Melons and Radishes

 So moving on from the bugs.

 Transplanted the radish sprouts into an earth box. I'm really not sure how far to place them, so I crowded what I thought was good spacing and had one extra sprout. So I planted that one in it's own little flower pot.

The watermelon is flowering, we think that means fruit soon! So I took my handy paintbrush and pollinated all the open flowers. I'll continue to do this for as long as we see flowers on them. As we have a bird netting over the plants - just in case...

Other good news is that all the seedlings that we planted a week ago are sprouting. From the not so hot peppers, to Diane's nasturtiums, and even the 4th of July tomatoes. 

Nasturtiums

4th of July Tomatoes

Cucumbers

The bad and sad part of gardening

 I can't explain how much fun it is to garden. From finding odd pots or planters made from recycled stuff or even reused plastic flower pots, to picking out the soil and designing the garden out. Then looking over seed packets and wondering in your head how they'll grow and look when they've matured. 

 Each flower - each fruit and sprout that grows and gets bigger day by day, changing colors and shape, until the day you pick it and find...

The Japanese Cucumber had worms inside them, and the tomato has worms as well. 

The upper right photo is an empty earth box that had an ant colony... really?!

%$^&$*(&^$%*)!!!

So we bagged them in plastic and tossed them into the trash bin to hopefully one day burn in HECO's furnace one day. 

Lazy Monday Morning

I may be sick today, but it doesn't mean I can't go out and enjoy the garden. 

yesterday the last of the worm juice and worm castings were used up. I wanted to wait until the heavy rains had passed. 

looks like our flowers are really blooming now. we have different shades of blues and purples. it's sad these flowers only last the day., but they keep on coming. 

the cucumbers are really poping now. 

I don't think we'll be able to cover them all with nylons! :)

 this guy didn't make it. the flowers seem to bloom one at a time. I think we were lucky a few weeks ago when one male flower was fading - I was able to pollinate them with my little paintbrush. we have another baby on the way, 

so we'll clip and save the male flower to pollinate her and hope for the best!

looks like the Brazilian Cherry seed decided to germinate and come out with a small thin plant., we had planted 3 seeds and so far two of them are growing. 

so if the Brazilian Cherry can grow... why not plant the Mame Sapote seed! Yvonne served this *fruit*? on Saturday night., a cross between a yam and an avacado. it was very tasty. So we planted that on Sunday  - let's see what happens in two weeks! :) (I also planted apple seeds from the Envy apple she served as well)

And finally before I go back inside and crash - picked a few pinto beans. Two of the plants were hanging low with the weight if these pods. 

Feeding Time

 The corn and the beans in the earth boxes are doing well, but they just don't seem to be getting any bigger. I had gotten a pH & Moister meter from the hardware store the other day, and where as checking the moisture levels is a no brainer - determining the pH and how to increase or decrease the soil level I had to do some research.

But while I was reading up on that, I did a side search on my corn. I had forgotten how long from seeding to harvesting the corn was supposed to be. I was reading an article on Bonnie Plants and it said that, "Normal plants should grow fast with dark green healthy leaves. Corn will tell you if it is hungry by turning very light green. If so, feed again." which would explain why the beans - planted in the ground in the front yard are so green and the ones in the earth boxes are so pale. All the plants are growing, but the beans in the front yard have more and bigger pods developed. 

 As I look at the corn - yes - they are a light green. so tonight after the sun goes down a bit and its not too hot. I will hit them with some worm juice and then use a mixture of the potting soil that has miracle grow in it and a good heaping of the worm casting that we received from Yvonne. 

Top Left: Heathy in ground Beans

Top Right: EarthBox beans

Our Favorite Palindrome

Aloha Hannah!   :)

 Last Friday Hannah was kind enough to let us have a few things she was storing away... This weekend Diane and I put a few of them to good use.

The glass table - upper right side of the photo, we'll be converting into a fish tank. Just like the one we saw at Mari's Garden. Stay tuned!

Coconut Rhinoceros Beetles

On February 21st, the Star Advertiser posted an article on the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle. Seems that over at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam they have an infestation going on and they are currently trying to rid the area of the pests.

 Now what scares me is that these look like the larvae looks like those I found the other day., I'm going to go back and compare the photos I took and see what I can find. Hmmm, looks like ours could be a Sugarcane Grub. 

Anyone know of a hotline or email address, where I can send our photos?
UPDATE: Found a web site, and I've sent in our grub sighting to them.

I hope they are able to contain these pests! 

Long Day

Yard waste is tomorrow, had to clean up the cuttings in the yard and get them out for tomorrow's green waste pickup. 

then it was checking the plants to see if they needed water - 

nope. all good. most of the soil that I checked was in the green or blue. so we'll be passing on breaking out the hose today. 

although we did water the seedlings., the radishes that were planted in Monday have already poped up. 

in another 10 days we will plant another 12 seedlings and continue the cycle. what pairs with radishes in a salad? 

a massive cucumber and soon our yellow /orange bell peppers!

everything is coming along nicely. every day it's a challenge to look for snails - both big and small. and when we have a dry spell - to spray the plants and the little fliers and ants with the organic soap spray.

it's now 12 am, Diane is fast asleep. we baked up a storm in the kitchen tonight. coffee is all set to rock at the 4am buzzer.

night!

zzzz

Healthy Lunches

Diane just finished making our lunches. Everything is fresh from the garden and from our Mari's Garden grab bag that we received the other day. It was filled with green onions, lettuce, kale, and apple bananas. 

We added our 1st Japanese cucumber from our plant, nasturtium flowers and it's leaf - which by the way is a little more spicy than the flowers. it's almost like a mild horseradish. 

Mystery Drop Off

 We were leaving for the store and this was on our gate in a plastic bag. When we got back I opened one up, it was like a mini orange/tangerine, and HO! was it tart!

Diane thinks they are Kumquats. I'll take the seeds and dry them out then try to grow a tree. I mean.. why not?! :)

Update: Mel says they are Calamansi Lemons or Filipino Lemons. In reading about them, they are a cross between mandarin oranges and kumquats, grown all around Southeast Asia. 

I still wish I knew who gave them to us, so we could thank them!

Fear Factor

 Ran to Costco and Wallmart today, we weren't expecting to get anything for the garden... Until we saw the Anna Apple Tree for sale... ok., had to buy it! It's now plants next to the lemon tree that we trimmed earlier, and after the Apple was planted, we planted the Lime tree as well.

 As the lime tree was lifted out of the pot and inspected to see if it was root bound, these fell out of the soil!

Nice big fat grubs? It amazes me to keep finding new plants and insects that I never knew existed in Hawaii. Well it's no Witchery Grub, but still it's nasty! 

UPDATE: 2.21.14: Could these be Sugarcane Grubs?

Here are the Lemon, Apple and Lime trees

Seedlings: Nasturtiums, Hot Peppers, Sage, eggplant, and more.

Our morning flowers., they only bloom once a day. But in many colors. So Far Purple, Blue and Pink

In the Kambocha flower had bumble bee today, I have not seen a bumble bee in a long time. 

Pests in the Garden

Rain rain go away... no seriously! :) 

 We've had a long day of just getting stuff done, and none of that was garden related. So this evening as we walked around to look at our little buddies... Diane saw the Kabocha had a brown spot/jelly on it. We are worried that it may have gotten a worm - like the tomatoes have had. So now we are practicing 'safe' gardening. We wrapped the Kabocha and cucumber with pantyhose. 

 I remember my dad doing this for watermelon if I recall, but... the cucumber... we just can't stop laughing. it just looks... obscene.

 Then on the corn I found about six small snails. A few were on the plants themselves, and a few were under the lip of the bin. Not sure what type they are - so I've posted a question over at Hawaiian Land Snails Facebook page. Hope we get a response! 

 Update: It's a Bradybaena Similaris... a what? in English it's an Asian Tramp Snail., shipped worldwide via plant sales. New Orleans 1st saw it around 1939. Today I took an early look and found 6 more of these guys. Diane found a rather large African Snail next to the cucumber and Kabocha plant as well. Time to lay down more sluggo! 

 Our wild flowers had a sweet surprise when we pulled back the leaves. Flowers! 3 of them! I'll have to go back and re-read the seed package, but I think the flowers only last one day and then die off. Our carrots have a very small shoot coming up, and the beans are just coming out and Diane can't wait to harvest the Japanese cucumber!

 The stones came out great., one did break :( but our cute path is coming alone. We will dig them down into the dirt so that (My) full weight won't break them! Tomorrow we are heading the the hardware store to get more concrete! 

 A few weeks ago I made Tombstone molds out of cardboard and we have our 1st one! We can now paint or use a Dremel to etch it out. Thank goodness Diane just so happens to have one! w00t!

New Seeds Planted: Tomatillo (Purple), Radish (Sparkler), & Bell-pepper (Grand Bell Mix)

Valentine's Dinner

 We had an awesome time at dinner tonight. The MTA (Mililani Town Association) sponsored a Fine Dining Experience along with a Parent's Night Out. We had a 4 course dinner, with wine, great company and awesome service. 

 It was held at Mari's Garden, and Presented by Chef Elmer Guzman. He cooked the following...

The 1st Course - the Oyster Shooter and gingered chicken everyone agreed was very tasty. 

the 2nd course I just died laughing., not at all over what we had - a salad that we had to 'Snip & Serve' - with garden clippers even! I had to laugh - because I had JUST seen not two days ago a video clip of the late Sid Caesar titled 'Health Food Restaurant', in the video, Sid and his wife 'Snip and Serve' their meal at the end. I never - ever - thought I would have that served to me. but you know what... the greens along with the papaya salad... mmmmmm yummy!!

3rd Course was a beef and lobster, and the last was a dessert that I have a hard time explaining, but it was nice and light. 

Oh., and along with the salad they had 2 types of nasturtium flowers, one was an Empress of India, just like the ones I bought for Diane for Valentine's Day. 

Along with the Dinner, we had a tour of the working farm., they are into hydroponics and a lot of other things as well. the amount of produce and fish that they pump out each month is impressive. 

Mari's Garden uses photovoltaic electricity, has organic and non-organic produce, and sells that produce to local businesses here in the islands. In the photo, the goats... they eat all the left over clippings and other scraps left over. and they eat everything. lol

We will be looking forward to the next dinner. See you there! 

Walking on Egg Shells

 Most people look at eggs and think: Omelets, frittatas or baking., then after cracking the shells - throw them away. Gardeners think - yes! Eggshells!

You can use those shells for a bunch of things:

1. Use them when you plant tomatoes, as the calcium that breaks down from the shells helps feed the plants and deter blossom end rot

2. Use the 1/2 broken egg shells as pots., then when the seedlings are ready to survive in the garden, take the plants - pots and all and place in the garden.

3. Sprinkle crushed shells around in the garden, they'll help deter slugs, snails and cutworms.

4. add the crushed shells to your compost pile - to add calcium to the soil

(above) Making stepping stones for the Garden

(below) Garden w. egg shells

Lizard hanging out and sunning on the Nasturtiums 

Happy Valentine's Day

Even our plants are showing a bit of Amore in the garden. :)

  Moved our EarthBoxes to the back yard., they are getting full sun and rain now. The watermelon are starting to vine so like the pumpkin and other plants that send out runners - I've been weaving them in and out to have more support when they start producing their crops. 

  We had a little fairy hiding in the garden today... can you find her?

Farming is High Tech

 and the Chinese are thought to be targeting the seeds the United States as been developing. Interesting article in the New York Times. Seems a Chinese man was found to be digging in a Kansas field looking for seeds. The article talks about how it can cost up to $40 million and eight years to develop and grow these seeds.

Sunday

It's time for the farmers market, Walmart, Times, and Costco! So since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are few thousand!  :) have a Great Sunday!

Diane & Mark

The Good and the Bad

Diane got to cut the cucumber today., it looks soooo good! We have a bunch of other cucumbers on the way as well as Japanese cucumbers - still a bit small on the vine. 

We had an eggplant that split on the plant. So I opened it up, took the seeds and planted them - x9 total. The rest I'll leave out and let them dry when we plant another season. The other eggplant went into a very yummy breakfast dish this morning that Diane whipped up. Then lastly we have the pumpkin doing well. 

Adding Flowers

If you plant flowers, they will come...

This morning while working in the garden, we had small snails, large snails, bees, birds, and butterflies. Diane is putting together these beautiful hanging planters that she found at Ross and then filling them with all sorts of colorful plants. 

The Garden Guy

Shhhhh!!
 I received information about that worm last night from Diane., "it could be a Corn Worm"... a what?! I said - So I'm looking it up here at work. After looking at a few web sites., I found another blogger - Nick Sakovich - located here in Hawaii, and his blog site is called: The Garden Guy

 He posted back in August of 2012 about The Corn Earworm. He writes that early crops will not be affected as much, but later in the year, as many as one or two worms will appear on each corn. To help curb the worms a gardener can use Spinosad, Bacillus Thuringiensis, and even a few drops of Mineral Oil may help - though he stresses 'may'

 Another web site that I looked at, dealt with tomatoes., and how to identify the Corn Worm on those plants.  It seems Cron Worms come in many colors, from pink, yellow, brown and black. The Adult Moths are light brown or yellow-olive with a dark spot at the front of each wing., the wing span is an inch and a half.

 These worms like to tunnel into the core of a tomato, destroying the tomato and then a fungus will destroy the rest of the fruit. The worms like to lay their eggs on tomato plants when corn is not available.

More information on Corn Earworms:

 University of Florida

 University of California

Helicoverpa Zae (Wiki) - This Wiki states that when the worm eats cotton - its called: the cotton bollworm,  on corn: the corn earworm, tomatoes: the tomato fruit-worm.

    Image from wikipedia.org