So we got a very very very late start this year.  So late, in fact, that we were unable to grow our little seedlings and had to purchase our plants from the store… GASP!

We are planning a slight overhaul to our outdoor box area this year though.

The ground around the boxes has seemed to become a wonderful nesting ground for our nemesis the Harlequin stink bug, which if I am being honest, are pretty stunning to look at but not good for the plants so much like the blue light special at K-Mart, everything must go.  They seem to be selectively attacking only our squash and melon plants for the time being which seems strange because I have read in several places that they prefer to attack It’s also become a nice place for the ticks to breed as well.

Currently our boxes are surrounded by a layer of agrofab with a simple layer of mulch on top of that.  This year, at some point, we are going to rip out the old fabric, replace it and put down a layer of sand, some paverstones and fill in with gravel.  It will hopefully keep the bugs from using it as a nesting ground but hopefully it will keep other pests down from entering the boxes that do not prefer to crawl across a gravel substrate.