outside today

I had a very satisfying, sweaty morning. Got up before seven, so it was still cool. Went outside and started digging up the end of last year's leaf pile. Tossed some into the compost bin and spread the rest on the garden beds- as mulch and feed. It took several hours, but looks great. Trickiest is mulching around the carrots and beets, without breaking a lot of foliage. Found some leaf hoppers- grr- pretty cobalt blue ones, pale grass-green and one grey. Didn't catch them all. Cantaloupe vine has grown into the roots bed- but that's okay because more turnips are coming out soon.

I have some baby cucumbers

Don't see any zucchini yet, although there are lots of yellow flowers.

Tokyo bekana is doing better

In spite of the pest damage, gonna start eating it.

Sunberries are growing!

Amaranth greens got taller- nearly up to my shoulder. Cut and ate some today. First tried four leaves in scrambled eggs, then topped all four plants and sautéed them lightly in butter as a side for pasta dish at dinnertime. It's good. Very spinach-like flavor, better even than the leaf beet chard. A new garden favorite.

Although the bug holes- a few caterpillars but mostly the pest seems to be false potato beetle, one I haven't seen before. They're quick to evade my hand-picking. Don't seem to be spreading disease though, just making lots and lots of holes.

The beans and peas are in terrible shape. I started cutting out dried pea vines, trying to leave the ones still holding seed pods- don't seem to be mature yet. But they also seem all diseased. I thought they were just drying out but they're mottled and some have got smushy. Then saw familiar discoloration and sickly look on my bean leaves. I threw soapy dishwater over the plants from the deck, a few days later started cutting out all the sickly bean leaves. Lots of new leaves sprouting that seem unaffected by the pest, so maybe will recover and I'll actually get some beans. It looks like spider mites.