Buddy Garden » Insects & Animals

July 4th Babies

BuddyGarden — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:44:31 +0000

I can hear them! Never thought I would have baby birds born on my patio! Hmmm I wonder why they chose my patio? Especially the grill is right underneath the bird house. Every time the mother bird flies into the bird house I could hear the little ones chirping. The parents always bring back something for the babies to eat, it looks like some kind of bug. I had my camera on a tripod and waited and waited for the perfect moment. I wish I could see through the birdhouse, the baby birds must be so cute! Too bad I can't tell what kind of birds they are. This is the bird house I got for free at the Annual NYC Grows Garden Festival.

Happy July 4th everyone!

Are we out of the woods yet?

BuddyGarden — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:06:23 +0000

I think I'd like to skip Spring altogether if it means nonstop raining. I mean not just a day of downpour, the kind of rain that just hang on for days and weeks. I've lived in this neighborhood for five years and have never seen a wild mushroom growing out of flower beds. The rain really put a damp on things in the garden, plants are more prone to foliar disease when they are constantly under moisture and cloudy weather.

Here's a great article about Tips for Gardening After Heavy Rains. A few important points in the article:

1. Use preventive fungicidal sprays to prevent foliar disease especially for roses.

2. Deadheading - remove all dead leafs and cut the stem back to the closest leaf node or stem.

3. Heavy rain will cause erosion on bare soil and destroy the structure. The author suggests breaking up the soil after the rain ends and add one or two inches of organic mulch

4. Seeds you planted and have not sprouted are probably rotten at this point. Author suggests re-cultivating the soil and try again with other vegetables.

With this rain I started thinking about how I can avoid this and still have a good harvest, and avoid the dreaded insects and animals. Normally greenhouses are quite expensive. For apartment dwellers like us, you're probably challenged by small spaces. The big greenhouses might not be economical and you might not be allowed to put it in common areas. Check out these small greenhouses, they're very affordable and allow you to grow several vegetable plants.

The Seed House Jr. Greenhouse $45

Juliana 4 Tier Growing Rack $59

Juliana 2 Tier Growing Rack $38

Wait... do I see sun? Looks like we'll be out of the woods pretty soon, the forecast is looking good!

I have visitors in the bird house

BuddyGarden — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:30:31 +0000

If you look closely you can see twigs coming out from the bottom of the bird house. Who put it there? Back in April I noticed a bird coming in and out of the bird house but I never thought it would actually build a nest in there! I'm really excited because the bird house has been unoccupied for a year.

I wish the bird house is clear so I can see what's going on in there. Is a baby bird being born in there? I'm curious but at the same time don't want to disturb it. One thing I'm really worry about is the grill is right under the bird house and I don't want to cook the bird! I'll have to somehow move it.

Organic garden pests control

BuddyGarden — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:00:53 +0000

Only recently did I know that praying mantis can control pests in the garden. So I did a little research about them. They love pests such as flies, crickets, moths, and mosquitoes. But beware that they also consume other beneficial insects (including each other!). They are insects eating machine, their front legs are like a claw with sharp edges that can catch and hold its prey. You can buy praying mantis and put them to work as a pesticide, what a biological natural way to control pests. They are interesting insects and wonderful to watch.

I found a big one at work today:

Spiders and me

BuddyGarden — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:00:07 +0000

It's spiders season and I hate hate hate spiders. I know spiders are good bugs but they just freak me out. Fall is the season when spiders come out to mate and die. If you look around the house and your garden, you'll begin to see more spider webs and a big fat spider will hang in the middle of the web.

I try to ignore them as long as they don't startle me. The smaller house spiders don't scare me as much but those that hang around in the garden are big! Usually I leave the small spiders alone because they are good bugs for the garden, but when Fall comes, the big ones come out to haunt me. Don't you hate it when you run into spider webs?

I was doing some gardening work on the deck and my husband pointed out to me that my 'favorite' creature is back! I was not happy when I saw it, I knew spider season is back. I literally had goosebumps. I'm beginning to think I have a condition called Arachnophobia. My husband tells me the only way to conquer the fear is to face the fear, so he said maybe I should just let the spider crawl up my arm. (YEAH RIGHT!!)

Here's a picture of it hanging in mid-air. No I was not standing as close as you think, I was brave enough to take this picture because I had a long zoom lens on my camera.

At the beginning of the season I used this bug spray around my deck and it seems to be doing a good job. At least this was the only spider I've seen so far, it was worst last year.

Don't make fun of me but I have these spider traps inside the house. :-)

Bees and Cosmos

BuddyGarden — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:46:50 +0000

This little guy kept hovering around the Cosmos plant. I just wish the japanese beetle can leave the Cosmos alone.

Hello birdie!

BuddyGarden — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:41:49 +0000

Got home from work today and saw this bird sitting at the kitchen window. It didn't go away even I got really close.