Wow, look at this! Two posts in two days! (Don't get used to it.)
Even though life is somewhat nutsy-cuckoo (happily so), I found some time this weekend to get the veggie garden organized, visit several garden centers and farm shops, and plunk a few plants in the ground, to round out the things I planted back in the beginning of April.
My quest to "cut back" because we can't eat all the produce somehow still left me with no place to plant any beans. I do not know how that happened. But anyway... I guess when I harvest the garlic, I'll get a later-season planting of beans in the real estate the garlic is taking up. It'll have to do.
A few photos of the garden goodness:
Lettuces that we've been eating for quite a while now, various greens, herbs (mint, chamomile, borage), baby beets that you probably can't see, and baby Swiss chard too.
Kale (Winterbor), broccoli rabe, mint.
Shallots and red onions.
The broccoli is thriving.
A new thing for me: a sweet potato. Should be fun to see how it does.
A broader view. You can see arugula, marigolds, rosemary, eggplants, peppers, radishes....
Garlic's coming along fine...
The ill-fitting popup mesh net on the right is trying to protect zucchini plants from squash borers.
A nice row of gourmet red and fingerling potatoes that I put in in early April...
But there is some garden sadness, too. My asparagus has been quite fruitful, but I am fighting a bloody battle with asparagus beetles.
These are the nasty, nasty buggers that I can't seem to keep ahead of this year. They don't respond to insecticidal soap, so I'm trying to keep them hand-picked and squished as much as possible. But with my schedule as it has been, the "as much as possible" has not been all that successful. Makes me want to cry. After all those years of trying to get the asparagus to be plentiful, I've finally succeeded, but much of it is being ruined by the beetles.
Sigh. Garden, you are a cruel, cruel mistress.
Nice healthy garden save the asparagus. So disheartening to see. Does Neem oil work on the beetles? Figured if it kills off the asiatic lily beetle and larvae it might work on these buggers. Not sure how safe it is with edible veggies. Worth checking in to.
Posted by: Manise | Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 07:13 AM
I feel your pain on the asparagus. My favorite vegetable... (Our bed was doing well until the second year, when a spring popped up next to it, turning it way too wet for asparagus.)
The rest of the garden looks great!
(I was so proud of myself that I finally remembered to plant my garlic last fall. But just as it was coming up good, the lambs got out and ate every last shoot. *sigh*)
Posted by: gayle | Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 07:41 AM
Aw, I'm sad about the asparagus, too. Damn (bad) bugs!
Posted by: Vicki | Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 08:50 AM
Things are looking good Norma! Hoping for more success this year than we had last. Danm bugs!
Posted by: Patty | Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 09:16 AM
I am green with envy! You have broccoli!?!
Posted by: margene | Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 10:34 AM
I haven't tried it yet, but my mother loves this Pyola spray for both asparagus beetles and cucumber beetles (don't know about the vine borers, but it probably couldn't hurt to try) And it's from Gardens Alive! So you can at least hope that it's not made of pure, distilled evil: http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8101
Posted by: BeckyinVT | Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 11:35 AM
I have broccoli envy, mine are still so tiny but I have bug free asparagus so it's a trade off I guess.
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