Tomato cages were added to the largest plants this week. I had 4 stakes on the largest one, so it needed caging. The largest tomato has started turning red, so it will be picked before the evil evil squirrels get to it. The evil evil squirrels have been insanely digging holes. They are uprooting the onions and making the larger plants lean way over where the dirt has been removed from the stems. Daily I go out and place the dirt back around the stems of the plants and rebury the onions. Grr. I put a healthy dose of cayenne pepper on the soil...hopefully this will deter them from digging, but it probably won't. Only hunting them down one by one will.
A cutworm got to one of the broccoli plants (front and center in the picture to the right of the cabbage plant.) I replanted the severed plant a few days ago and although it looks pretty shabby right now, it seems to be putting out new growth. More coffee grounds are going around the remaining broccoli plants.
A cucumber vine has had a growth spurt and is climbing the strings leading to the bean pole. Hope this week's updates are positive!
WOW!!! It really looks great Paula (and crew). We have been following your success since U. Steve was able to see it in person. We decided to do a blog on our garden. We kind of borrowed your name...LOL. You can check it out at www.oceanspringsgarden.blogspot.com. I know what you mean about the squirrels. We have problems with cats and rabbits and have tried the cayenne pepper (it did a little to deter them). Last week we bought some dried fox & bobcat urine from a local store. It seems to help quite a bit. P. Allen Smith had a hint about cutworms in his weekly e-mail that I receive. He suggested putting aluminum foil around the stems of tomatoes until the stalk gets too tough for the cutworm to chew. It might work with the broccoli plants. You might also try diatomaceous earth which is very safe. Continued good luck with your gardening. Keep up the good work on your blog, we have really enjoyed checking out each post. A. Lori
ReplyDeleteI meant to say "Happy Mother's Day" to you and to your Mom. Hope you both had a great day!!
ReplyDeleteHi! It looks really good. I can see the growth! Great job yall.
ReplyDeleteBrian