When You're Bored

It’s incredible how much my garden has grown in the past three weeks! I probably say this every year, but it’s true. The weather has see-sawed from cool and rainy to hot and dry to cool and rainy. I haven’t fertilized my raised bed yet, but I prepped it with a layer of organic garden soil with manure in it.

Here are the squash plants in my raised bed after thinning, in early June.

Here they are today, after I trained them up a tomato cage.

Pretty soon I will work in some organic fertilizer, probably when the squash blooms. It’s getting close. My tiny garden is so full that I had to remove the largest sunflower plant today.

It was covered with ants, but otherwise seemed healthy. It just kept expanding and sucking down too many nutrients. My squash seemed to be impeded. I hated to see it go, as it was the most robust of my sunflowers, but sometimes sacrifices are necessary when you are gardening in close quarters.

This is a corn and a pole bean plant three weeks ago.

Today the bean plants are climbing up the corn, which has really taken off.

I spotted only one squash bug today, and it met a timely demise. There is a hornet that has been making itself rather comfortable on the corn leaves, and I think it is patrolling for harmful insects. This is what I tell myself, because it seems reasonable. I am thinking of naming it to show my appreciation!

I found another little critter that was seriously chowing down on my garden leaves, and tried to discourage it with limited success. It was a quick mover, so no photo. It’s still around, and we will meet again another day!