lots of catching up to do!

It seems like I only just finished planting this year but somehow more than 3 months have actually gone by since I've made a real update.  It's a good thing that we don't actually need to feed our family from this garden because I have a long way to go before we'll be able to rely on consistent results.  Each planting is a new experiment and hopefully each one is a little better than the last.

This poor zucchini is on it's last leg.  Despite my breaking down and using Sevin to try to battle the squash bugs and vine borers, they're back!  I treated the soil with dust and I dusted the plant several times to no avail.

The difference this year is I actually managed to harvest a few zucchinis this year before my poor buddy succumbed to the onslaught.

As you can see, I spent hours hand-picking bugs and viciously squashing them in an attempt to save this year's harvest.  The squash bugs lay their eggs on the undersides of the leaves.  I found that a good piece of duct tape was a great tool to get the eggs off the leaves.

I am kicking myself that I forgot to plant the nasturtium and dill in the containers with the squash this year!  At this point I'm thinking it takes all efforts to win this battle!

BTW... these pics were from 15-July-2012.

early harvest

Here are some of the fruits of our hard work. These are actually some old pics from early June. The lettuce did really well and we couldn't begin to keep up with harvesting it.

Two things occur to me: 1 - we didn't need that many lettuce plants, 2 - what is the point of lettuce when the toppings (peppers, cucs, etc.) are still seedlings?

I am happy to say that pests were not an issue with the lettuce. At least it is one crop I don't have to worry about!

my poor neglected garden

What a sad sight for mid summer... Time for some overdue TLC!