Our very own garden patch!

A few weeks ago we finally planted all of our newly acquired seedlings in our garden out back. I'm so excited! I've never grown my own vegetables, so this is a new experience for me. We planted a few different tomato plants; red, green, and a few kinds of hot peppers; lettuce; snow peas; zucchini, yellow, and acorn squash; an herb garden; and garlic. I also planted a few rows of "fancy" lettuce that is miraculously sprouting. So basically in two months we are going to be FLUSH with produce and it shall be fabulous. I may even have to explore the world of pickling and canning!

We've even already started to pick up some good gardening tips and tricks during our short time horticulturing. First of all, Washington has some crazy-ass slugs. They are especially bad in the spring, when it's cool and damp. They are EVERYWHERE in the morning, at night, or when it's rainy out. If you didn't know, slugs really like to eat plants, specifically baby plants. Now, I know the old world slug remedy is to bury a bowl of beer flush with the ground and they will drown..... but I wasn't sure of efficacy of that so I went ahead and purchased good ol' Slug Death. It's a pesticide you sprinkle on the ground - and it WORKS! Not a slug in sight after I applied it. However, out of guilt I may try the beer trick. I'll keep you updated.

Additionally, there are a few neighborhood cats 'round these parts, and apparently they decided our garden would make an excellent play area/litter box. I respect their natural desires, however digging up my precious plants is NOT permitted. So I set up a few deterrents where they liked to dig, which seem to be effective. First, I shoved a bunch of sticks into the ground, about 6" tall and 6" apart. The reasoning behind this is it discourages them from digging and/or sitting down in that area. Furthermore, I sprinkled a bunch of homemade chili powder over all of the soil, since I guess they don't like the smell. Cats won't intentionally dig up plants, just the dirt around them, but if you have seeds or bulbs in the ground it could obviously become a problem.