Dirt

I've always loved the dirt.  Not the dirt, the earth. I live for the springtime, when I can start digging and playing in the dirt again. 

I did it.  I planted some seeds yesterday. I had to; it was April 1st.  Some of them will do fine:  They're inside where it's warm.  The ones I planted outside, it's anybody's guess whether they will live.  I covered them with gardening fabric, and before I planted them I was amazed to find that the earth was warm and friable to a good depth where I planted them.  Other parts of the garden (especially the parts under that thick bed of straw I put down last fall) were frozen solid.  The things I planted are cold-lovers such as lettuces, spinach and dandelion greens, and I noticed that a few seeds that had dropped from last year (I think sunflowers) had just recently sprouted out there, and certainly some weeds were growing already.  I pulled away some of the straw, and in some places it was warming up.  I was thrilled to see lots of earthworms at work.  I wasn't thrilled to see one big fat slug already.  I've read that a down side of the lasagne-style gardening is it creates an environment in which slugs thrive, at least for a period of time.  I have a product, though, that is environmentally safe and works wonders against slugs:  Escar-Go!  (I love the name.)  I'm also putting out a couple of toad houses, and I hope a couple will move in. 

So fingers crossed, but if they don't survive, it's no big deal.  It cost me pennies, and I enjoyed every minute of plunging my hands into the sweet dark earth.  It's what I do.   

Me, circa 1965, making mudpies.

Comments

[Kathy]

Let's hear it for planting! I got a chance to set out some peas, but haven't been able to do anything else since (dratted broken ankle). So even though it's warmer here, you're ahead of me :-)

[Mel]

I've read about the Escar-Go! for several years now but have never tried it. Would love to know how it works for you. Since slugs are an intermediate host for meningeal worm (which is a fairly common deer parasite but can be deadly in 'pacas), I'd just as soon not encourage their presence.

[jessie]

Our tomato seeds have sprouted (indoors, of course!) but we have a teeny little problem: no existing garden space. I have a plan, I have a location, but I don't have any willing hands to strip sod and double dig for me. Soon, I will tackle it.

I'm actually a little relieved that the weather sucks today, so now I can concentrate on inside work. My back is sore. :-)

Sorry I missed you today. I think I need to commit to a date in a couple of weeks and stick with it, come hell or high water. I'll let you know.

[Vicki]

Looks like both the culinary and the gardening talents had an early start. ; )

[marianne]

I come from a long line of earth digging folks, and watching GD Gracie digging in the earth and loving it, thrills me no end. She's a great helper.
Love the photo.

[Carole]

It feels so good to get back outside, doesn't it? I haven't planted anything yet but I've been admiring all the green things coming up in my perennial garden.
Love that photo of you, Norma - you look exactly the same!

[DebbieB]

Toad Houses! Ha Ha Ha! :-)

[Kate/Massachusetts]

My uncle used to put saucers of beer in his garden for slug control. He'd press the saucer down into the soil so that the lip was level with the ground/then fill it with a little beer. Slugs died happy! Although if I did that, I'd probably corrupt a lot of birds!

[Judy]

dirt?? not mud? it's coming.

[Sara]

I remember when I was younger that my mom would spread coffee grounds around to get rid of slugs... although not sure how economically smart that idea is now that coffee is somewhat expensive. I spent the weekend shoveling the last of the snowbank from my flowerbed since I noticed I had little tiny daffodil shoots coming up... just in time for it to be sleeting this morning. *sigh*

[pippi]

Escar-go! what a effing brilliant name for a slug repellant. I should have thought of that!
Wishing you seedy luck!

& that picture is the bestest!

[Dawn]

Seriously, what is a toad house? I am fascinated.....

[margene]

Oh Norma! What a cute kid you were!

[lanea]

I'm so glad to be gardening again. Ahhhhhhh . . .

[Wendy]

Great kiddie photo!

May all your mudpies be gour-may. ;-)

[Samantha]

I read in the news today that there's a bacteria found in soil that has similar properties and effects to pharmaceutical anti-depressants - but in an all natural way. Not only is playing in the dirt fun, it's good for your mood! :)

[Cathy]

Love the cute little kid. I haven't played in the dirt yet - but will have to succumb to seed packages before long. I have held off.

[chris]

Woohoo for the garden! I played in the dirt almost all day yesterday -- set up my GrowBeds (I think I got that link from you) and planted some of my wee veggie seedlings (we started them indoors a month ago). Thank you, too, for the Escar-Go link!! Just this morning I was thinking about how the slugs have already started attacking my hosta plant, and now I have a plan.

[Andrea]

Best thing for slugs is a dish of beer. One whiff, and they're dying to drown in it. They seem to prefer good stuff to cheap stuff, but you only need part of a bottle... leaving the rest for you. ;)

[Martha]

I planted some lettuce, radishes and spinach seeds yesterday, too! And then we got a nice light rain this morning to soak them in. Yay! But I completely dropped the ball on the indoor seeds this year, no tomatoes or cukes, I'll have to buy plants instead, sigh.

[Sue]

For the meantime, I'm going to live vicariously through your dirt digging, Norma. I'm sure you won't mind. ;-)

[Elisabeth]

I'm with Sue--I'm living vicariously through you! It's going to be awile until I have my own plot of dirt to mess around with. Although I'm looking forward to the day I'm in Calif. full-time with my ginormous balcony. Will carrots grow in flowerpots you think?

[minnie]

the ground is probably warm enough around here, but it's been raining enough that we can't get in to till. oy.

ok, now i got a few questions.

lasgna style gardening?

toad houses? do they eat slugs? my solution for slugs is anything carbonated, e ither pop or beer. ina flat dish in t he garden. pop goes the slugs!

[maryse]

are those saddle shoes i see? i wore them too but mine were clunky orthopedic ones because my mother hated me ;)

[Cheryl]

Escar-go!! Ha! Brilliant.

[Anne K.]

Just like Andrea, I'm a fan of beer for slugs. I used this method religiously when I lived in Texas. I'm sure my neighbors enjoyed the sight of me stumbling out my back door into the garden early in the morning, in rumpled pajamas and robe, cracking open a can of cheap beer...I'm sure by that point they would turn away in disgust, but I really DID pour the stuff into the old tuna-fish can buried up to its rim in the garden!

Good luck with all things seedy and sprouty!

[Silvia]

Good thing you don't live in Cali since you'd be gardening all the darn time. Seasons, never heard of em.

Love the picture of lil Normie! So focused.

[Maia]

I love this time of year too. Somehow, even weeding seems like fun in spring (I'll get over that soon).

Let us know how your toad houses work. I've thought about trying that myself.

[Nancyjane]

The beer traps really do work for slugs. I'm a former New Englander, but now I live in a rainforest in S.E. Alaska, and believe me, this is the slug capital of North America! Another great "homemade" slug remedy is eggshells. Just crush 'em up and sprinkle around the really precious "babies". The edges of the shells are just sharp enough to hack the heck out of the slugs soft little bodies. There's another commercial product out there called Slug-go that works, too, but I always start with the organic, and then resort to the chemical stuff when necessary.
Nancyjane

[Carrie]

Re: coffee grounds for slugs/soil enhancement - I'm not sure if you care, but Starbucks occasionally packages bags of their used grounds for gardening purposes. If they're out, you just grab as many bags as you want. If they're not out in the open, you could probably ask for some. I bet your local coffeehouse would do the same.

[sandy]

I LOVE getting the dirt around here!
:)
Hello my name is Sandy and my yard has snails......

[lisa]

Good luck with your slugs. We've also put out jar lids with some beer in them. Works ok, but hate to waste good beer (so sometimes we'll get the cheap stuff). Also, the slugs really seem to like one thing we grow, maybe it's the black swallow eggplants (they do well in zone 3!), so we sometimes sprinkle a ring of sand around the stems. Broken clay pots on their side make good toad houses too, bury them a bit.

[Little Miss Curious]

Oh, what beautiful dirt! That picture is painfully cute. I actually bid on and won 60 pounds Vermont Compost potting soil and compost this past weekend at a silent auction. I won dirt! It must be destiny for me to try to to get some seeds to grow in Vermont in April.

[tayloe]

Norma-
just got home and was out checking on my garden-seeing the progress of daylilies etc.-and moving my TOAD houses around! I just love my toads-glad you do too!!

[Amy Boogie]

It was so nice out yesterday I spent the day prepping the gardens and finding many herbs are starting to sprout already. I love dirt!

[Rachel H]

Mudpies is the only part of this post I truly understood.

[Sue (Mum)]

I daren't do any gardening, I'm somewhat (a lot) of a black thumb and tend to kill whatever I'm trying to grow. I haven't yet figured out whether it's through too much attention and water, not enough, or a combination of both. I've sent far too many plants to plant heaven for me to try anymore.

[AnnP]

Yup, I had those shoes, too.
All our toads have disappeared so if you still have them, hold on to them!
When I worked in a greenhouse it was a no-no to say dirt, it's SOIL.

[Lucia]

OK, you have inspired me: this is the year I plant lemon basil again.

[Birdsong]

We have a moveable piece of plexiglas to warm up the soil in the raised beds... I love the Escar-go idea; now what do you suggest for deer repellent?

[Ginger]

Ducks work great for taking care of those nasty slugs. We have two muscovies and have yet to find a slug in the back yard, tons in the front but none in the duck patrolled areas. =)

[scout]

Will you come out here and help me deal with my dirt? Please? I don't know what to plant in my flower beds this year.

[isela]

Look at you cooking with the dirt! I want to see a close-up picture of you as a child...can we :)