That is what happened to my Kale last night! Lil buggers were with Roo Beer {the rooster} just going to town on my Kale. darn chickens... :{
Wish I could throw out a suggestion on what yours may be but... more »

That is what happened to my Kale last night! Lil buggers were with Roo Beer {the rooster} just going to town on my Kale. darn chickens... :{
Wish I could throw out a suggestion on what yours may be but all that comes to mind is caterpillaers would not stay with JUST the tops like that. Def a varmin like ground hog, rabbit, etc.
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Excellent point. OK, we're gonna get this fence up pronto or we're gonna have a freezer full of chickens! Haha, nah, but they're definitely on the bad list. We need to fence anyway, not that it will be 100... more »

Excellent point. OK, we're gonna get this fence up pronto or we're gonna have a freezer full of chickens! Haha, nah, but they're definitely on the bad list. We need to fence anyway, not that it will be 100% effective with chickens. Unfortunately I've found that laying down the mulch has increased their interest in the garden tenfold. Boo!
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Thanks! She's a clown. We just harvested many pounds of spinach because I hadn't been keeping up on it and the leaves were getting huge and rather bitter. Still delicious sauteed and on sandwiches though. ... more »

Thanks! She's a clown. We just harvested many pounds of spinach because I hadn't been keeping up on it and the leaves were getting huge and rather bitter. Still delicious sauteed and on sandwiches though. Hoping this will encourage fresh new growth on the plants. Three rows of spinach turned out to be...a LOT! (less)

In Western Washington I had a plant in my back yard, it produced well for 7-8 years.  Then it just started bolting all the time.  I would cut it off, over and over during the season.  The Hu... more »

In Western Washington I had a plant in my back yard, it produced well for 7-8 years.  Then it just started bolting all the time.  I would cut it off, over and over during the season.  The Hundred year old gardener behind my house told me they will do that when the plant gets to old.  I guess that one was dying out.  So, not sure how old your root is, but if it does it continually all year and next, you might decide to find a younger one??  (less)

Hmm...that's interesting. I did cut off all the blooms. I know the plants are probably on the older side. And they were transplanted several weeks ago. I was told they did fabulously at their old home, alt... more »

Hmm...that's interesting. I did cut off all the blooms. I know the plants are probably on the older side. And they were transplanted several weeks ago. I was told they did fabulously at their old home, although this is not the ideal climate for rhubarb.The weather has been very weird...just the one period of brief rain amid weeks of warm, dry weather. Maybe that affected it, but I'll keep the age thing in mind, especially if they continue to bolt. Thanks!
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I must say, it did spoil a few gardening affairs we had planned, but I'll sure take it! It's been a terrible drought... we should have had about 13 inches by this time. We're at all but zero. Rather than g... more »

I must say, it did spoil a few gardening affairs we had planned, but I'll sure take it! It's been a terrible drought... we should have had about 13 inches by this time. We're at all but zero. Rather than grazing, the goat and sheep have been on hay all winter as the field is desolate and dead. Watering the garden is critical... between each watering the soil dries and cracks. The rain caused major growth spurts of the potatoes, peas and red onions. We'll take every drop we can get!
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TRIUMPH!! Victory! Cinnamon worked like a charm, and quickly. I waited to respond so I could water the pots and see if any ants came out. NONE. It had been two teeming colonies and whenever I watered they'... more »

TRIUMPH!! Victory! Cinnamon worked like a charm, and quickly. I waited to respond so I could water the pots and see if any ants came out. NONE. It had been two teeming colonies and whenever I watered they'd come pouring out carrying their eggs. No longer! Use cinnamon. Thank you, Annie! (less)

Made this way, they're very sturdy. I have used them before. You can wrap as many layers of newspaper as you care to to make it more solid, but one strip works fine. You can plant the whole pot with fragil... more »

Made this way, they're very sturdy. I have used them before. You can wrap as many layers of newspaper as you care to to make it more solid, but one strip works fine. You can plant the whole pot with fragile-rooted starts. The only drawback I saw is that the newspaper tends to suck the moisture out of the soil, so it takes lots of watering...however, I've found the store-bought plantable ones are as bad or worse in this regard. They're also fun to make! Another thing I use lots of newspaper for is mulching...I lay it under the straw to keep weeds at bay.
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I've had luck reinforcing my newspaper pots with a couple of extra strips of newspaper.  After the pot is formed, I've taken a couple of strips (about as wide as the bottom of the pot and as long as t... more »

I've had luck reinforcing my newspaper pots with a couple of extra strips of newspaper.  After the pot is formed, I've taken a couple of strips (about as wide as the bottom of the pot and as long as twice the height of the pot), wet them, and placed them underneath the pot in an "x" position.  I press the extra length up on the sides, and then run one more strip around the whole pot.  That little bit of extra reinforcement makes the bottom feel more secure - I've had no breaks since I started doing that one little extra step.   (less)