Sowing fall salad crops: Mesclun

Yesterday, after cleaning and tidying and before messing up and soiling, I took a photo of my potting bench where all the gardening action takes place.  It's rarely in this orderly, clean state.  Midway through a planting session the space gets too crowded with flora, fauna (Westie) and gardener and so everything spills over to the dining room on the other side of the patio doors. Let's just say clean-up takes a lot longer than the gardening itself.

This afternoon, I sowed mesclun following Renee's excellent tips:

And no spilled soil or water for a change. Taking photos for this blog has unexpected benefits, like helping me be tidier.

What fall crops have you sown in the past and/or what are you planning to sow for the upcoming season?  I'd love to know, particularly if you have a balcony garden. This is my first time sowing fall crops. And feel free to share photos of your work area and tips for working in small spaces.

Hungry caterpillars and other uninvited dinner guests

The culprit, captured. Before I finally discovered him (not easy because of his camouflage) this Very Hungry Caterpillar had enjoyed at least a week of meals. The evidence (circumstantial, I admit): a swiss cheese pattern in my prize 'Cherries Jubliee' nasturtiums' flowers and foliage. It was catch and release, though, as after the photo session I tossed him into the shrubs below my balcony.
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In the comments on the previous post, Tess asked a very good question:

Do you know a good website for identifying caterpillars?

Short answer: a week ago, no. But this evening, thanks to Tess's query, which motivated me to do some research, I know a bit more about how to identify caterpillars and other insects, as well as encourage the good critters to take up residence and control the bad bugs organically.

Here are the resources I've added to my virtual gardening bookshelf:

• What's this caterpillar? (UK)
• What's this caterpillar? (North America)
• What is that insect? (a page from the Royal Entomological Society's Web site)
• Iowa State University Entomology Image Gallery
  
• Insect images
• Cabbage worms and cabbage moths
• Love your bugs and other selections from David Suzuki's nature challenge newsletters.

Based on mug shots, I think the caterpillar in the photo is a very plump cabbage looper.

There are still a lot of gaps on organic pest control in my library so please feel free to contribute your favourite resources in the comments section.

Heirloom tomatoes in the mall

My favourite weekend find: this photo by my Flickr friend, Meighan --

Image credit: Organic tomato world in the mall by Meighan

An ingenious way of using retail space for producing as well as consuming.

Blooming this week...

...on the hottest days of the summer, Lewisia cotyledon:

My Mom's 'Alba' bloomed in May so this is my second round of enjoying the white flowers and this time, on my own plant.

I'm still doing research on identifying this variety  -- could it be one of the 'Sunset Strain'?

This balcony gardener/designer has inspired me to include alpines among the vegetables. If you have a balcony garden, you MUST visit her site.

Do any readers have favourite soil "recipes" for alpines, especially Lewisia?

Farewell, my lovelies

Tonight, for the first time in weeks, I turned on the outside light before 9 pm.  Earlier today I picked a final, small bouquet of sweet peas before reluctantly pulling out the tired plants and putting them into the compost pail.  I have such mixed feelings about August. It's still summer, but the end is near...

Although my season of lovely Lathyrus odoratus was short and labour-intensive, it was very sweet and it ended with this particular blossom, "in the pink."