pickings

Here's what I gathered from the garden today. Four lovely Tomatoes, the last handful of Beets (most quite small) and a few measly Green Beans.

 They are still under seige by bugs, but do have a lot of new flowers, so I'm hoping if I can route the critters we'll still get enough beans to eat. (I've abandoned my idea of trying to can some this year, unless my second planting does better).

Today sprayed basil sun tea over all the plants. Found that if I spray under the leaves (which is where the bugs hide) they fly up and land on the top surface of the foliage, where I can pick them off before I spray the top as well. I caught a few fat cucumber beetles this way- two from among the Green Beans, one off the small sad Zucchinis and half a dozen from the Pumpkin patch. Also found one in the Rhubarb, but I think he'd just been fleeing the basil fumes in the nearby pumpkins. There's a large grey stink bug lurking among my Green Beans too, but he's crafty. I tried to nab him twice, and the second time grabbed his leg but he broke away from me and hid in the lawn. I'm going to keep my eye out for him- certainly he's causing lots of damage, too!

I'm not too unhappy about the loss of Zucchinis, because I'd rather loose that usually-abundant and not-so-tasty crop as long as the produce I like better is left alone. This year the Cucumbers are doing very well, tucked in their wall of Cilantro and Basil

and the Cantaloupes are amazing me. They've grown huge leaves and are creeping arms all over, creeping across the walking paths to invade the flanking carrot and cherry tomato patches. I keep turning their vines back from going through the fence into the neighbor's yard. I spray them diligently with basil sun tea as well, just in case a cucumber beetle ventures over here from the other side of the garden, I don't want them settling in! They have huge leaves, tons of little yellow flowers, and already many small bulbous shapes that will soon become Cantaloupes!

I like to think that my little wall of Marigolds, which is now blooming furiously, has helped keep the bugs at bay. I mistakenly bought the small marigold variety, that doesn't grow too tall. I wanted the big ones, because planted in a row they make a kind of short hedge. Here's a view of the Marigold row, in one direction at the edge of the Cucumber patch

and the other way alongside the Corn/Cantaloupe plots. You can see the huge-leaved arms of Cantaloupe reaching out. In the middle/right there is the last Romaine Lettuce plant, which I cut down today to gather its seed heads.

So next year the plan of attack is: more marigolds! more cilantro and basil! even more garlics- I think they deter the pests as well, and are growing actively when the flowers and herbs are still just seedlings.