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.