Natural wonders and woes

Now that my first gardening season has come and gone, I wanted to look back at some of the challenges I encountered and also reflect on a dreamy NYC garden visit.

Life Lesson Learned: Wild animals also like to have beer for a wildly good time

In late spring, it became clear that I had a slug problem on my hands when I went out to water my plants in the morning only to find much of the soil teeming with, well, slugs. Shockingly, they left my tomato plants alone and focused their attention on my then-struggling cauliflower and thriving basil. 

My first attempt to tackle the problem was to simply grab a piece of mulch and carry each intruder to the opposite side of the yard. How fast could they possibly move, right? 

Either they sprout legs in the middle of the night or there were more of the little pests than I realized, because I continued to find them during my morning watering sessions. (Especially after a humid or damp night. Yuck!) 

I decided I needed more “drastic action” and opted for a DIY beer slug trap. (I’ve actually covered the topic of banishing garden slugs multiple times in First for Women for work, but this seemed to be the easiest solution). It was rather simple to make and involved poking holes inside of a sour cream container, adding some beer and burying three-fourths of the container into the soil. 

Lo and behold, the next morning, I found quite a few of the little buggers (and some other unaware insects who fell into the trap). Huzzah! I was confident knowing I had a hands-off way to capture the slugs in the middle of the night when they were at their most active. 

Unfortunately, the slugs weren’t the only one who couldn’t resist the aroma. Not long after adding the trap, I woke up to find the entire container tossed sideways on the top of the soil and empty of beer. Sigh. Evidently some animal needed a late-night buzz. I could never figure out what the culprit was, especially because the “damage” to my protective netting was so minimal. (And anyone who knows racoons knows they’re clumsy and destructive even when they don’t intend to be.) 

Since wildlife is a natural (though often unwelcome) part of gardening, I sighed and just put the trap back together. Days later, the mysterious Mr. Hops actually dragged the entire container out of the garden, popped the lid off and enjoyed the beer, the bugs, or a combination of both. 

At that rate, I would have been going through a bottle of beer a day, so I surrendered. Not worth it! 

Ironically I had purchased Summer Shandy for the trap so I could save one of the bottles for myself to try. Turns out, I wasn’t a huge fan. But hey, at least someone in the neighborhood enjoyed it…

Life Lesson Learned: Beware the butterflies

There’s a running lesson here: if you garden, they will come. And by they, I mean every living creature (sans neighbors, thankfully) in the area. 

Besides stink bugs (which appear to be one of the biggest nuisances when it comes to gardening), I came to discover one particularly pesky–and misleading–bug out there: cabbage worms. 

During the summer, I remember watching these beautiful white butterflies fluttering about in both my front and back yards. Gorgeous! 

Around this same time, I was dealing with a sudden infestation of green caterpillar-like creatures setting up camp in the giant leaves of one of my cauliflower plants. Naturally they needed to eat, so those same giant leaves began to bear the brunt of their hungry appetites. No matter how many times I would “relocate” the bugs, more would appear. 

Then one day I saw a couple of those beautiful white butterflies hanging out near my garden bed. A quick Google search revealed they were the dreaded adult cabbage moth. (And as I write this, I just learned that they ARE in fact butterflies; the term moth is inaccurate. Who knew?)

I was able to cut down on the problem with a DIY salt spray, but by then it was too late as much of the plant had been eaten. I was still able to harvest the cauliflower, but it wasn’t in perfect condition.

Ironically my other plant fared much better. The cauliflower head didn’t even begin growing until long after the cabbage worms had disappeared (and the summer’s heat was over), so it was a beautiful specimen. I enjoyed it roasted in the oven with lots of seasoning. Yum! 

Life Lesson Learned: Tomatoes without juice look like a science experiment

During my first season of gardening I was most excited about growing my two tomato plants (one salsa, one roma). I opted for determinate varieties, which means the plants produce all of their tomatoes within a short amount of time before dying off. Thankfully, they’re also smaller (though, as I learned, can still get quite big), which means I didn’t have to worry about a 10-foot tall plant taking up space. 

I was so thrilled when the first tomatoes appeared on my plants. And let me tell you, there’s an extra satisfaction with eating a juicy, fresh-from-your-own garden ‘mater. 

Though the first tomatoes to ripen were amazing, things quickly went downhill. I’ll never forget my disappointment when I cut open a tomato to find it was…hollow? And wrinkly? (It looked something like a brain inside. Gross!) Before I knew it, I was playing tomato roulette. Tomatoes that looked perfectly great on the outside were revealed to have disappointing interiors. 

I’ll be honest that I still have no idea what the cause was (even Google was giving me mixed results) though most of the issues seemed to be with the salsa tomatoes rather than the roma. Bad genetics? Disease? Who knows. 

Of course I was thrilled that I had any tomatoes to enjoy when we dealt with such a hot and miserable summer. But next year, I think I’ll stick with roma tomatoes and cross my fingers for better luck! 

Life Lesson Learned: Onions are full of surprises, not just layers

I love onions…which is ironic as I seem to have a mild sensitivity to them. Doesn’t stop me, however, from incorporating them into any dish I can!

So, naturally, I wanted to grow them in my first garden. Most people buy them in sets (mini onions) to plant, which speeds up the growing process. I followed the directions and before I knew it, I had two rows of beautiful green tops poking out of the soil. I was able to harvest some for green onions, which was a dream for an onion lover like me. 

The elation didn’t last long sadly…because before I knew it, most of the once green tops were becoming shriveled, yellow and falling over. (No, it was not harvest time!) 

I suspect this could have been the result of flies (Ugh. What am I running here? A bug buffet?) but again, I don’t know for certain. I do know I’ll be needing to use my garden netting early on in 2023 just in case. 

Eventually the onions basically “disappeared.” I saw no signs of the bulbs remaining and gave up hope. Then while digging up the remains of my tomato plants for the season in October, I discovered not one but two tiny onions sprouting green tops in the soil. Sigh. Little too late, onions, little too late. 

How they managed to make a comeback, I’ll never know. But I was impressed by their resilience nonetheless.

Life Lesson Learned: Weeds do no produce carrots

Another crop I was excited about but turned out to be an absolute flop? Carrots! Their seeds are planted directly into the soil once the spring weather warms up, then you let nature run its course.

Well apparently that means letting what I can only assume were chipmunks dig up the seeds for a midnight snack. Sure, why not? Help yourselves. I re-planted more seeds and was cautiously optimistic when a bunch began to sprout. I suspect I didn’t keep the soil moist enough though as most didn’t make it. 

There were, however, three little seedlings that looked promising. Every day I excitedly checked on them, and it seemed the small greenery was getting bigger by the day. Before long, I would have carrots!

Then one afternoon I noticed the carrot tops looked weird. They weren’t looking at all like my garden books were saying. With my mom’s suggestion, I pulled on the mysterious greens. 

Yeah, they were weeds. 

Yes, I had to buy canned carrots instead.

Life Lesson Learned: Fish fertilizer is a messy business

When my salsa tomato plant and onions seemed to be lacking in nutrients, I decided to try and give them a boost with fish fertilizer. If you’ve ever smelled Lake Erie when dead fish wash ashore, its odor was very reminiscent of that. Unpleasant and strong to say the least and nothing like Long John Silver’s. (Thank God for that!) 

I guess I should have known that it probably would have attracted a mountain lion all the way from California, but I was especially naive at that point. Sure enough, some local animal had helped himself to seedlings and onions. I guess it could have been worse though!

It was clear by this time that my garden bed might as well have had a neon light above it that said “Free food here!” When animals are hungry, they’ll find a way, but I knew I needed a better method to keep them out.

Luckily, my dad is quite the handyman and was willing to build me a cage to help ward off some of the wildlife problems that could pop up in future seasons. It was quite the task but it looks fantastic! I’m sure I’ll still be dealing with chipmunks (and plenty of bugs) but it should help tremendously. Plus, I have much more room to get around not only my original bed but the new addition I purchased. 

Thanks a million Dad, and I can’t wait to enjoy it next year!

—————————

Life Lesson Learned: New York Botanical Garden should be its own borough

Central Park will always hold a special place in my heart. Even at its busiest, it was always a wonderful place to walk, picnic or people watch. 

That being said, few things prepared me for the wonder that was the New York Botanical Garden. A then-companion had invited me to go see the Garden’s Orchid Show, and I couldn’t resist. Getting there was an…experience….(a short walk from the subway station to the park in the Bronx can feel like a century), but I was so glad I went. 

I remember immediately being overwhelmed by how huge the place was. Apparently it’s 250 acres and the largest in the U.S. Crazy! 

The orchid show itself was a treat, especially since I won’t be traveling to any tropical destinations to see them in the wild any time soon. (Me and humidity don’t mix!) But my favorite parts of the Garden were undoubtedly the outdoor themed areas. 

Daffodil Hill in particular was breathtaking in April, as were the blossoming trees. I remember they had a section for Cherry Blossoms, but I can’t recall if those were in bloom or not. I’m not much of an botanist! 

Each area made you feel like you were in a different part of the world, which was such a fun experience. One of the most memorable moments of the visit was the stunning view of the Stone Mill overlooking the Bronx River. Even without a photo, I would have remembered this shot like it was yesterday. It was that beautiful! I’m sure it’s especially gorgeous during autumn. 

SadlyI didn’t take as many pictures as I would have liked, and I can guarantee it was partly because we actually took a tram tour at one point.

That’s right, the place is so big they’ll take you on a drive-by view of the place…which is like watching the trailer of a great movie and not seeing the actual film. Such. A. Tease. I wanted to get out and explore more on foot in the worst way possible but realistically we didn’t have that much time…or energy…to do so. 

Ironically I spent an hour in Central Park that afternoon as a pit-stop on my way back to NJ. It was packed with both tourists and locals, as usual, which normally didn’t bother me. But that day, I was already missing the magical and peaceful escape of the Botanical Garden.