Last Haul

We finally found time to pay attention to our struggling garden.

This year, it just doesn't seem to be doing very well at all.

Last year we had produce all over the place- 

so much I couldn't keep up with preserving it all.

Not this year.

I blame the late spring start,

the cooler than normal temps

and lack of fertilization.

So our next step is to fertilize the heck out of the garden.

While we were hacking down the jungle growth weeding

I came across this fat Eastern American Toad

hiding in the soil beneath what was supposed to be my cabbage plants.

(they were plants, they just never gave me cabbage)

He was pretty fat.

Big E yelled at me to stop playing with the toad and start 

wielding my machete helping him weed.

The squash bugs are one of the few things that are growing well.

The ground was moving with them. 

So we ripped out most of the squash and zucchini and pumpkins

and I sprayed the area with Neem oil hoping to kill them off.

 

This probably the last large haul from the garden this year.

Carrots and beets did well.

I'll be canning those this week.

The tomatoes are doing ok,

hopefully I'll continue to get some so I have enough for pasta sauce.

My Nemesis: Squash Bugs

When your squash plants start looking like this:

Chances are you have squash bugs.

Ihave been battling these pests for the past couple of years.

And for the last couple of years,

they have decimated the squash and zucchini plants.

Babies hatching

So, how do you handle a squash bug epidemic?

Short of napalming your garden

(and the other day I considered calling in an airstrike)

you can turn to a couple of possible solutions.

A simple (though back breaking and time consuming) solution

is duct tape.

Wrap the tape sticky side out around your hand

then use it to pull the eggs off the leaves 

and catch the bugs.

I wear gloves while doing this because sometimes I just 

smush the bugs I see.

And I don't really want squashed squash bugs on my hands.

Several bugs and some eggs stuck to the tape

If you just have a couple of plants, 

this can be a fairly effective solution

as long as you stay on top of it.

Or you can go get some Neem Oil

(an organic spray)

and use that too.

I had to resort to that and it has helped,

but populations have exploded so I use tape and spray.

Garden of Weedin

We finally had some time to work in the garden this weekend.

It's no longer the "Garden of Weedin'"

Our corn is growing- sort of.

Some didn't come up at all.

We staggered the plantings-

2 rows, then planted 2 more rows 2 weeks later, etc.

Hoping this allows us to use what we harvest rather than

having 50+ ears to deal with all at once.

The pumpkins are growing like crazy.

Unfortunately, I discovered some squash bugs in the garden.

These things are my nemesis.

They single handedly killed the pumpkins and most of the zucchini and squash last year.
I have a plan though.

Here is one of our 3 potato plants.

I don't recommending deciding to order potatoes

and wanting to make a potato tower 2 weeks before your wedding.

We just planted them in the ground, so I don't have too much hope of potatoes this year.

The beans love the trellis.

I have green beans and black beans growing here.

The cucumbers needed a little help with the trellis.

For the future, I plan to use strips of wood to make more climbing area

for the vines.

The peas are doing well. 

We harvested a bagful.

And I ate several pods.

The zucchini has been producing for a couple of weeks now.

It's delicious.

The squash bugs think so too,

unfortunately.

We pulled beets, zucchini, squash and peas.

This photo doesn't show the huge bucket full

of squash and zucchini.

There was one tomato, but those mother cluckers got to it before I did.

 

Bertha was checking out the produce being offered.

She and Martha Stewart got to the one ripening tomato before I could.

 I have tons of green tomatoes.

I'm thinking of trying to fry some up- something I've never cooked or eaten.

Busy Sunday

It was a busy weekend in general.

Wedding items were worked on

(including a nearly completed wagon),

there was a birthday party,

a ball game

and finally....

A garden started.

The weather in our area has been a little crazy this spring.

Big E finally got the garden tilled for me for Mother's Day

and yesterday we managed to get some seed in the ground.

Though a little late for some stuff, we planted it anyway to see what happens

(really, temps were in the upper 30's this morning so weather-wise, it isn't that late).

We have a giant row of peas planted since my son likes to eat them off the vine,

spinach, kale, 2 types of cabbage, beets and carrots.

We planned out the rest of the plantings of cukes, tomatoes, pole beans, squash, melons, pumpkins and corn. 

What can I say, we're ambitious.

Now I just have to keep these cluckers out of the garden

since they think it's their very own Olympic sized dust bath. 

And they like kale.