August!

Okay, so I'm a little late for the August post - what a crazy month! I figure that Labor Day is maybe the 'real' end of August - ha!

So, I travelled to Haiti and Brazil at the end of July - great experiences. But that's not what this blog is for. Life just got in the way during August, but I never stopped watering the garden and eating tomatoes!

The most important update is that I did finally grow a pumpkin ... a small one - photos attached. I totally planted my pumpkins too early! It's not even close to Halloween. Either way, this is the first pumpkin that I've ever actually grown. I got the seeds harvested and will use them another year to try again.

With pumpkins, each time I try, they always get infested with the 'squash borer'. It's a flying, wasp-like insect that lays larvae into the pumpkin vine. These larvae then bore through the vine, eating the material. Soon, the vine becomes week and begins to die. I have this now. Remember all those healthy vines I had? Gone!  Just a few vines remain, holding on to life. I've found many squach borer larvae.....it's too late. They got me again! Oh well. A friend suggested that I us 'diatomaceous earth' - a salt-like substance made by some kind of algae that can dry out insect. I've read that some people can successfully fight the 'squash borers' with this, but only preventatively. Next time....next time. Anway, I got a pumpkin!

So, now about the tire pot! The big pumpkin vines are gone but I had planted flowers and some bell peppers. Now the flowers are developing well, so the tire pot still looks great. The bell peppers are coming up too, I hope I get more - they are so good last year, so fresh.

I included only one tomato photo. I've been getting many more - heirloom tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. I can't get photos of them because I keep eating them....they're so good. I just go for a run, stop by the garden, and throw some cherry tomatoes in my mouth - they explore when I bite them.

Strawberries are invading the lawn - but they are out of season now, so no fruit.

Corn project was another failure, the plants are pretty much dead. Some day I'll learn. I think this time I didn't dig their planting space deep enough. Next time...next time.