May 14, 2012: Garden Club Meeting 3

The intention was to meet every Wednesday in the Spring but Mother Nature had proven to be stubborn and once again we were meeting on a Thursday.  But what a busy Thursday we had.  Not only were the pea plants making great headway but the radishes had burst onto the scene in the week that had just passed.  After surveying the garden, we hung a thermometer and put our rain gauge in place.  We discussed the kinds of factors that could destroy a crop, from drought and flood to animals, bugs, bacteria and viruses.  We looked at a number of pests common to crops including beetles, caterpillars and whiteflies.  As a side discussion, we tried to remember the ten plagues brought on Egypt by Moses and crossed our fingers that our garden would escape locusts.  To hedge our bets, we planted marigolds whose smell it is believed is unpleasant to bugs attracted to tomatoes.  Some research suggests that this is more superstition than fact and that it is an unhealthy plant that attracts bugs but with no conclusive evidence, better to err on the side of caution.  Happily, all the plants were looking very healthy and we staked the tomatoes and pepper plants in anticipation of their needing some support as they grew.  Despite the earlier sprinkle, we gave the garden a thorough watering, using our gage to determine proper saturation.  Ask your scholar how to test for this!

At the request of the Sixth graders, we planted a jalapeno pepper plant.  We also planted cilantro, sage and culantro in our herb garden.