Carrots Going To Seed

I 'accidentally' let some of my carrots go to seed this last summer. They were actually carrots that should have been harvested last year that I left in the garden over winter and they started growing again this spring. The main purpose of the carrot in its second year is to produce seed. And produce seed it did!

As I was cleaning out the garden bed yesterday, I noticed hundreds of tiny carrots that had started growing already beneath the dead plants. I also had some chickweed that had already sprouted and taken hold in that area. I could have spent an hour or more weeding out between the carrots, so I just turned the soil over and called it done.

There were literally thousands of carrot seeds still clinging to the dried heads above. Those were put in a bag to sort out & save later this winter when I find a little more time on my hands. I don't believe I'll be needing to order any more carrot seeds any time in the near future.

Baptisia Australis - False Blue Indigo

This beautiful little plant, Baptisia Australis, is known by several common names; False Blue Indigo, Wild Blue Indigo, False Indigo, Blue False Indigo, Horse Fly Weed or just plain old Wild Indigo.

False Blue Indigo is a member of the legume or pea family, thus the pea-shaped blue flowers. The perennial Baptisia Australis grows to a height of 3-5 feet with full sun and in sandy, loam and clay soils, although the plants will tolerate some partial shade. False Blue Indigo will grow practically maintenance-free in zones 3-9. Plant in groupings of three or more for best visual effect in your landscape.

Keep Animals Out of Your Garden

One sure-fire way to keep animals out of your garden is to fence it in & lock it up like Fort Knox, razor wire and all. But most of us have to settle for some old wire fencing or homemade sprays to keep animals out of our gardens. Whether your animal pests are deer, chipmunks, rabbits, raccoons or even your next door neighbor's favorite pet, there are a few things you can do to keep them out of the garden. Even if money is a little tight.

Tips to Keep Animals Out of Your Garden

If your neighbor's cat or dog uses your flower or vegetable garden as a litter box, keep a garden hose with a sprayer handy in the area they visit most often. When you catch them making a mess of your garden beds, give them a good high-spray soaking. Hopefully they'll learn quickly to leave your garden beds alone.
Sometimes, with neighborhood pets, you can get away with just acting like you're throwing something at them and yelling wildly at the same time. Who knows, maybe your neighbor will hear you and take action to see their pet doesn't visit your garden again. Or, you could just politely speak to them about it.
Deer can jump high fences even from a standstill. Some people have success with keeping deer out of the garden by tying fishing line around the garden and then tying bright marking tape on the line. It supposedly confuses the deer and they look for greener pastures.
Keeping raccoons out of the garden is a bit of a trick. Sometimes you have to resort to electric fencing to keep them out. If your garden is away from the house, you could try electric fencing powered by a solar charger. The solar chargers have come down in pricing quite a bit and are now affordable for even the most frugal backyard gardener.
Rabbits are pretty easy to keep out of the garden if you can find some old fencing or chicken wire. Just pound in some fencing stakes, wrap the fencing around the garden and you're pretty much set.
For smaller animals like chipmunks and squirrels, or even rabbits if the fencing option isn't on the table, you may have to try homemade plant sprays. You can find homemade plant spray recipes all over the web and then experiment with one that works best for your garden plants.

Praying Mantis

Praying Mantis

Praying Mantis, sometimes called Preying Mantis or Pray Mantis, due to their predatory nature are a beneficial organic insect control in any garden setting.

Praying Mantis can be used as an effective organic pest control for the organic vegetable garden.
You can occasionally catch a praying mantis in the garden feasting on aphids, grasshoppers, beetles, moths and flies.
Their exceptional ability to blend in with their surroundings gives them the upper-hand when pouncing on unsuspecting prey.
One point to keep in mind, if given the opportunity, praying mantis may also dine on other beneficial pests in the organic garden.

Praying Mantis Life Cycle

Praying Mantis Babies

Praying mantis adults mate in late summer.
Contrary to popular belief, female praying mantis do not always bite off the head of the mating male.
Female praying mantis lay their eggs in a frothy egg mass called a Mantis ootheca (ō-ə-ˈthē-kə).
Baby praying mantis are hatched in late Spring and may resort to cannibalism if they cannot find a sufficient food source to sustain them.
Egg masses can be placed in a glass jar with a breathable top in mid-Spring to observe praying mantis babies hatching.
Praying mantis have a total life cycle of one year.

Praying Mantis Egg Mass

Earthly Explorations

Carrots Going To Seed