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[Nyboy]

Might want to add a duck or 2 to your flock. While chickens don't eat slugs duck do.

 

[thistlebloom]

Sorry Bee, that's so disheartening. Maybe with warmer days and sunshine everything will pick up the pace and start growing. I think you should side dress those crops. It should surely help.

 

[Smart Red]

In theory the plan sounds so. . . . right, Beekissed! It should work. Perhaps you are right in needing to give it another year, but what the heck! You need food this year as well. I sure hope things start changing for you and something good starts happening.

Still, if you don't do exactly as prescribed in the plan you will never know just what should explain why it would have worked or not.

 

[baymule]

Bee, yellow and stunted might mean an iron deficiency or iron chlorosis. You can find garden iron sulphate at the local big box store garden center. It promotes GREEN leaf growth.

 

[ninnymary]

Bee, I'm experiencing a little of what you are. My plants are not as deep green as they used to be in the past. They are much paler. I don't remember Paul putting leaves on his beds. I just remember the compost and wood chips. Did he use whole leaves in his bed? I never had the amount of worms that you do. The leaves were a pain and I won't use them again. I'll save them for the compost bin. They kept flying out and are still not decomposed. I thought they would be by now. I found that my horse manure and wood chips did break down and will continue using that.

I also seem to have more earwigs than usual. Had to replant my kale twice this spring because they kept eating it. I also had tons of them in my raised strawberry bed and they ate those too! The Sluggo Plus seems to be working. We now are getting new strawberries and they are ripening. Kale is growing now also.

I am trying one new tomato called Pink Girl and for some reason this is the only tomato that is barely growing. I have a feeling something is wrong in the spot it's in even though I have always planted tomatoes there and they have done fine.

Mary

 

[journey11]

I'd say in a couple years once it's broken down it will be very nice soil. The fresh chips could be tying up the nitrogen, so the chicken manure, etc. is probably to remedy that. Fish emulsion, something of that sort that will be quickly absorbed may help.

Just saw today where the BTE fella has quit using woodchips, but he says it's because his soil is so nice now that he doesn't need them anymore. I'd figure he has trouble hauling them since he doesn't get around very well either.

 

[Beekissed]

All good advice and thoughts and I thank you all for the support. I'm a little disheartened but will soon get over it and learn to turn it all over to God...if I'm meant to grow something in this, it will grow. If not, it will not and that's okay too.

I've put a lot of work into this garden these past few years, so that part is the part that gets me....but no one twisted my arm on it and I have to live with the choices made. The work keeps me active and engaged in something, which otherwise I wouldn't have and would have no place for learning and growing.

I'll be side dressing soon, just have had some mobility problems of late that have prevented me from staying on top of it.

I've never once seen a slug in any garden I've ever had, so this is something new for me...every pest in the area seems to be interested in my plants, which tells me they are seriously in distress. Just got to figure out how to fix it without using chemical fertilizers and such....will be keeping my eye out for free manure to add to my own from the coop. Don't know how effective mine is due to being composted and not particularly nitrogen heavy at that point.

 

[bobm]

Think Nitrogen cycle !

 

[Nyboy]

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm thinking your slugs came in on the fall leaves. I never had a slug problem here, but have been seeing a lot more of them. I think it's from fall cleanups and bringing home debris.