Soap
I was out gardening the other day, transplanting tomato plants to bigger pots. Husband was finishing up lunch. He then decided to do the dishes. It’s a sign of a long and successful marriage that he knew -without asking- when he couldn’t find the dish soap that I’d have it out in the garden with me. He doesn’t really understand why I disappear with the soap* or the little spoons that come in the batches of artificial sweetener,** but he patiently expects to find me out there with many an odd assortment of pliers,*** gloves, containers, strings, netting and various other items I decide to use to help grow plants.
I was done with the soap, so I was happy to share. I even remembered to bring all the tools back inside. This doesn’t always happen. Sometimes the scissors get left outside. I often leave the containers for storing coffee grounds or peanut shells outside. Husband knows when the container is missing that it will be somewhere along the garden wall. If only we could train the cats to bring them in. Then again, maybe we don’t want them bringing in things from outside. Yeah. Not a good idea.
* dish soap – it’s useful in making a solution of bug killer. Mixed with neem oil and water, it makes a great spray for protecting plants. In this case, I was washing out the ceramic pots. The soap kills and washes away any tiny bug eggs that might be lingering.
** little plastic spoons – I write the plant name down the side of the spoon and place it near a plant so that I remember what I planted where. Popsicle sticks are good for this too.
***Pliers – I need them to pull out the plugs in my drip system. At the beginning of the season, I use all the holes. But as plants die, I plug up some areas and continue watering other areas.
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Lol. That sounds like our house. Only, it’s usually me who finds things lying about the yard. I generally don’t mind until it’s my scissors or garden shears that go missing. I’ve resorted to hiding them because I hate hunting them down!
Comment by Michelle Scott — February 18, 2012 @ 4:12 pm
Well Maria now I have added another thing to my list of natural bug killers and protectors. Never heard of Neem Oil. That is a must get for me. You should write a gardening blog “in your spare time”
Comment by tibet/sandy — February 18, 2012 @ 4:30 pm
This post just made me smile for some reason. I love that you two know each other so well that you know all your quirks too. Very cute!
Comment by kindlemom1 — February 18, 2012 @ 5:00 pm
I’ve had to resort to hiding pruning shears and scissors too. Not because he leaves them lying around but because he uses them in ways that dull them (like cutting branches with scissors!). Normally I’m the one who leaves stuff lying around. I blame that on my mom for giving me the scatterbrain I’m stuck with.
I’ve used dish soap and water sprayed on plants before but have never mixed it with neem oil. Will have to try.
Comment by April — February 19, 2012 @ 2:56 pm
Need works pretty good on most things. It didn’t help with the little worms that ate the roots of my seedlings, but then, since it’s a spray, I guess it’s too much to hope it would work below ground!
Comment by Maria — February 19, 2012 @ 3:26 pm
I can’t imagine that having feral cats who carry scissors is all that good an idea either.
One of the (only?) nice things about living in New Hampshire was that if you leave things out long enough the snow covers it all up & you don’t have to worry about it until spring. Of course this was long enough ago that we still had winter in the winter.
Comment by Elisabeth — February 19, 2012 @ 10:11 pm
I have another friend from NH. She lives in SC now. Funny how y’all move to warm climates…
Comment by Maria — February 20, 2012 @ 7:38 am
Oh, BTW, Sandy/Tibet, I do keep the garden stuff sorted into an area of the blog all by itself. It’s under hobbies/gardening and you can also get there whenever you see a “gardening” topic in the lower right corner of the post. They all get filed into a giant category with subcategories where I blog about things I’ve learned as I go.
Comment by Maria — February 20, 2012 @ 7:48 am
What does a Southerner say to a smart Northerner? Welcome South.
Comment by Elisabeth — February 20, 2012 @ 9:08 pm