i actually made 2 trips to the garden today - one for about 2 hours from 10:30-12:30, and another hour from 3:30-4:30. this picture is from the end of the afternoon trip.

i finally bought mulch! i know some people can compost and make this, but i don’t have room for a composter. after the first garden trip this morning, i went to pick up free hay from the city but when we got to the composting place, it was locked up. i ended up going to hashimoto nursery on sawtelle (it’s huuuge… i got lost in the plants a couple times) and bought a bag of kellogg “gro-mulch” ($9), “sluggo” organic slug bait ($11), daikon seeds ($2), batchelors buttons ($1), and “bring home the butterflies” flower mix ($4). i planted 2 rows of “beer friend” edamame (you can see them in the picture) and right after i took the picture i put in a row of either radishes or mizuna… i guess i’ll see when it comes up. the dug-up dirt just above that is a patch of “bring home the butterflies” butterfly garden mix. it’s good to grow flowers because they attract pollinators, like bees and butterflies, but also because you don’t want to grow the same crop in the same soil twice within a certain time frame (anywhere from one season to several years, depending on the plant) so the soil doesn’t get depleted. plus flowers are pretty.

ugh. the snails (i think?) are getting my bok choy. i find snail shells and weird spiral shells all over the garden whenever i’m digging, but i wasn’t sure what i could put down to deal with the ones that are still alive. after some research, i found out there’s something called “sluggo” that’s basically iron phospate, so it’s organic, but its in little pellets so you can sprinkle it like regular snail bait. i bought a can of that and some mulch at the nursery, and both should hopefully help with whatever’s nibbling. at some point i’ll find some hay and put that down too.