Spotted Green Demons!

Silly me, I shooed away the big spider, and now I have...CUCUMBER BEETLES. They look like green ladybugs and they've already eaten one cucumber. Is there anyway to rid myself of these pests organically, other than flicking them off by hand???

New additions

My dear in-laws are in the midst of a big basement clean-out, and offered me an old wheelbarrow they found down there. Yea! I love hand-me-downs! I've wanted to buy one, but haven't wanted to spend the money - even the crappiest ones are too much moolah for me. Second-hand is definitely the way to go, and you can't beat free!
My second present of the afternoon from my new family was a bag full of freshly dug up mint and some wild strawberry plants. Both had spread beyond control in their back yard, so they had plenty to spare. I know that mint is invasive, so I potted it, then buried the pot halfway in the ground - the first addition to my herb garden.
Our neighbors are putting the final touches on a new wood patio - it's gorgeous, as is the rest of their professionally landscaped yard... I'm so jealous. However, they aren't growing anything edible, so I hope they will be the envious ones come harvest time... :)

A taste of things to come...

A co-worker gave me a cucumber fresh-picked from his garden yesterday…now I’m jonesin’ for more!  Hurry up, little cukes, grow!

More Tomatoe Woes

My patio tomato is starting to look very very sad...there are 3 little tomatoes on it, but the plant itself is starting to turn yellow! Does it need a bigger container? Help!

Update: I bought a larger container - actually, a self-watering container - and some organic potting soil. The container is pretty nifty - it has a reservoir in the bottom which you fill with water, so the plant drinks from the bottom... Hopefully this does the trick, 'cause the poor little guy looks pretty bad... On the other hand, the tomatoes in my garden are just thriving so all is not lost if the patio plant doesn't make it. Funny - I bought the patio tomato because the garden plants were worrisome. Must've made them jealous...

Picking peppers

I plucked the lone purple bell pepper from its stem last night.  It’s not the biggest pepper yet, but I figured either I get it now, or the rabbit beats me to it.  J  Plus, I’m guessing it will be the first of many peppers this summer…  I also have cucumbers now!  I’m rather excited about this, as I introduced my husband to the joy that is the lightly-salted cucumber slice last night.  I swear I’ve never seen him eat a veggie that wasn’t covered in a sauce or dip, so this was quite the sight.  Don’t tease him about it though – he doesn’t seem to like that. J 

I think the little pepper will be part of a stir-fry tonight…there are no small parts, only small peppers, right?

 

 

Wascally Wabbit

As I told ML this morning, my husband said the most horrible thing to me last night.  He said “Honey, is that a rabbit out there by the garden?”  I immediately raced to my veggie plot, small dog on my heels, looking for the little bugger.  It was dark out at this point, and the rabbit was dark-furred as well, so it was very hard to spot, but we clearly saw its cottony puff of a tail as it suddenly raced for the other side of the yard and dove under the fence.  Our not-so-quick dog didn’t even notice anything was happening until it was all over, and THEN he started sniffing around.  Some watchdog, huh? 

I put a wire fence around the garden to keep the dog out, but it’s certainly not rabbit-proof.  What to do now?  I need to add an additional fence or a barrier of some kind…or do I just give up and accept that rabbit encounters are part of gardening life?

 

New pics

I updated the photos to my accurately reflect the state of the garden. About to head out there now to take advantage of the cooler temps of the morning (it should get into the 90s today).

Got Milk?

Yesterday You Grow Girl suggested pouring a 50/50 mix of milk and water on tomato plants as a disease preventative.  As I have plenty of milk in the fridge, just waiting to go bad (I’m not a milk-drinker, but I buy it for cereal and cooking purposes), I thought I’d give it a try.  No immediate response from the little guys of course, but we’ll see…  Thanks for the tip, Gayla!

Progress

Well, it appears the tiny lettuce that had sprouted from my seeds has given up.  However, my pretty little patio tomato plant (still in its ugly plastic pot) has two lovely green tomatoes hanging from it.  Also, the first pepper plant to bear fruit, with a roughly 3 inch long pepper dangling from it, is the purple bell.  The onions look sturdy, although I have no idea what’s going on under the ground, the cucumber plant is about 10 times as big as when it was transplanted, and several of the garden tomato plants are flowering.  Now that I can recognize carrot tops, it also appears that I have carrots coming in. J  What a happy little garden!  Although the lack of lettuce is a disappointment, I guess I knew that it was too late in the season (ie too hot) to start lettuce, and I will try again as fall approaches and the temps drop…

Herbal Delights

I have yet to plant any herbs in my garden, mostly because I don’t know what to do with them.  Well, until last night that is!  I attended a “Cooking with Herbs” event at the Lauritzen botanical gardens and now I’m just itching to get some herbs planted…  The evening started with a tour of the Herb Garden, located deep into the vast grounds of the facility, and maintained by the Omaha Herb Society.  The herb garden was divided into small plots based on theme – there was a dyers plot, filled with colorful herbs utilized for their wool-dying properties; a culinary plot containing the usual suspects of mint, sage, basil, chives, etc; a fragrance plot used for potpourri; a tea plot, and so on.  It was fascinating to stroke the leaves of various exotic herbs – I had never touched cinnamon basil before.  Quite educational. 

Back at the visitors center, we were treated to a cooking demonstration by a locally-based, but world-renowned chef, Teresa Kramer-Ruback.  Teresa grew up here in Omaha, but interned with Wolfgang Puck at Spago, and has practiced her culinary arts all over the world, including post-Oscars parties and Middle-Eastern peace talks!  She demonstrated the preparation of several kinds of pesto (Chive-Dill pesto…mmm…), hummus, and a goat cheese dip.  All of these splendid concoctions, with the exception of a rose-geranium pound cake, appear to be low-carb treats as well, so I am planning on trying them at home.

I love that we have events like this here in the Mid-West, and I’m grateful that I took the time on my evening off to attend – I learned a lot and have some new gardening, as well as cooking, inspiration.