Who stole my broccoli?

I went out today to collect my first taste of fresh organic home grown Broccoli. 

But look. It is missing. 

Cut at almost 45 degree angles.

My cabbage leafs have holes started.

But the criminal is still on board. 

And no it is not the cabbage moth.

Baby Leopard slugs.are eating my Cabbage leafs in the photo above,

Adult Limax maximus

Leopard slugs in the photo below.

 

In the past I have tried the can of beer in a bowl trick and found it too much trouble. 

I have used the egg shells . Would love to pour salt on them. 

I did the rings of copper. But no longer have any copper to use.Penny's are not real copper any more so They do not send off enough charge to create a barer.  

But I am just going to pick them off. And tear off the lower leaves. Add ruff wood mulch.

Would also like to plant garlic bulbs beside the plant. We will see. 

The next photo has Elephant ear garlic  already near ready to bloom.

Could it be The teenage bunny rabbits  

They have been very active  in my yard. 

They are not even afraid of my cat.

Or could it be the ground hogs I evicted from under my home.?

Looks like this will be another year of famine.

I am pro organic and heirloom.

But will be forced to buy store bought broccoli again this year. 

I still have hope for the tomatoes and some of the other produce I planted.

Broccoli. cabbage, megshift greeen house

Starting on the left side of photo. I planted spinach seed. next row to the right yellow onion sets are up about 2 inches. Yesterday I was able to try out my new mini tiller. I put in 6 cabbage plants. 3 were planted with composted manure. And 3 with mushroom.compost. Row 4, I planted 6 broccoli,  using composted mushroom. Row 5, I planted 6 broccoli with composted manure added to the soil. I hope to compare and see if there is any difference in growth or outcome. I have never used mushroom compost before.

With all the rain and cold. I had to add plastic to the tomato area. It looks like it is working. The tomatoes still look good. I hope to prevent early blight by not letting the plants be hit by way too much rain.

I had a bit of help from my oldest grandson. We dug a trench and placed red potato cuttings, in a 12 foot row. I added a mix of topsoil and manure, to cover. After I see growth I will keep adding more soil mix and straw. till I end up with a mound of dirt.

This is an overview of the tomatoes This was a quick easy meg shift green house. I took aluminum wire. Like balling wire. ran it between the fence poles. Halfway up on outer sides.And near the top on the middle post.I used painters plastic tarps from a roll. They are 10x10.. I used duct tape to reinforce the seam in the middle. To make it 20x10. I used 2, 20x10  to cover the 12x 8 area. The rain did bring some parts to the ground safely. This helped to keep the plastic from blowing off. I used wood boards and garden tools to hold the sided to the ground.. It is not pretty. But it saved the plants. And held up better than a green house I built with pvc. And way less money spent this way.

If it ever stops raining long enough, I will add cardboard or news papers to the path between the rows.

Video Update Number 1

This is my first video of 2013

I can not till and do a traditional garden this year.
 So I will be trying  different ways to make it easier for me to garden
with back pain, from a past injury.

Black Walnut

Vegetables affected by Black Walnut Toxicity

• Cabbage, Brassica oleracea capitata
• Peppers, Capsicum species (some)
• Tomatoes, Lycopersicon esculentum
• Flowering Tobacco, Nicotiana alata
• Petunia species and cultivars
• Eggplant, Solanum melongena
• Potato, Solanum tuberosum
• double-flowered cole vegetables 
• Trees affected Apple, Lilac, azalea, mountain laurel, rhododendron, red pine
•  blackberry, blueberry

The toxic zone from a mature tree occurs on average in a 50 to 60 foot radius from the trunk, but can be up to 80 feet. The area affected extends outward each year as a tree enlarges. Young trees two to eight feet high can have a root diameter twice the height of the top of the tree, with susceptible plants dead within the root zone and dying at the margins.

 Walnut leaves can be composted because the toxin breaks down when exposed to air, water and bacteria. The toxic effect can be degraded in two to four weeks. In soil, breakdown may take up to two months.

So by this list I will have to plant these near the back of my yard. Where I started planting the tomatoes.