Mulch, Mulch, Mulch!

If there is one mantra that I have not followed this summer and regret, it is to mulch everything. Leave no garden ground naked! I spent a little time weeding crab grass from around the cantaloupe plants this evening, and there is so much more to be done.

On the upside, the roma tomatoes are coming in massive numbers now. I picked up some jalapeno peppers at the farmer's market today, and hopefully this week I will try my hand at making and canning some salsa. Tasty!

Cucumber Beetle Attack Plans

Here are some ideas I've gleaned:

• Plant tansy as a companion.
• Use straw mulch.
• Put up the bat house.
• Put a trench of moistened wood ashes.
• Spread onion skins around plants.
• Use row cover until the plants are too big.
• To fool cuke beetles: flatten a square of aluminum foil around the base of plants to bounce light on the undersides of leaves. This also helps the plants in giving them more light.
• Cultivate in the fall to expose the eggs.
• Benificial nematodes.

Tomatoes & Potatoes

Look what I found today! It's very cracked, but it is the first brandywine of summer! The romas are really starting to come in now as well. Also, in harvesting news, we have dug up all the potatoes, and I think we have about 20 lbs. (including the ones we've already eaten). The potatoes are being stored in the same way as we stored the sweet potatoes last year, a cat litter box with holes drilled all around for circulation. Hopefully, they will last this way.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid the squash may be a losing battle. The carnival squash that had three fruits on it and was huge, is all but dead now. I must research efforts against the cucumber beetle for next year.

However, one can't be too sad when the sunflower sunshine has come to the garden. Enjoy!

July Pictures

It is hotter than Hades out there. I believe the heat index got to 118 degrees this afternoon, so needless to say the only thing accomplished was to deeply water late this evening. I apologize for the pictures. It was too hot to take them before it got dark.

Here we have my herbs in buckets. The sage and thyme didn't make it, but the rest are doing well. In the front are cucumbers and to the right are watermelon (not in pic). In the middle are the squashes. The zucchini which started terrible, is doing fabulous now as is my carnival squash. The butternut is catching up, but the yellow has some issues. The leaves are turning yellow and the stems are pretty chewed. I'm pretty sure it's a cucumber beetle problem, but it could be squash vine borer too. I may try to replant some yellow squash this week or next. Behind that are the eggplant and peppers which are doing quite well and a basil plant that is struggling after being planted too late. At the very back are the tomatoes. The romas and sungold cherry are producing nicely. The brandywine seems to be doing good with several green tomatoes, but the Moskivich is a goner, I believe. I may not get that type again as I think I've had a problem with it before.

Here you can see that the potatoes are pretty much died back and ready to dig up. Behind that is corn that is very close to being ready as well.

In the front are little okra seedlings next to a ton of swiss chard ready to eat. In the middle are sweet potato seedlings, then leeks and carrots. There are also a few onions left, but most have been harvested and are curing on the kitchen table (away from dog who would like to play with them). This bed needs a lot of weeding as you can see.

The brassica bed is just about done for the year. In the middle are the biggest sunflowers I've ever grown, much less seen. The dill is flowering and smells lovely. There are two survivor cantelope plants among the weeds and secondary cabbage leaves in front. I fertilized them today, and maybe they will start to grow better. In the back is kale and collards that are close to bolting and lettuce that is way past bolting. This bed will need a lot of clean up once I can catch up with the current crops.

On the other side of the potato bed is the great pole bean takeover. We have harvested a bunch already, and there is more picking to be done. In the front are lima beans that are wondering where there trellis went.

Recovery

This summer has been a terrible relapse as far as my health is concerned. I have spent at least two weeks in the hospital, and am hopeful that we are finally on the right track as to what is going on. I am fearful that the parasite, cryptosporidium, that was discovered in May might be due to the very fresh mushroom soil that we put in this year. Anyway, I am making my best effort at recovery before school starts, and I am trying to make a recovery of the garden at the same time. I will do my best to have detailed pictures tomorrow, but for today it was all I could do to harvest a bit (cabbage, corn, sungold tomatoes, and a zucchini) and deeply water.

For now I will post a rough to do list in my effort to catch up:

1. Weed, weed, weed! Especially in the root bed and the strawberry bed.
2. Fertilize tomatoes, eggplant, squash, and cantaloupe.
3. Mount an attack on the squash bugs!
4. Harvest potatoes.
5. Pull up bolted lettuce and replant.
6. Water every day while heat index is over 100 degrees.
7. Find good storage for the onions that are pretty much harvested.