Notice the gigantic leaves it has!

Some of the first harvest of comfrey leaves this year went towards making a liquid fertilizer. While this stuff did seem to be awesome in regards to how the plants responded to it I do not know if I will be making it again for the stench was simply awful! Enough to turn my stomach and keep everyone away for several feet! I think when it comes to homemade liquid fertilizers I will stick to my favorite alfalfa pellets and molasses brew.

The second harvest of comfrey leaves was chopped up and spread about the garden as mulch. I really liked it for this. The leaves have all since been worked into the soil and there was nothing like growing my own mulch.

For this third and final harvest (and what appears to be the biggest) I am going to use most of the leaves and stems as mulch. A few leaves and stems I will use fresh to make a comfrey salve. Some of the leaves I am going to dry for multiple uses. I want to have some dried leaves on hand for making homemade cosmetics as well as my well-loved multi herb salve. The second reason for drying the leaves will be for use in dyeing my yarns. I have used fresh comfrey leaves as a dye over the years but have yet to try them fresh. It will be nice to have the dried leaves on hand for use during the winter.

Finally, I am going to experiment a bit with the dried leaves brew a tea from them for feeding all my potted plants. I plan on just placing a handful of leaves in some boiling water and allowing it to steep overnight before I strain and use it on my too large container garden.

This really is one useful herb that I just love having on hand. Being so productive is making it all the better too!

I have learned something new about myself recently that I have probably known for quite awhile but did not want to admit until it was staring me straight in the face. I must confess, I think I am a plantaholic. My friends and family probably already know this, and may just roll their eyes if they ever read this, but for me this is something I have yet to face up to.

It all began to reveal itself to me a little over a week ago when I decided it would be fun to post a page on this blog devoted to a list of what I have growing in my garden. It would just a simple alphabetized list that also includes links to posts I might have written about the various plants residing in my Oregon garden. I never imagined the list would turn out so large! I really have this many things growing- right now?! No wonder the garden is vying for so much of my time and attention at this very moment.

To think I even entertain the notion of acquiring yet another plant with a list this long is almost embarrassing. Do I really need another plant? If I am honest with myself I suppose that answer would be no but I just recently read about Black Cumin (Nigella sativa) and how it has been cultivated for centuries. According to my Seeds of Change catalog the seeds are great in rye bread and some were even found in Tutankhamen’s tomb! To top it all the off the flowers are just like Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena), a flower I love to let self-sow in the garden. I’m sure I could find some room in the garden to tuck in a few seeds of this interesting sounding herb.

And so it begins, my garden multiplies and multiplies without me even really taking note of it. It is so easy to become a plantaholic. There are so many types of beautiful plants out there not to mention all the edibles that make it so hard to have restraint. Plus being a plantaholic can be justified so easily when you tell yourself, “Oh, it’s just one plant. And it only costs three dollars.” Before you know it one plant has turned into 30. Now I really do not want to think about what those dollar signs might be so let’s just not go there.

I am so very thankful of my family understanding my addiction to growing anything that produces chlorophyll. They are incredibly supportive and unbelievable helpful. My sons and husband have done so much work for my garden this year already. The least I can do is reward them with tons of fresh from the garden goodies. (My boys are anxiously awaiting the zucchini so they can devour some of my chocolate zucchini bread.)

Without further ado, here is the link to the list. It is not complete as of today. I still need to add all the various flowers I grow as well. I think I might also put a link to this list in the sidebar as I have already found this list to be handy.

To my readers out there, I ask: Are you a confirmed plantaholic? My bet is if you are reading this blog then you just might be!

The evil little monster you see above has returned with a vengeance to my garden yet again. It has been a very wet first week of spring here in Northwest Oregon and my number one garden menace is in its element with the perennials that are cautiously emerging. Note my poor daylily and it’s chewed on leaves.

Normally I patrol the garden with a bottle of iron phosphate in hand, liberally shaking it in and around our gardens. Iron phosphate is an organic way of controlling slugs and snails and is safe to use around pets and children. It works by the slug (or snail) ingesting it which causes the slug to stop feeding and in return die. Not very humane but neither is the ole salt trick that my 10 year old always encourages me to do. Nor was the way I handled all the millions of snails I dealt with in our California garden. They were taken care of by me simply tossing them into the street!

The slugs I must deal with up here seem to number in the billions! I am quickly finding out that my normal sprinkling of iron phosphate is adding up fast when it comes to hurting the wallet. However, I know of two other organic methods of slug and snail control that I have been wondering if I should try out.

The first method involves saving egg shells that have been washed and dried and are then crushed into a powder. You then sprinkle the powder around your plants that are being nibbled on. The slugs and snails will supposedly not cross the powdered egg shells.

The second method has to do with the leftover coffee sitting in your pot that has grown too strong to drink. Instead of dumping that coffee down the drain you can spray it onto the slug which is supposed to repel the slimy little pest. Some people claim that sprinkling coffee grounds around the plants also help in repelling them but some studies I have read state that it is the actual brewed coffee that is suppose to do the trick.

Both methods are worth trying and seem a lot cheaper than repeatedly having to go out and buy the container of iron phosphate. I also like how both the egg shells and coffee grounds have an added bonus of boosting the soil’s fertility and organic matter. If they also help rid my garden of those slimy buggers than they are all the better in my book!

Does anyone else know of anymore organic tips for ridding the garden of slugs and snails?