36 days later...

Zoriah's Yellow Marigold

Today makes 36 days since my first post, I'm really trying to make my updates on a weekly basis but that's not going very well.   Any-hoot, I've encountered some very disappointing obstacles in the
garden.  The squash was doing so good but here came the humidity, moisture, squash bugs and squash borers; screwing up the whole squash operation. The only survivors in the bed were the cucumber and watermelon vines.  At this point I'm not sure if I want to replant squashes. I have learned that aluminum paper wrapped around the core of the plant will minimize the chances of borers going in the stem and killing the plant from the inside.  So, maybe I will give it another chance next month for the summer squash.  Maybe!

No more squash

Cucumber and Watermelon

In addition to all the squash issues, I had an infestation of cabbage worms; evil creatures.  I woke up one day and my beets were all eaten up. OMG, I freaked out. So much damage overnight. I had to chop off the beets, Swiss chard, kale, and radishes. I'm currently attempting to save the Brussels sprouts and the collard greens.  I sprayed this product I bought at Lowe's called Sevin. I'm currently monitoring those plants very closely. I was really looking forward to juicing some Swill chard and Kale. Bummer!

Swiss chard gone

Cabbage worms

Collard greens

Swiss chard

 

Beets

 

Brussels sprouts

 

 

Everything else is doing well in the garden. I have harvested banana peppers and lots of basil.  I will be spraying some neem oil on my veggies.  I have planted corn and sunflower seeds. Once the corn sprouts I will be adding beans and squash seeds to try out the "3 sister" Native American thing. I added the sunflowers to attract the pollinators. :) The onions are getting big in the ground. The flowers are booming and so are the herbs.

 I will be adding basil and marigolds in all the beds to help repel the nasty bugs. I planted the broccoli seedlings near the monster basil. I planted the lettuce and spinach seedlings; I'm keeping those in the shade. I'm having a hard time growing peppers from the seed so, I will be buying some at the store. Like John from "Growing Your Greens" http://www.youtube.com/user/growingyourgreens says, "plant what's easy to grow and expensive to buy."

Thanks for tuning in everyone.

Till next time, Debbie.

Basil multiplying

Uriahs Sunflower

Eggplant

Cucumber seedlings

Garlic

Asparagus

Purple peppers

Purple basil seedlings

Broccoli seedlings

Bed 1

Bed 2

Lettuce, Spinach & Cilantro

Nasturtium & Rosemary

Jalapenos

Cayenne Peppers

Eggplant

Onions

Baby Dragon Fly on the Onions

New tomato plant

Papaya Tree (planted 4 years ago, died 2 winters in a row and grew back)

I throw all my fruit & veggie waste on the papaya tree and a random squash plant grew. The tree is also surrounded by random mint cover that grows in Florida. It smells delish when you step on it.