Reinforcements - Mr. Turtle and the Lady Bugs

When we last left our beloved garden, we were being attacked by some self proclaimed "fun guys." But have no fear, the reinforcements have arrived. Take that, fungi!

Come out, come out whereever you are.

Laura found this turtle crossing the street. Apparently the chicken was laid off, paving the way for the slower, less efficient workers willing to accept a lower wage.

Zooooooommm.

Actually, for a turtle, he is quite quick.

And for phase 2, we have the highly respectable Lady Bugs.

Lady Bugs, ATTACK!!!

"Jolly, oh, dear fungi, won't you kindly depart the premises?"

An elegant show of force.

"Ah, very good, Gov'nor. Looks like our job here is done. Cheerio."

And like that, they were gone. Similar to The Usual Suspects, just when you were about to figure out what was going on, they disappeared into the night. According the the Lady Bug instructions (yes, the Lady Bugs came with instructions), we were to release these little charmers into the garden at night or else they would fly away. Well, that's what we did, with the help of our little gardener, Nathan, who really enjoyed the little buggers, but when we awoke the next day, not a Lady Bug in sight. They absconded into the night.

At least they all seemed to do their jobs. The mushrooms are gone (Laura picked them all) and the bugs that were eating our leaves have either departed or moved onto the second course.

Soil Diggers - Episode 3: There Goes The Neighborhood

So within minutes of the garden going up, the low-lifes moved in. And by low, I mean close to the ground. Though, honestly where else would they be? I mean we just finished the garden, of course the new neighbors would pop up close to the ground, they're in the ground. Even though we put in this makeshift gate to keep them out.

Gate?

Actually, the gate was to keep Sonoma out. Some of the seeds needed to be close to the top of the soil and didn't need Sonoma's big, 80 pound, fury paws smooshing them down, deep into the Earth where only the Hobbits live. Or digging them up like a puppy is apt to do. Not the Hobbits, though that would be interesting...

So who moved in? Well I'm glad you asked. First the good guys.

Green beans

Over in Ceres we have Green Bean lane - a multi-unit, apartment neighborhood right in the heart of Ceres. Easy access to water, soil, and gardeners. Spaces still available. You'll want to grab these spots soon as their value will surely rise with the bean stalks.

Basil

Over in Demeter we have the basil transplant. An exclusive community that is facing urban sprawl. Also close to the Nathan garden which is always buzzing with excitement.

Carrots

The carrots are in a nice single family community near downtown Demeter. Good size plots with plenty of room for growth. Plenty of good schools and perfect for raising your family or any root-type of produce.

Sugar Snap Peas

If you're looking for a quiet get-away, look no further than Sugar Snap Peas. Known for their slow-paced atmosphere, this area takes you back to a simpler time. A great vacation destination to take your mind of the hustle and bustle.

Nathan's Garden Spot

There's always something going on in Nathan's Garden and you never know what's next. Lively entertainment, unpredictable watering schedules, and crazy nightlife, Nathan's Garden has plenty of young, single people.

So, that all sounds lovely right? Great places that rival San Francisco or New York, New York. I hear they are even working on a theme song. So what was that you mentioned about low-lifes? Well...

Uninvited guests

Dum, dum dum...

These little pinheads began popping up. Like gypsies or Peruvian flute bands. These self-described "fun guys" just come in, party it up, and leave the damage for someone else to clean up. Anyone know a mycophagist for hire?

Next time on Soil Diggers...Will they find a mycophagist? WTF is a mycophagist? Will the mushrooms take over the 'hood? What happened to the tragedy that was supposed to strike? Will the carrots get a little sugar from the snap peas? Tune in next week.

Soil Diggers - Episode 2: Demeter & Ceres

In Greek mythology, the goddess Demeter was the most generous of the great Olympian goddesses. Demeter was beloved for her service to mankind in giving them the gift of the harvest, the reward for cultivation of the soil. She was also known as Ceres (to the Romans), because she had a bit of a split personality... And a temper. Word on the street is that she opened a can of whoop-ass on Earth in the winter killing everything in sight.

So, since we want a bountiful harvest, what better way to pay tribute to Demeter/Ceres than to name our gardens after her/them. That's right, gardens. With an s. Because look at how much soil we have:

That's one big pile of soil

By the way, it's amazing how dirty you can get from soil. I guess what they say is true: You can take the soil out of the dirt, but you can't take the dirt out of the soil. or something.

And while we were at it, we decided to get that third compost bin we've had our eyes on.

Newest addition to the family

The stork (aka the nice folks at the City of Chandler) dropped it off on our door step. For Free! Yep, we went all out on our garden. Only the best. Now we'll have plenty of compost to feed our young garden.

And just so our new garden would look all naked once we finished the build, we had a few transplants to kick start the process. Meet the Sproutlings:

Sproutlings

Apparently some produce does better when started inside and transplanted into the garden, though I suspect they just wanted to wait until baseball season was over. Additionally, we had some basil that was contemplating some tough career choices, but in the end decided to take our offer and move into the spacious plot near Nathan's garden. We also picked up two tomato plants since we were a bit late to the tomato game.

Demeter, our first

Adopted twins

Then, after assessing the first garden and allocating space to Nathan, we felt that we wouldn't have enough room for all the bounty Demeter was about to bestow upon us that we needed a second garden to hold it all. We were also kind of afraid of the whole split personality thing and didn't want to get on her/her bad side. And so, Ceres was born.

Ceres, the baby

If you are wondering what happened to the step by step photos I was planning, I apparently didn't stop to take more pictures during the final build. Thus the stand-ins above, just imagine less greenery and soil. Plus a few more I hate gravel comments.

Next week, on Soil Diggers:
Tragedy strikes the garden! How will our garden cope? Plus some uninvited guests pop up - Is there evil lurking about?

Soil Diggers - Episode 1: The Canvas

Let's build a garden! What a better way to spend a few hours in the dirt. Sorry soil. It didn't spend four years in gardening school to be call dirt. And we spent good money on it so we better not soil its good name with the D word. Especially if we're going to be putting it's bounty on our plates and eating it. Imagine, eating something that came from dirt, ugh, how pedestrian.

So why a garden? Well, it'll save a trip to the farmer's market. Plus, organic veggies are expensive. And we have some extra space just lying around the house. Also, it's fun, or so say those other gardeners, though I don't recall them saying the building part of it was all that and a bag of chips.

So let's see what we have to work with...

The Canvas

So we decided on a nice little 3.5 ft by 15 ft. garden. You know, nothing too fancy and showy. We had two spots to choose from, each on the sides of the house, but opted for the side our compost is on since we'll be adding it to the garden frequently. The only issue may be the sun exposure but after talking with a few others, it sounds like we'll have enough.

Notice anything different...Shovel?

So we first had to clear away the gravel. I hate gravel.

Little workers

I really hate gravel. I mean really. It sucks. No offense, well, unless you are gravel.

This is how you do it

And to make it even better, I had some help along the way. Nice spot Sonoma, way to lay right where I'm working.

My little buddies helping out

And we're clear. Temporarily anyway. We decided to expand later which required more moving of the gravel.

Cheese!

Nathan actually turned around and said "cheese" when he heard the camera going.

So here we are at the end of part one. Will the garden be finished in time to plant for the winter? What will be planted? Will there be enough food to feed the family? Will the gravel regroup and attack at night? Who will survive? Did Professor Plum kill the carrots with the rake in the garden?

All that and more, next on...Soil Diggers.