A Little Update

Summer is in full effect here in Maryland. It is hot and when it rains, it definitely, definitely pours. The plants are diggin' it though.

So far I've come up with about a dozen healthy yellow squash- all of them delicious. And a couple cucumbers have popped up, too. I have a pretty impressive pumpkin growing on a vine, as well. Now it is about the size of a swollen grapefruit and it is just hanging there, defying gravity. I'll have to get a good pic before it's brought down to Earth.

I've pulled out all but two of my cabbage plants due to the caterpillar and slug infestation. I never did use any pesticide on the plants, though once I drizzled soapy water all over them. That didn't seem to help much. The best thing I have found to do is just to put on some gloves and remove them by hand. It takes time, but afterwards they're gone and I don't have to worry about any chemicals.

And that's what's good in my garden!

The Second Bed

The second bed is filling in quite nicely. Even the first zinnia has flowered.

Caterpillars Caterpillars Caterpillars

Dear Caterpillars,
Please stop eating my cabbage. And tell your nasty slug friends to get lost while you're at it.
Sincerely,

The Budding Horticulturist

The Battle of the Slug

The slugs are everywhere, in greater numbers than the caterpillars and doing much more damage.

I bought a product called Ortho "EcoSense" to combat them, but I don't think I'm going to use it. The active ingredient in it is iron phosphate, which in and of itself doesn't set off any red flags in my mind. But then again, how would I know? Ortho isn't exactly a brand known for natural products and I'm put off by the packaging which I find really deceptive. Under the EcoSense label it says in small text, "not intended to imply environmental safety either alone or compared to other products."

If I were just going to use the product on my lawn and flowers, I wouldn't be so bothered by it. But what comes out of my garden goes into my family's kitchen, and ultimately into us, so I think I'll pass on the chemicals.

Thanks, but no thanks, Ortho.

The Caterpillars Have Cometh

For weeks now, something has been eating my cabbage. I've sat out there and watched and watched and watched, but not until today did I manage to catch the culprit.

A big, fat, green, fuzzy caterpillar has been eating my cabbage.

I removed the plants with the most damage. Maybe that was a drastic move. But it seems to me that now I have one or two caterpillars, but in a few days or weeks I will have dozens more. There are still lots of caterpillars-to-be all laid up in the remaining cabbage.

I'm glad I've found what is eating my plants. But I'm going to have to do some research on how I can get rid of these guys without harming my plants. I'd like to do it without using chemicals if possible.

Argh.

UPDATE:
Site for identifying caterpillars:
http://www.whatsthiscaterpillar.co.uk/america/index.htm

When we control pests naturally we take advantage of the checks and balances nature has already had in place for millions of years. For instance, if you have lots of holes in your cabbage, broccoli, or cauliflower leaves and regularly see lovely white butterflies hovering around them, it's likely the Imported Cabbage Butterfly is rearing her children on your precious crops. The natural controls for the small, green caterpillars that are doing the damage can be to plant a few parsley, cilantro (coriander), celery, or carrot plants close to the affected plants and allow them to bloom. The nectar and pollen rich flowers of these plants will draw a wonderful little beneficial insect called Trichogramma to the area. The adult female Trichogramma will lay eggs on or in the caterpillars and once the larvae hatch they eat the caterpillar from the inside out. Another one of Nature's tools is a bacterium that paralyzes the caterpillar. Bt or Bacillus thuringiensis specifically attacks many caterpillar species and is a very effective and commonplace product in most garden centers. If you want to speed up the predation of your pest caterpillar population you can purchase Trichogramma from many nurseries and online insectaries. Trichogramma work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to keep your plants free of caterpillar pests.

- "Vegetable Garden Pest Control"
by Don Trotter
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/01/010903m.cfm

Bamboo Stakes

Nothing terribly exciting to report today. I stopped by the garden center and picked up some bamboo stakes which I posted in the plot for the vines to grab onto. I also broke one of the stakes into a few pieces and stuck them next to my pea plants. The whole thing is going to look like such a hodge podge of plants and supports pretty soon. Ah, well, as long as it all tastes good.

Two of the pea plants are also growing these white little blossoms. It seems a little early for the plants to be putting off flowers and fruits, but I'm not going to interfere. I will let Mother Nature do her thing.

Summer Squash

Photographed above is the third Summer Squash (Butterstick Hybrid Zucchini) that my garden has produced. The seed package says that the squash should be ready to harvest 50 days after planting the seeds. Pretty accurate! The package says to harvest them when they're between 6 and 8 inches long. They are delicious. Yum.

You can see how full the plot has become. Some of the pumpkin vines are nearly 7 feet long now. And all five of the tomato plants have blossoms on them now. When I stand beside them, they're nearly as tall as my hips.

Peas

These are my pea plants. The third from the right is actually the same one that was harmed in the initial mint attack. I didn't think it would recover, but just look at it. As these plants grow the leaves just unfold in the most mystifying patterns, like green origami. Beautiful. The support that they're attaching their vines to is just a bent out of shape clothes hanger. (Click the photo for a closer look.)


I've been to Home Depot, I've been to Lowe's, I've been to independent garden shops, and no where can I find adequate support systems for my plants! They are always sold out of what I need for my tomatoes and other plants that are growing so rapidly they can't hold themselves up. So, pliers in hand, I've turned to hangers and for now I think it's working. For my other plants I've used wooden stakes and tied the plants to them using strips of nylon hosiery. A handy trick I picked up from my parents' neighbor. The nylon has enough elasticity that it doesn't harm the stalk of the plant, but it it study enough to secure it upright.

Growing Up Fast

This is the same little squash that just three days ago had a flower on it. It is the very same one that I hand pollinated. Looks like it worked!

Hand Pollinating the Squash

Early this morning, water stopped falling from the sky, making it possible for me to get a better look at what is going on out there. Low and behold, lots and lots of flowers! And several fledgling yellow squash just growing away.

The flowers open up and in the morning and only last for the day, so I decided to take the opportunity to hand pollinate a couple of them. I summoned up all my knowledge of plant science from middle school and referenced ehow.com before getting started. The male flowers were blooming on normal, green stems while the female ones were blossoming on top of the baby squash itself. In order for the tiny squash to develop it needs pollen from the anthers at the center of the male flower.

Normally, insect traffic alone is enough to pollinate the flowers, but lots of gardening sites recommend hand pollinating just to make sure all your viable vegetables get to grow up to their potential. So I just snapped of a male flower, held the petals back and brushed the pollen onto the center of the female flower.

It looks like a couple fruits have already set naturally. Time will tell if my effort to hand pollinate a couple flowers will produce better developed squash. I doubt it, really. None of the tiny yellow squash have shriveled or appear malformed as a result of a lack of sufficient pollination. I think I have a pretty healthy garden growing, despite the crowding issue.

I removed two tomato plants this morning to give the others some space. One was a tiny little thing that has just failed to grow as tall and strong as the others. The other was about a foot and a half tall and was simply too closely planted between two very strong tomato plants. I replanted the big one in Bed Number Two, but I'm not sure if it will make it because I wasn't able to recover much of its root system without disturbing the other plants' roots.

Flash Flood Warnings

It has been raining and raining and raining. And raining.

I haven't been able to spend much time in the garden, but it appears the plants are doing fine without me. Lots of flowers are beginning to bloom on the zucchini and yellow squash and buds are definitely developing on the pumpkin and cucumber plants. It looks like it won't be long before we'll be eating the squash actually-- check the photo!

I managed to get some plants into my second bed before the monsoon hit. I decided to plant three rows, instead of four, to reduce crowding. I planted several tomato plants and a few pea plants in the back row. The second row is home to a lettuce plant, zinnia, onion and lots of spinach. The front row has basil, dill, cucumber, 2 zucchini and 1 yellow squash.

I wish I had thought to put the onion in the middle of my first bed, then the zucchini and pumpkin and yellow squash wouldn't be all smushed up against one another. The pumpkin and cucumber are starting to put out vines too. Are they going to choke one another with those? I installed some stakes and a little trellis for them to grab hold of; hopefully, that'll help.