Not a good bug ...

On Scaredy Cat Farm, knowledge is power.  So after I saw this green bug during sod removal on Monday, I sent its picture in to Seattle Tilth.  Their vision is "to transform the NW region into the organic gardening capital of the world."  And I think they can do it because they run a fantastic helpline that is quick, informative, and sympathetic towards newbie gardners like me. 

Unfortunately, this bug is most likely a cutworm.  The helpline would need to see its legs for a positive id --but since I left it to its own devices on Monday, I wouldn't even know where to begin searching for it now.  I guess I am going to have to start bagging and tagging unknown critters until my knowledge of good and bad bugs is complete.

Cutworms can be really damaging to vegetable starts.  They like to eat the leaves off the crown of emerging plants.  I should have eliminated it.  I am not big on smooshing bugs -- but sometimes you have to tough it out for the greater good.

Sod Removal

So today's project was to remove some sod under my rhodies to make way for my new epimediums.  Whew!  I learned to remove sod from reading Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning a few years back when we first bought the house and inherited an overgrown landscape.  Turnball would have you cut your sod into 8 inch squares and layer it (upside down so the grass doesn't show) in a wall 2 feet high, 2-3 feed wide, and as long as you would like.  The bonus for making the effort is that your grass turns into quality soil.  Today I didn't put the extra effort in.  Mostly because since I have followed her advice in the past, and I still have put my soil anywhere (it is destined for my superhuge raised bed), I don't have the space to store it.

My husband's tool of choice for sod removal is a spade.  My tool of choice is a pulaski (pictured above.)  I am not sure of the tool's true name.  I think pulaski might be a brand.  Nevertheless, this tool is one I have kept over the years and it is great at sod removal.  I use the ax side to score the grass and the narrow hoe side to pull it up.  It was pretty quick work since much of the grass under the rhodies was mossy due to shade.  I put my remnants into my municipal yard waste bin so they can become compost for someone else.

Of course I ran into some critters while I worked.  Lots and lots of worms.  I tried to give most of them new homes (or at least a chance for a new home.)  Thank goodness I had gloves on!  The worms on the surface were easy to grab and toss but some were more embedded.  I had to dig a bit and then pull.  Worms can offer a surprising amount of resistence -- though in the end it is kind of like pulling a lace out of your shoe.  The one above was huge -- at least 6 inches long.  It could flatten out so it looked a bit cobra-headed at times.  Truly gross -- but I figured it must be an old timer and needed a chance to go on.  I tossed it into my ornamental bed and it bee- lined for a heuchera, clearly its survival skills were still in tact.

I also found this green thing while removing sod.  Grub?  I didn't know what to do with it because I don't know what it is.  So I left it -- and all the 1-2 inch yellow centipede-ish creatures I found (too small to photograph) -- to fend for themselves. 

I stopped my sod removal project once I had opened up space for the epimediums.  Next on my to-do list: add compost, mix soil, and plant the plants.  Hopefully I can get that done this week.  The epimediums are looking very vigorous on my counter and I would rather see them flourish in the ground.

A scaredy-cat gardener does a soil test

So today I realized I should have called this blog -- the Scaredy-Cat Gardner because I swear I am gardening through fear.  I face each task with a bit of dread mixed with anticipation.  Today I decided to tackle the soil test.  I have been putting this off for a while -- mostly thinking that the soil was too wet to test.  True, the directions from UMass Soil Testing specifically mention to avoid sampling 'very wet soils' -- but I also hear that I am supposed to sample before I plant and in the Northwest it rains.  Today is our third dry day in a row so my regular excuse gave me no defense.

My other fear about soil testing was it would be difficult.  Ha.  Again, only in the mental preparation.  I picked three sites to sample and found that my cultivator easily went into the soil (it has been above freezing overnight for weeks.)  A few twists and I loosened enough to put in my Tupperware. 

In the end, I only need a cup of soil for my sample.  UMass recommended at least 12 scattered subsamples -- I collected over a cup easily.  I continued following directions and laid out my samples on cookie sheets covered in clean paper and set them on the kitchen table under the ceiling fan to dry.  What UMass didn't tell me was to look for wiggling things.  Trust me, if you are as worried as I am about creepy crawlies -- the big stuff is already gone by time you get inside -- but it turns out there are a bunch of mini-worms that look like root hairs that start moving around once the soil is spread out. 

I starting to worry about how I am going to overcome my discomfort with bugs.  After my soil test I wandered around my yard and saw that the tyfon I planted as a cover crop over a bed I want to fill with wildflowers in the spring is getting big.  The package said it could be used as a turnip when mature.  So I pulled one to take a peek.  It looked mature (though I don't cook with turnips so I don't know what to do with it now) -- but it also looked like someone else already had the first nibbles.

And memories flooded back to me of earlier garden tries -- including a Mexican bean beetle infestation and worms in my brocoli. ... Deep breath ... I am doing this for my kids.  And I will fake whatever confidance I need to for them -- but really, is it okay to share food with the rest of the natural world?  I rarely share food with other people. 

So I am not changing the title of the blog.  I plan to push past my fears, to gain some knowlege and some experience.  I expect to transform from a scaredy-cat to a (sub)urban farmer.  This is just step one.  And to help myself out, I looked for good signs in the garden and found these buds starting on the blueberry bush that did well last year.