More SVB damage and a few pickins!

Uh, they have really made their rounds these nasty SVB's. I injected the rest of the plants with BT today! I hope it works.

See the frass (borer poo).

At least there are a couple more zucchini's on this vine before it dies!

The stem....

This is a nice sight...just wish the bigger ones would start turning red too!

One cuke but there are more on the way...in the middle of fighting off those striped cucumber beetles!

But this one is being devoured at this moment!

Not too much going on in the garden other than fighting off pests and hoping for more harvests!

Magic Beans And things I have learned...

It is wonderful when you find creative ways to get your children to eat their veggies! I let my 3yo twins watch/help cook the Royal Burgundy Beans so they could see them change from purple to green and told them it was magic! They got so excited they ate them right up...though I would have to say that dd appears to like them more raw than cooked! That is her hand sneaking into the picture, she likes to eat them as soon as I wash them!

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So far this year I have learned a few more new things (this is only my second year with a garden).

1. Plant more beans!!! I just have not had enough for all 4 of us to eat at one meal! Let alone any to freeze!

2. Your little squash will rot if they are not pollinated (or pollinated enough!) I have lost several little 8 balls! I thought once they started growing then they had already been pollinated! Who knew! (everyone but me I guess)

3. start earlier!!! And plant MORE! In case of unexpected little monster kitties eating all your seedlings!

4. Spread out the squash...even the bush kind! They are huge!

5. Put all my brassicas in one box so I can keep them covered to keep the loopers out! Darn loopers!

6. I need a separate tomato box! They just take over!

7. And get a scale so I can keep up with all of you and your beautiful harvests!

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I am sure there is more and will be more! And I bet most you gardeners know all this already! I am absolutely thrilled with how much better my garden has turned out this year already. With all my new knowledge it can only improve!

Got any great gardening tips! Share them! You'd be surprised how even the simplest of tips can help out new and experimenting new gardeners!

New Addition: Limerock Ruby Hybrid Coreopsis

I just love this color. This is my second set of coreopsis plants. I have two Moonbeam Coreopsis near the patio. Now I have to find room for these two somewhere. I think that coreopsis is becoming one of my favorites.

I think they would look great on the other side with the Paprika and Laura Red Achillea. But this bed is really starting to fill in. Those are the surprise Nasturtium. Lots of cosmos. Salvias that are not blooming yet. There are a variety of reds and oranges on this side.

In the veggie garden today, I picked another 8 Ball Zucchini. Killed a few squash bugs, that only seem to be hanging around the Dill's Atlantic Giant plants...hmm. And killed some loopers...ewww! I swear my garden is swarming with bugs, but I don't know what all is bad and what all is good. The ants are terrible, and I think they are trying to farm some aphids....grrr. Most things seem to be doing ok, but my bean plants are going down hill fast. The ones that were producing are turning yellow and getting holes. The other ones that should be producing by now look very sickly and yellow. I don't know what is wrong with them. I planted more though, so hopefully between these and the next we will get some more!

I also found a shedded skin on the bottom of one of the serrano pepper leaves. I don't know what shed there...but I hope it doesn't do any damage, cause I can't find it!

I know it is getting late, but I planted a few more things to try to get an extra harvest...cucumbers, zucchini, beans, cilantro. If everything grows all right I should have enough growing days left before first frost!

Returning home to harvest

Well this 8 ball zucchini got a little larger than it was suppose to while we were gone! It grew fast! About 6 inches tall and 5 inches wide.

This is my total harvest today. I don't know if I cut the American Genuine cucumber to early or not but it looked good enough to eat! So I cut it!

A couple of pictures from Denver! The kids really enjoyed seeing the elk in the river!

Some Veggie Closeups

I will be away from my garden for several days! I hope it does ok having someone else take care of it!

I found a few aphids and squished em, hope they don't multiply while I am away.

Happy Gardening!

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Juliet "Grape" Tomato in hanging pots. There are 4 of them, these are the biggest ones, but they are all blooming and producing.

American Genuine Cucumber

Watermelons and Cucumbers on the trellis

Chard

Spicy Basil...needs to be trimmed up!

Lettuce, amazingly still here.

8 Ball Zucchini, there are a few, but the first ones I had didn't have enough room between the stems and went bad.

Sebring Zucchini

My monster tomato plant. I just now got a cage around it! I know, it should have been done weeks ago. But this thing is so monstrous it is just squished in there. I need to try to keep trimming it up a bit I guess.

Dills Atlantic giants. I wish these things would take off already! They got big blooms, but they sure aren't vining out very quickly!

Something is wrong with my first Prudens Purple. It isn't looking good!

Royal Burgundy Beans, not producing like the providers at all! I have had very few out of this big pile of plants.

Can't believe I still have a strawberry. Haven't got many of these either. Maybe the second year will be better.

Welcomed Sight in the Garden

While I was absolutely hesitant to get out in the garden today because it is absolutely disgusting (very wet, hot and humid), I am so glad I did just to see this......

Look at those little Juliet beauties!

You can barely see it, but it is there! A Sebring Zucchini!

And so far I see two 8 ball Zucchinis!

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This is a picture from the upper window yesterday! We are getting ready to do some work on the area, so maybe I will have a new pic in the next few days of the results! Here's hoping!

That is one big pile of mulch!

(Don't be fooled...it isn't really Scotts Topsoil, they were a mistake so we got them half off! They are full of a nice, fine, light mulch.)

I'm so happy with the progress

This bed is the last one to be finished with compost...we still need a couple of bags! Someday we may dare to make our own. But this is looking really nice. I also planted the Arizona Sun Gaillardia in the middle. It looks nice.

Pictures just aren't doing these beds justice. They look so much nicer topped off!

This one is really coming together. I have a mixture of all kinds of things in here...Salvia, Achillea, Marigolds, Cosmos, and a couple of "surprise" Nasturtium! I can't wait till it all starts to fill in and look lush. It will look so nice. The hangers are the Juliet tomatoes.

Another look.

I have some Beans on the plants!!!! Won't be long now!

The Sebring and 8 ball Zucchini are getting bigger, but they do not appear to be vining, I wonder if they are more of a bush variety...

On the left, Ambrosia Melon and Sugar Pumpkin. Giant Atlantic Dill Pumpkins on the right.

Oooooohhhhhh the tea is brewing! Compost Tea that is! Although I forgot the molasses, hope it is still ok. It has some compost and worm castings in it! It will be ready tomorrow! I am soooooo excited! Cheaper tea! It's good stuff!

The trellis is up. The other one is too, but I haven't put the net on yet! Dh did a great job!

Today's pitifully small first harvest....but oh so Good smelling! Spicy bush basil! My favorite! Now I just need some tomatoes and bread! I love bruschetta!

Evening walk in the garden

After I put the kiddos to bed I took a nice little walk around the garden after we have had 2 days of rain totaling almost 4 inches! I just wanted to see how it affected everything, and it seems to be doing great!

Edited to add: I wonder how crazy our neighbors think we are when they see us with cameras wondering around our gardens taking pictures.

These are some new comers, have to find a good spot for them tomorrow. Blanket Flower Arizona Sun (Gaillardia x Grandiflora) and Lantana. I think I will put the Lantana in a corner spot in the sfg.

These are my Juliet Grape tomatoes.

Laura Red Achillea, I like it much better than the Paprika ones I have. Dh brought this one home for me.

Lettuce, it was part of a mix package so I have no idea what kind, but it is doing much better than I thought it would. Though these are the only 3 that made it out of probably 12 that I planted, maybe it is a tougher variety.

Provider beans, they have had blooms on them for a bit now.

Rainbow Chard

Tomato

Sebring and 8 ball zucchini

Tomato and Broccoli

Acorn Squash, just planted it last weekend, looks nice so far.

Icebox Watermelon already taking over other squares, better get that support up tomorrow.

Cilantro

An unfriendly visitor....this thing was HUGE and at least an inch long! He was crunched up with his mouth wide open for this shot. Don't worry, he met his fate! My foot!

Moonbeam Coreopsis. Growing much better than I expected, not a lot of blooms yet, but the plant is getting bigger and that is good!

Tomorrow we will be working in the garden. Getting the rest of the compost down in the back flower beds, maybe planting a couple of things. We definitely need to get the trellis' up for those vining veggies. And we are putting together a compost tea brewer. A fellow garden blogger pointed me to this site for instructions on making one cheap. I have all the supplies and I am ready to start!