First, the good…
Praise the Lord there is still some good to report from our ghastly looking garden. I can't bear to humiliate myself by posting a picture of it in its entirety so you'll just need to take my word for it!
We started off worried about the tomatoes and blossom end rot ruining our harvest. It wasn’t as dire a situation as we originally thought. The rot seemed to affect only the first set of fruit on each plant. We’ve seen just a few here or there since, but did get enough tomatoes to put up some salsa and tomato soup. We still have tomatoes coming on and they look good, so we’ve lucked out there.
The sunflowers are blooming and are a nice bright spot at the end of the spent garden.
Now, the bad…
We’ve just finished getting our fall garden in – broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and beets. I might toss some spinach seed in there somewhere, too. Something is thoroughly enjoying the broccoli and cauliflower and it ain’t the chickens. I can’t tell what is eating these plants, but I dusted them so hopefully they will spring back and still provide us with some good veg.
And, the ugly…
This could also be filed under ‘bad’. Squash bugs! Remember my lonely zucchini from my seemingly unfertile plant? I had a second one coming on, but it was not to be. These ugly buggers have taken up residence and are all over my zucchini plant. The plant itself is basically done for, so no more zukes from this garden.
Unfortunately, they also have a taste for pumpkin and have taken over my little Baby Pams. We tossed the infested fruit into the chicken yard so the chicks could have a nice little pumpkin-squash bug feast. Hopefully now they have a taste for squash bugs and can help me exterminate!
Do you have any goodies left in your summer garden? Are you planting a fall garden this year? Any ideas on what we can do next year to prevent squash bugs?
This post is linked to Garden Life at No Ordinary Homestead. Click the image below to learn about other bloggers' gardening adventures.
I've never seen a squash bug before - and if I do you can bet I will squash it. Maybe we don't have them up here in Wisconsin. My garden is mostly "ugly" I had good ideas, planted my seeds, kept up kinda good with the weeding, but the deer ate alot of it. Even with all the tricks I do to keep them away, they did a number on the young plants as well as my corn. Oh, well. Fall garden - not me - it snows too soon. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteDicky Bird - You are lucky to never have known a squash bug! They are terrible and terribly ugly to boot. Doesn't it seem like every year there is something working against you in the garden? It can be a challenge for sure!
ReplyDeleteA challenge, but still fun! Awful about your squash bugs though.
ReplyDeleteComing over from Garden Life. I have squash bugs--but never that bad. Oh, my gosh, so sorry for your destroyed pumpkins and zucchini. It is the squash vine borers that usually do me in, but I seem to have outwitted them this year.
ReplyDeleteYour tomatoes look really good. It has been a tough tomato year for me and others. I have some but not as many as I usually do. Your sunflower is beautiful...I have to grow some of those next year.
kateri @ http://dandelionhaven.blogspot.com/
The sunflowers are beautiful. We are thoroughly enjoying the ones we planted this year as well. So nice in the garden when so many things are already starting to die back.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about the squash bugs. Those look like evil little suckers!!
For some reason we didn't get squash bugs or cucumber beetles this year but we DID get Colorado potato beetles!! HUH?!? We have had good luck in the past with NEEM oil.
ReplyDeleteI'm still getting summer squash this year. I have sprouts coming up in my fall garden of spinach, lettuce, carrots and rutabagas so far!
Squash bugs are the scourge of the gardener! I am so sorry about your zuchinni and pumpkins. You asked about guineas and I have heard from several sources that they are supposed to help tremendously (they don't scratch, so they won't pull up your plants). We got ours late, so I'll be able to report on them next year. I have also heard that trelissing can help with squash bugs. I trelissed my cucumbers and they did well!
ReplyDelete