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.

Pictures of the Community Garden

After my last post about the community garden, I had to take a little break and calm down.  I had to tell my self that the garden still looks pretty nice, and most things are still doing fine.  I didn't plant that sunflower, anyway.  It was a volunteer that made it past my weeding.  I plucked out lots of other volunteers but that one made it through.  I shouldn't be so upset.  Another gardener saw me looking at  the damage and said, "that's what you get for having the most beautiful garden."  I can either take that as a compliment and be happy, or get angry.  I am trying to be happy.

I will start with pictures of the harvest strewn on the backseat of my car.  I forgot to bring my paper bag and box with me.

Here are the tomatoes.  The green ones were on the ground, so I picked them up.  I might do something with them or wait until they ripen.  These are mostly Romas.  I think the thieves picked a bunch of the Early Girl and Superfantastic because there should be more of these.

This is over two quarts of cherry tomatoes.  I sent a bunch with Heath to work today.

There were a few purple beans, a garden salsa pepper and one jalapeno from the plant on the right hand side of the garden.

These are the other peppers.  There are two Anaheim chili peppers, two jalapenos from the other side, and two Thia hot peppers.  I can't wait to see how hot those are.

Blurry pictures are starting to bother me.  Maybe I should invest in a camera instead of trying to use my iPhone camera or borrow one from my aunt.

This tomatillo fell off of the plant.  I don't know how to tell when they are ripe, but I will try to roast this one up and see how it is.

I pulled out a few carrots that could be reached from the front to make it harder for people walking by to pick them.

These are from one of the volunteer tomatoes on the back fence.  They hid out in the peas until my aunt and I started to pull the peas out.  We decided to leave these and tie them to the fence.  This one is some kind of pink fleshed large variety and the other large volunteer tomato is a large red cherry tomato variety,  They are just starting to get ripe.

I took this picture from where the sunflower used to be.  You can see most of the garden.  the sun was getting low so the shadows are dark.

This is the cucumber patch.  They are trying to creep into the potatoes, but my aunt and I have used small stakes to hold the vines back and make them grow to the side.  It is working pretty well.  We still have to check on it and move the stakes periodically.

This is the Cheyenne pepper plant.  You can't see any peppers from here, but...

There are a few hiding back here.  I almost missed them.  I will pick them when they turn red.

These are the Garden salsa pepper and the right side jalapeno plant.

These are the Danver short carrots.

This is what is left of the right side onion rainbow shape.  The produce thieves/vandals have left these two alone so far.

This is what the potatoes look like.  I am sure there are a few small new potatoes down under the ground.  I hilled the dirt up over the stems two weeks ago.

This is the early girl tomato.  I had to cut it back quite a bit last week.  The top branches were getting very tall and trying to grow fruit way up there.  That could only lead to broken branches.

The same plant from the side.

The scarlet runner beans are just getting cooked in the sun on that fence. We are not getting nearly as many beans as we should be. At least they are protecting the garden from the cooking heat off of the sidewalk and asphalt road.

This is a picture looking down the fence at the volunteer tomatoes and tomatillo.

The cherry tomato plant is incredible.  It has produced gallons of tomatoes.  They are so sweet and delicious.

The bush beans are still looking pretty poor.  I saw the beans at my mother-in-law's house last week.  Hers are looking so good.  She has been picking beans everyday for a while.

This is one of the pumpkin plant hills.  I doubt we will get any pumpkins.  They are just too far behind.  The heat is helping, but probably not enough.  I hope I am wrong.

This is the other pumpkin hill.

Just another view of the cucumber patch.

The little Bradley heirloom tomato plant still looks pretty much the same.

The Anaheim chili looks pretty bad still, but the other peppers are really going to town in the heat.

These are the Thia hot pepper and the other jalapeno.

This is the volunteer tomato plant that I picked the two tomatoes from.  The one in the back is the cherry tomato.

This is the roma bush.  It is really starting to produce strongly now.  I have to make another batch of sauce.

From here you can see the ripening tomatoes.

Well, that is about all there is to say about the community garden plot.  I made two jars of pickles when I got home form this garden trip.  I hope to make several more.  Some of the cucumber plants were planted much later than the first and haven't even started making fruits yet.  Have a wonderful rest of the week.

Thiefs or Vandals, I Can't Tell Which, Have Struck Again

When I drove up to our garden plot today I noticed the carnage before I even reached the parking spot.

Our poor sunflower, which was just starting to bloom, had been ripped up and torn apart and left to rot.  It made me very sad. I had planned to take pictures today for the blog of the beautiful flower.

They also helped themselves to some onions...

and some carrots.  They didn't take all of the carrots with them though.  The small or weird shaped ones got strewn around the garden and left to shrivel in the sun.  Senseless vandalism or picky, snobby thievery?  I don't know.  It appears that they took the onions with them, along with at least a few tomatoes and the flower of the sunflower plant.  None of those were anywhere to be found.

You can't really tell in this picture, but they did rip a bunch of the Early girl tomato bush's branches out of the cage and left several green tomatoes on the ground.  If you are going to steal produce, can't you at least leave the plant unharmed so that it can grow more?

Well I picked a few onions (there are very few left in the garden now) and a few carrots, the tomatoes that were left and the few peppers so that no one else could have time to notice them and pick them. I definitely have enough tomatoes for another batch of sauce when these all get fully ripe.  I took lots more pictures, but I will have to post them tomorrow.  There are a couple heirloom tomatoes, some small eggplants and the pole beans on the porch coming up tomorrow.