Liquid Fence

Today I reapplied my liquid fence spray. I've been using it for about a month, based on a recommendation of a coworker. I thought it seemed fairly expensive and was likely a gimmick. Nevertheless I happened to see some at my local Walmart, and decided to give it a try. So far it seems to have kept  the deer from doing their normal damage to my landscaping and my vegetables. It is still too soon to say for sure though, it could just be that I've been lucky this year. One sign I do consider encouraging is that the one place I have had deer damage so far, is the one area that I forgot to spray.

 

One thing I forgot to mention. This stuff smells horrible when first applied. After a few hours it is no longer noticeable, though I assume the animals must still smell it.




update 6/15. Seems to be working fine. No damage from deer as of today.

Cabbage Worms

Well, when I got home today and checked on my garden, I noticed small holes in my Broccoli and Cauliflower leaves. It didn't take a lot of research to get a guess what the cause is. I checked and found several small green caterpillars and discovered they are in fact cabbage worms.

Now, how to get rid of them organically. The two most consistent ideas I've seen are: 1) Pick the worms off by hand(Done). 2) A product based on BT(Bacillus Thuringiensis). I'm gonna run out tomorrow and see if I can find some at one of the local big box stores, or the local garden center. Plan B is I will order from Amazon, here are a few they offer.
    

Update: I didn't find any of the above locally, at least not yet. I did find some Safer Brand 5162 Caterpillar Killer with B.T. Garden Dust 8 Ounces at the local Menards. I'll let you know how it works.





6/15 update: The Garden Dust works great. No more worms. A few days after I applied the dust I saw several of those white moths come around and lay more eggs. As a precaution I applied more garden dust. As of today my cauliflower looks much better and I have no issues at all with holes in my leaves.

Worm Factory Worm Composter

As part of my gardening bug, I decided to buy a worm composter. After looking around locally and reading lots of different reviews I decided to buy this one:

Worm Factory DS5GT 5-Tray Worm Composter - Green

I truthfully think it would have been fairly easy to make one, I found a few different ideas on the web, but in the end, I decided to buy an off the shelf unit, since I had no real idea what I was doing. The set up was quick and easy, I've had it operating for six weeks now, no issues whatsoever. It will probably be at least 3 more months until I get some actual usable vermicompost, so I won't know for sure until then.

The two biggest concerns I had as I set it up. Would it make my basement stink(its a finished basement)? And where to get the worms to start. First, I've noticed absolutely no odor with the composter and none of the worms have gotten loose(my wifes concern).

As far as getting the worms, that was a bit more difficult than I expected. The best source is to find someone else with a worm bin, see if you can get some of theirs. Unfortunately I didn't know anyone local. I did a search on craigslist, the closest I could find was an hour drive for me one way. I checked local retailers, the price  seemed excessive. In the end I took a risk on an Ebay seller, I got lucky and found a good one, they shipped the worms quickly and in good condition. Anyone interested here is a link to the seller. Red Wigglers. For those who wonder why I didn't get them from my yard, regular earthworms don't work well in worm bins, Red Wigglers are the preferred type.


Update as of 6/4: For the first time I noticed a very slight odor coming from the bin. I think I got a little carried away last week putting scraps in it. I took a look inside and the worms are working on the scraps so I think I'll just wait a week or so before I add anymore food scraps. The odor isn't horrible(at least not yet), but it is noticeable for the first time.

GrowCamp Modular Greenhouse

 As promised, I know I jump around a lot. Today I'm thinking about Greenhouse's, I'd like something I can put on my deck, and also something that looks ok in a suburban neighborhood. I stumbled across this one in my research, I'm not buying today, more reading to do. But it does look like something that might be perfect. Since I don't need it for a few months anyway, I have time to research.

Here is a picture of GrowCamp 4'x4' Modular Vegetable Growing System.

The best price I found is $430 with free shipping from Amazon. Does anybody out there have one, or something like it that I can compare with?

Update: Thanks for the question. I decided to buy a raised cedar bed, I will add a greenhouse to the top next year I think. But the cedar bed is working great in the summer. Here is where I bought it.