Share and Tell: New Camera Pictures

Just wanted to share some pretty pictures I took with my new camera.

These are on one of the volunteer tomato bushes.  I love the colors.

Same plant, different bunch.

Sungold cherry tomatoes in the shade

Super fantastic tomatoes, right before they were picked

Another super fantastic

I've always thought skippers were cute.

This bumble bee was so big the flower could barely hold her up.

I am still figuring out how to use the camera, but I think these pictures are pretty good for point and shoot photography by a non-photographer like me.  I like my new camera.

Enter the Squash Bug

I have been noticing that the pumpkin and cucumber plants have been wilting and definitely not thriving the way they should be.  This time I finally noticed why:

Squash Bugs!!!!!

These are all nymphs.  I turned over this pumpkin leaf and these guys were all there, hiding out.

This is what the adult looks like.  They are quite large, about 3/4 inch long.

There are so many covering the underside of leaves and stems, that there is no hope of picking them off and making any dent in their population.

I am sad to say it, but I think that we can officially write off any pumpkins from the community garden plot.  I think pickle making is out of the question as well.  I picked four cucumbers today, after not picking for three days.  That is very sad for the number of plants we have. They do not look good, either.

There is really nothing to be done about these bugs.  We are not allowed to use pesticides in the community garden, not that it would be worth it if we were.  By the time the plants recovered it would be too late.  It is September already, after all.

The tomato harvest is slowing down.  There are lots of smaller green tomatoes, though, so we should have another large harvest before the frost.  I will have to keep an eye on the weather forecast though, so that I can go down and harvest everything if they predict a frost.  The green tomatoes will ripen up slowly over the next month or so, or we can use them green.  At that point we will probably dig up whatever potatoes there are, and pull everything else out as well.  None of our plants in the garden are cold hardy at all.  I am considering planting some peas, radishes, and lettuce, but given our history of bird predation and theft, I don't know if it will be worth it.  I suppose that if I find some seeds laying around, I will go ahead and plant them, but I think I will not go and buy any.

My Husband Gave Me a Camera for My Birthday Yesterday, Woo Hoo!

I had to go right out and try it today for taking pictures of the garden.  The light was all coming from the back of the garden as it is most of the time when I go.  I usually can't make it to the garden until after work.  One of these days I should try to take pictures in the morning.  Despite the lighting challenges, the pictures turned out pretty good.  The only concern I have is with files size we will see how this goes.  The new camera is 16 mega pixels.

Okay, so Blogger automatically adjusts the picture and file size. You don't get to see the crisp image that I took, but it makes things simple for posting.  This is what the plot looks like now.  The onions are all gone, the radishes, carrots, spinach, and lettuce are all long gone with a few exceptions.  The cucumbers are filling in the empty spaces and, as you can see, the tomatoes are getting out of control.  I swear that I have trimmed them back ruthlessly several times, but it doesn't seem to make any difference to the size of the plant.  It has made them set fewer new fruit, Which is probably good because those fruit would all be out on the long branches and break them over or tip the plant over. The neighbor on the right is letting the tomatillos grow wild and they are reaching over the fence.  They are hiding my few carrots from prying eyes, though.

The marigolds in the front are really looking great.  The other yellow ones are still looking wimpy.

Here is an up close picture.  Sure beats the iPhone picture, doesn't it?

This post is really just a test to see how the pictures look, but I did take many more pictures, which I hope to post tomorrow.