Garden update 6/8/11; Success and pests

The corn is only about 6′ tall, but filling out nicely. The tassles are so full of honeybees, that you can hear their humming from far off. This is Silver Queen, but there is a small crop of Honey and Pearl that will come in later.

The peas and cucumbers are beautiful. The first peas are beginning to set, and the cucumbers have more flowers than I have ever seen. I picked this first one after I took the picture, and Roy has picked several more. They are not burpless, but are very sweet.

Roy planted me 4 rows of okra and it all came up and has been thinned. His beans, though, is what he is most proud of…they are greener and healthier than any he’s ever grown. There will be a bumper crop this year. The funny thing is, the girls would rather pick ANYTHING than beans! They are already moaning about it.

The peppers are doing better than usual this year. We have peppers ready and more setting every day. It is usually later in the season when we get the first ones. The extraordinary heat may be the reason…it has been between 101 and 104 for almost 2 weeks at our house. The tomatoes are doing well, in spite of an infestation of legions of aphids. I honestly have never seen so many. I found a site, www.herbcompanion.com, that gives helpful advice on various ways to get rid of them. I can’t vouch for all of his content, but his humorous rantings about aphids are great. So far we have used Sevin dust and some pesticide spray (did I mention that there are legions?) and they aren’t all gone, so I may invest in some ladybugs.

Speaking of tomatoes, I am super excited about this. Roy took some suckers from the tomato plants and experimented with rooting them. He dipped them in root toner and planted some, while putting the rest in a jar of water. Both methods worked great. We will plant these to be our later tomato crop.

Dad planted three watermelon plants at the edge of the garden. I was very excited when I saw dozens of tiny watermelon setting. I was particularly happy to find one that was bigger than these tiny ones, so I took a  picture. I was happier still to find one that was even farther along! We will have watermelon before July!

We will only get about a bucket of red potatoes, but have more hope for the sweet potatoes. We have eaten 6 meals off the squash with more coming in, but I am fighting a battle with them…



1 thought on “Garden update 6/8/11; Success and pests”

  • Roy & Susan,

    Man everything looks great!! I am “green with envy”! I have talked Charles into edible landscaping. He has cucumbers, squash, tomato, beans, red potatoes, sweet potatoes (which the deer have eaten) planted in various flower beds around the house. So far, the production seems to be okay. We have put up about 40 qts of pickles, and 5 qts of beans. We’ve eaten one batch of squash. I do not have my garden in this year. My schedule doesn’t allow the time and care it takes, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I plan on coming down to see you guys real soon.

    Grace and Peace!
    Todd O.

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