two steps forward, one step back

Today I planted the Elliot blueberry bush. I was very happy to see that the other two blueberry twigs bushes had grown some leaves. I cleaned the berry bed and worked in some peat and coffee grounds. I know about peat and the damages done to bogs to harvest it but I had a bag of it from last year and well, I would feel worse if I wasted it.

I ran out of time and I did not build a fence around the bed. I suspected that Lexie, my destructive puppy, might think this freshly worked bed too good to pass up so I put tomato cages around the bushes. Before getting the boys ready for bed I decided to check on the berries and sure enough, Lexie had dug all around the bed and, she managed to get her big square head into one of the cages and chew on one of the blueberry plants.

If you are new to gardening and you stumble upon this blog, heed this warning: gardening and puppies don't mix.

Also, if you are new to gardening these are some of the issues you may want to know about:

• Roundup and other herbicides are bad all around. They do their evil deed and then they wash up into our water supply.
• Peat is not really a renewable resource and can be replaced by other things such as coir (coconut fiber). If you need peat to acidify a bed, try coffee grounds instead.
• Cow manure is loaded with heavy metals and other poisons.
• Lawns are responsible for A LOT of pollution, contamination, and water waste. Plow them under and plant flower beds instead.
• Compost is easy to make, keeps stuff from ending up in our landfills taking up space, and is as good as gold when it comes to enriching your soil.
• PVC leaches harmful substances under normal gardening conditions.
• Reuse is better than recycle. Recycle is better than the landfill.
• Use organic methods whenever possible for many many reasons.

Over and out.