My Garden Overfloweth

I've been, thankfully, very busy lately. Hence the lack of updates.

The tomato plants are as tall as I am now. I waited entirely too long to get them into proper supports. The ideal ones are those big wire cones. I finally found them the other week at the garden center. I spent nearly an hour trying to wrestle the branches into the supports. Unfortunately, there were some broken limbs, but the plants looked to be fully recovered by the next day. Right now there are at least a dozen gigantic tomatoes hanging on the plants. They're all still green though.

The yellow squash is putting out veggies like nobody's business.

Zucchini bread anyone? soup? pudding?

Can You Dig It?

Inspirational article on urban farming: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/magazine/05allen-t.html?em

Summer Harvests

These are the gifts my garden has brought me over the past few days. Looks like it is time to start giving some of these away to neighbor and friends!

And if you have been following the slug saga, it looks like I'm rid of them for the most part now that I am rid of the cabbage. I pulled out the last of it yesterday. I think that was wise. The plot is still really cramped, but getting rid of the first row of cabbage made a huge difference. I even found a couple big cucumbers hiding behind them and one giant yellow squash.

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.