Evidently spending a week in bed with pneumonia can be more than detrimental to the health of a garden! Matt watered on Weds. and mentioned the tomatoes looked dead. I figured he just hadn’t seen them since the scorching days of summer had set in. It wasn’t until today that I felt well enough to take a look for myself. Imagine my surprise to find them stripped of nearly every bit of green foliage! See for yourself!
The tomato hornworm has been quite happily munching it’s way through nearly each and every tomato plant while I have been in bed this week! Fortunately, just before I got sick, I had purchased the Dipel Dust that is supposed to take care of them--too bad I didn’t put it out last weekend. I sprinkled it over all of the tomatoes and the peppers in hopes that the little fellas will munch no more.
The good news is that the peppers still look good and we are about to have two red bell peppers!! Maybe their ripening will coincide with me feeling well enough to celebrate with some homemade pizza with homemade peppers!! My neighbors were kind enough to babysit the garden while we were on vacation were actually able to pick the first two bells. I forgot to ask how they were!
The bean tepee looks pretty cool now that the beans have climbed their way to the tip top. Unfortunately, the rabbits weren’t a bit deterred by the product I was hopeful would keep them away. I don’t know if it is from the stress of the rabbits chomping or possibly soil issues, but for whatever reason the beans are blooming like crazy but not growing any beans. At least it looks cool and the rabbits didn’t kill it all! We’ll try planting a few more beans when I recover.
And we finally have a verdict on the mystery plants. The mystery garden is thriving with cantaloupe! There are currently two acorn squash plants as well, but they are showing borer problems so they will soon be pulled so that the cantaloupe can have the entire space. I didn’t count but I think there are at least 10 fruits growing. Not holding out much hope for the taste though, since it is likely they may have cross pollinated with the squash. I’ll bet it won’t keep us from eating them....if that is, the bugs, critters, birds or who knows what comes next don’t get them first!!
I just have to laugh at each disappointing attack on the garden because ultimately even though the harvest may not be bountiful this year, we have learned a ton. Hopefully we will be able to use our new-found knowledge to make improvements for next year. If not, I can always fall back on marigolds! I have those down quite well! Haven’t been brave enough to actually sample the flower that is said to be edible.
