Little green bugs on pea plants
May 31, 2010 aphids, ladybugs, organic, peas
It is fairly uncommon for me to see these little green bugs on my peas. In case you didn’t guess these are pea aphids, which suck juices from the plant leaves ad spread disease between plants. This is a rare occurrence because normally it is warmer and drier this time of year and we would have our annual ladybug release to take care of these little pests. If the weather holds up we should have good enough weather to do the ladybug release next weekend.
Tags: aphids, little green bugs
Building a Pea Garden Trellis
May 29, 2010 cheap, fall crops, peas
When building a pea trellis it is actually pretty hard to do it wrong. All that is needed is a little stability and once the plants grab hold they will make the structure even more stable. My typical strategy when making a pea trellis is to use whatever I happen to find closest to me. Here are a few examples from past and current years of building
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Bamboo Pole Structure Pea TrellisHere is a classic structure made from a couple pieces of bamboo poles scavenged from a couple of rotting scarecrows purchased a few years back at a craft store. I used a stick I am pretty sure one of my daughters picked up on a nature hike across the top bound with a few inches of twine. Lastly I attached a line of twine at 1 foot and 2 feet above the ground which gives the plant plenty of leverage to climb up the structure. Click on the picture to the left or below for a larger view.
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Tags: cheap, garden trellis
Science Fair – Will smaller seeds sprout faster?
May 29, 2010 kids, science fair
This site was practically started because of my oldest daughters science fair project Why Don’t Strawberries Grow in the Wintertime? Now with my youngest in kindergarten she was very excited to have a science fair project of her own, which should be pretty obvious from the picture above.
With no influence from me she decided on answering the question if smaller seeds will sprout faster. These days science fairs are more than just gluing some some Styrofoam balls to a couple hangers and calling it good. They require using true scientific methods and procedures, which is pretty advanced for a 5 year old, although she didn’t seem to notice. Here is the contents of her experiment…
Interviewed on NPR’s Science Friday
May 28, 2010 Uncategorized
Another exciting day this week to be included in an interview on Science Friday with Ira Flatow. I’ll update this post and press page with a link to the interview when it becomes available.
For people who were listening live here are a few of the topics that were discussed for quick reference:
- How to make your own upside Down Planter In your Garden
- The most profitable plants in your vegetable garden
- Using used coffee grounds in your garden/compost
- The Great Sunflower Project [external]
[link to radio interview] [mirror]
Tags: cheap, compost, upside down tomato planter
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. – Thomas A. Edison
May 27, 2010 Uncategorized
I saw this quote on a project at my daughter’s science fair tonight, this could totally be my tagline for this site…
Featured in The New York Times
May 23, 2010 cheap, upside down planter
We were very excited to be featured in The New York Times last Thursday. Welcome to the many new visitors that visiting us this week. If you want to check out the entire article it is available online.
I have been considering creating a press page and figured this was a good opportunity to start a “CVG featured in the press page”
Tags: cheap, tomato plants, vegetables
