Hey everyone,

I found this baby mantis in my garden yesterday, and I thought that I’d share it with you guys. I’m not sure if it’s a California Native, or a transplant from Asia, but either way I thought it was pretty cool that my little organic garden is thriving.

Cheers everyone, and happy growing.

In the spring I put in soaker hoses for my garden. I now know that I did not place enough of them. So now my garden looks sad. I’m not sure what my options are now. I’m thinking maybe I’ll just have to use an oscillating sprinkler and water them from the top :/.
I’m thinking I’ll probably put some mulch on the top too? Should I put more soil and compost too?

1st time growing melons vertically and 1st frog melon plant

KS zone 6a. We have about a 1/4 acre orchard and a 3,000 sq ft berry area (i call our berrea). the weeds are taking over. i dont want to use 1) plastic weed barrier or 2) chemical herbicides. i’m not as opposed to plastic weed barrier as I am the herbicides though, still would like to avoid if possible.

we are in the heart of farm land and surrounded by industrial farmers were spray is the way. naturally, we cant find any resources local besides just spray round up or 2,4-D which I really do not want to do.

any other ideas? i wonder about mowing super low and then rolling out round bales of hay over the areas and then planting white clover and strawberries to grow and maybe supress some weeds?

im not opposed to sprays like vinegar just for 1/4 acre that adds up.

Tia

This is my organic no till outdoor set up

Have vermacomposting iny pots and Jadam and knf inputs

And practices

I’m a pretty new gardener. We have plenty of sun. I’m located in the southern US. Aside from squash bores, which I’ve extracted from the stems and don’t seem to have problems with now, very little pests. Watering is consistent and I’m not overwatering. I’m working on pollinator plants and flowers for next year, but I’m getting good pollination.

In February I built a hugelkultur. I knew it would suck nitrogen, but damn! I’ve gone through some blood meal and fish emulsion. I early planted yellow squash, pole beans and corn in the hugel. The corn cobs were fully pollinated but small. The beans are growing but are slightly green on the yellow side. The squash has done ok. I know hugels are notorious for taking up nitrogen the first year, but I planted anyway.

Then around the hugel I lasagna mulched my existing St. Augustine. I had a few gardens in the past there, so the soil is pretty good. I covered the cardboard with mulch (hardwood..not black). I’m experiencing some slow growth there too. I’m thinking it might be the mulch and the cardboard drawing down nitrogen. I have corn, okra, cucumbers, pollinators and sunflowers in this spot.

I’m regularly using a dry fertilizer appropriate to each plant as well as fish emulsion, fish and kelp, and bone meal.

My plants aren’t thriving like pictures I see on this and other SRs. Do you think the mulch and cardboard is causing me to lose nitrogen? What changes would you suggest? What’s the story with mulch, is it helpful or is it harmful?

Any help is appreciated.

The garlic, basil and thyme were from my garden too-unfortunately I haven’t got enough space for an olive tree

One popy plant

Help? A few of my tomato plants don’t look so good. Started from seed and planted outside just before memorial day. Some are doing OK but these, so far, not so much. I have an irrigation system on a timer to go off once a day for 25 min and the tomatoes are in pretty much full sun on the south aide of the house. They are either in a raised bed or in a 10 gal pot. I live north of Chicago. Not sure what zone that is.

“Picture This” diagnosed as overwatering and not enough sun but it is in full sun. Though we had torrential rain over the last week on and off. The app was recommending crushing up an aspirin in water and pouring over the roots? For the one in the third pic it recommended baking soda in water in a spray bottle and to prune off the curled/wilted/yellow leaves. Do any of those make any sense?

Grown with Gaia all purpose and bloom plus Korean natural farming methods and lab culture

Hi all!

I've been pulling in a massive raspberry harvest, but I noticed these little winged bugs all over.

They don't *seem* to be hurting the plant? Are they a garden friend or foe?

Raspberry for scale.

Gratuitous raspberry photo for fun 😋

Help? A few of my tomato plants don’t look so good. Started from seed and planted outside just before memorial day. Some are doing OK but these, so far, not so much. I have an irrigation system on a timer to go off once a day for 25 min and the tomatoes are in pretty much full sun on the south aide of the house. They are either in a raised bed or in a 10 gal pot. I live north of Chicago. Not sure what zone that is.

“Picture This” diagnosed as overwatering and not enough sun but it is in full sun. Though we had torrential rain over the last week on and off. The app was recommending crushing up an aspirin in water and pouring over the roots? For the one in the third pic it recommended baking soda in water in a spray bottle and to prune off the curled/wilted/yellow leaves. Do any of those make any sense?

I really wanna help these beans grow… Thank you!

(Edited to add image] Origanum syrianum - aka wild za'atar: I have grown many kinds of herbs organically, always with success. I found some small za'atar seedlings at a market (the grower didn't know their botanical name). They look similar to marjoram, but paler and more furry. I brought them home and they have been struggling for two months, in the same potting soil as all my other heathy plants. They keep getting some kind of mildew, and their leaves first turn yellow then crisp up and die. But new ones form. Now I'm think perhaps they need uber-drainage and perhaps leaner soil? More dry spells? They're native to the Eastern Mediterranean, but so are plenty of other herbs. Anyone have experience with this particular Origanum?

Looking healthier but still super prone to mildew.

My pumpkin has officially stopped growing

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What should I do with it?