Crop Swapper Wins 2011 Best of San Diego for "Best Bounty Buddy"

Thank you to all that voted!

Complete Gardening Kit

This is something that caught my eye. It's a compete garden kit sent right to your front door. It comes complete with soil, seeds, a planting bed and drainage. This would be great for the novice or even the more advanced gardener. Especially those out there with limited space.        
http://www.elanorsgarden.com/index.html

Well, It's been a while since any post has been made here. It's been real busy here with a new addition to the family. We are hoping to have a limited number of swaps this year and we invite you to email us on what you are planning to harvest. You can also contact us on Facebook.

Some have been asking what and when to plant. Here is a good link from the University of California and San Diego Master Gardeners, listing some recommended planting dates in the San Diego area. http://www.mastergardenerssandiego.org/Vegetable%20Planting%20Guide1.pdf

1st Swap at Morley Field

It was a great turnout for our 1st swap of this season. We all enjoyed meeting everyone from SD Food Not Lawns with all of the delicious food for the potluck. With Lo Quats, Swiss Chard, Nasturtiums, Nopales(cactus), Lemons, Fresh Eggs, Peaches, Strawberry/Melon Seedlings, Carrots and many other things everyone brought. It shows the bountiful supply of excess produce, all grown locally.

1st Swap in P.B

The first swap was a lot of fun, with a citrus theme; Grapefruit, Lemons and Lemon Seedlings.

The topic of "pill bugs" aka "Rollee Pollee" was brought up . These little guys love to eat your young veggie plants (I don't care what some of the opinions are out there to the contrary). In my case, the garden was overrun by a vast "pill bug hoard" devouring my young cucumber, cantaloupe, pumpkin and watermelon seedlings.

Population control:

Diatomaceous Earth at the base of the plants was one option.

Another method was to place grapefruit/cantaloupe halves or banana peels to trap them, then scoop them up and dump them in soapy water.

Preventative maintenance:

Pill Bugs are active at night and like moisture. Keep the topsoil relatively dry at night by only watering in the morning.

Keep mulch away from young plants.

P.S.

The cut off beer can w/beer method did not work for me, plus it waisted (both good and bad) beer.

Mobile Garden Containers

I received a link to some cool garden containers that are pretty reasonably priced considering almost no labor is needed to set up. Just another innovative way to enjoy a garden. http://aplusrstore.com/

Raffle Results

We had a great time at the Natural History Museum tonight. We raffled
off our rain-gutter gardens and helped inspire many individuals to
start their own gardens. If you have not signed up for Crop Swapper,
please do it now! We will soon be organizing our groups for the next
growing season. Thanks to all who support Crop Swapper!