ENTYMOLOGY LESSONS

So it seems we are learning more about bugs than about plants.... Last year we thought hornworms were the worst thing around.  Then in the Fall and through the winter we learned just how dense and destructive aphids can be!

This year we've experienced endless ants, earwigs galore, an infestation of white flies, which carry and spread the dreaded leaf curl virus to everything in the nightshade family... bye, bye tomatoes, chile peppers, potatoes and eggplants!  Our lastest discovery is the Squash Bug.  These lovely little creatures can suck the life out of pumpkins and all winter squash.  They will also go for summer squashes and cucumbers if permitted.  We've also seen jerusalem beetles, and an infestation of these little narrow black beetles that keep making their way into the house.   The drought seems to be a boon for the insect word.

We haven't been seeing our preying mantis crop growing up.  Last year we got to watch many of these grow from tiny little less than half inch long creatures to monsters of 4+ inches in length.  This year we saw some babies but not so many and fewer and fewer in recent weeks.

Still trying to go organic, still using only blasts of hose water, neem oil and BT to battle all of this (and diatomaceous earth on occasion for the ants.  In fact we sprayed everything with Neem oil again today.

The berries are doing well.  We've got quite a few blackberries ripening and raspberries as well!  The squash seems to be growing visibly each day.

We have acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash and pumpkin.

 acorn squash

 butternut squash

spaghetti squash

Our rogue volunteer zucchini is still putting out and growing like crazy.  Our planted zucchini's are beginning to rally too.

Volunteer Zucchini gone wild!

We now have several ears of corn starting and are very excited about that!

Not sure what to make of the potatoes with the leaf curl virus.  I figure we'll just let those plants keep growing and see if they flower and if there is a harvest.

Our peppers are doing quite well.  Even thought some are showing signs of leaf curl too!

Speaking of leaf curl. . , Our second crop of tomatoes seem to be growing and slowly beginning to set fruit despite this virus.  We added the tall cages to four of the indeterminate tomatoes today.  Somehow this makes the plants look smaller!