkled with the tiny green nodules that someday will grow large and heavy and yellow, putting sunshine into someone else's life.

I couldn't stand it any longer. I went to the nursery today and bought another. Of course MINE was about six feet tall and happily ensconced in a huge ceramic pot. The newcomer stands ten inches at best. But it, too, is covered with blossoms. And I'm happy again.

And how is it NOW, with four years under its bark? I want one so badly, but can't even have crepe myrtle up here. Watermelon crepe myrtle is the Fairy Princess of trees, and you can almost drink the color. They line every median in Alabama, and I always want to stop and just stand by one.

[omnivorette]

My spinach has white yucky stuff on it.

Should I stake my sunflowers? I staked my tomatoes today.

[flyfish]

They sound like flea beetles, they decimate my rocket (arugala) every year, but it's only cosmetic, they don't actually poison the crop, it's oine of the problems with organic gardening, you have to get used to less than perfect looking crops.

Damn! They've found the chervil seedlings. What to do? Mist/pick them off? Let them be and inspect while washing produce? Aarrgghh.

Spray with insecticidal soap, stat!

[voyager]

They sound like flea beetles, they decimate my rocket (arugala) every year, but it's only cosmetic, they don't actually poison the crop, it's oine of the problems with organic gardening, you have to get used to less than perfect looking crops.

Damn! They've found the chervil seedlings. What to do? Mist/pick them off? Let them be and inspect while washing produce? Aarrgghh.

Spray with insecticidal soap, stat!

Of course. Thanks for upside-the-head slap. Should add that they've also found the young thyme. Bother. Again, many thanks.

[SRD]

I don't like using any extraneous chemicals on food, especially soft green plants like annual herbs, I'd dump the pots upside down in a bowl of water for a few minutes, and maybe use a water spray to knock them off, I'd also try using the vacuum cleaner to suck them up but you might do more damage to the plants. And some people find it therapeutic to pick them off, not me I admit.

[voyager]

I don't like using any extraneous chemicals on food, especially soft green plants like annual herbs, I'd dump the pots upside down in a bowl of water for a few minutes, and maybe use a water spray to knock them off, I'd also try using the vacuum cleaner to suck them up but you might do more damage to the plants. And some people find it therapeutic to pick them off, not me I admit.

Well, so far I've just been picking/brushing them off. But these guys are tough. I just found that they had migrated some 6 feet away and had made a new home among heads of garlic and a knob of ginger I store in a large open crock.

FWIW, when you crush one of these (sorry), they smudge (sorry) magenta like cochenille.

We're leaving town for a couple of weeks, so I guess these little guys will have their way with my kitchen. Will let you know what else they find enticing.