How Does Your - Getting caught with my plants down

Garden Grow?

Now that I have publicly claimed to accept my garden exactly the way she is, the universe has decided to test my resolve by giving me one container of three of the loveliest bean plants you’ve ever seen, and three more containers of bean sprouts that look like absolute garbage.

Here we go. Why one container would be perfect and the rest are fighting for their lives, I haven’t the faintest idea, but you best believe we’re going to figure it out. The leaves of my bean plants are a rusty, brown color and internet sleuthing has informed me that it could either be from a fungal disease, a nutrient deficiency, or sun scald. I bet you can guess what my diagnosis is.

The sunshine that I’ve been waiting to see for months is really starting to tick me off. Obviously it’s the sun’s fault and not my own for putting my beans on the hottest part of the patio. I’m a beginner and the sun should know that and act accordingly.

I moved their containers next to the lettuce and the peas where they’ll catch some shade thrown off the garage. Just in case, I treated them with a home remedy of a dollop of dish soap in water, using a spray bottle to apply a light coat to each leaf. My gut tells me that it isn’t a fungal infection, but I don’t want to take any chances.

My peas look absolutely beautiful and it’s just about time to get some stakes in the dirt so they can start vining which is also my plan for the beans if they can get their lives together. The carrot tops have really started to fan out and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I have a volunteer carrot tucked between the cracks of the pavers where I must have missed a bucket when planting the seeds. I won’t be able to harvest it without damaging the carrot, but it’s pretty cool to see that life does, uh, find a way.

In getting up close and personal with the pavers I’ve found a little ecosystem thriving all on its own, one that I never even noticed before. In addition to the rogue carrot, which I left to see how big it gets, I’ve noticed an abundance of tiny toads hopping from brick to brick. Toads offer pest control and will help protect my plants from bugs that would otherwise damage them. Now I’m not sure how much protection these tiny hoppers are going to offer my plants, but I don’t want to discriminate based on their size. I don’t know what their lives are about.

So why not make life a bit more comfortable for them in hopes that they’ll stick around? Toads, like most of us, don’t care for pesticides, and I already have that going for me. They like leaf litter and stems as ground cover for hiding spots. I definitely have that taken care of too. They like rock piles for shelter, and dishes of water will help them

Mandee Ellis is a reporter at The Star News. Contact her at Mandee@centralwinews.com.