garden update,early july

so, its easy to see that i planted late as my luscious little growing things are dwarfed by other local gardens. its ok, though, they're growing as well as they can.



cherry tomatoes have green future fruits, a couple of other tomatoes have flowers, as well as the zucchini, cucumbers, and musk melon.





also, my ground cherries have little husk pod things, like tomatillos do. last year, i had to give away my plants when i moved out of my apartment in august, and i gave away my ground cherries, which were assumed to be tomatillos and were consumed as such. so, i'm not sure what to expect from them. they're called pineapple ground cherries, so i assumed they would resemble one of those fruits in taste....

my brassicas were all chewed up. i pulled two caterpillars (cabbage worm) off two broccoli plants, and four more off the brussels sprouts. i am not sure if they are going to do well, they were pretty eaten up, plus they haven't grown much since i put them in the ground over a month ago... i hope they do. also, caterpillar poop is kind of cool looking, little green balls...



also, every eggplant plant i planted (plant a plant, plantyplants) has major bug bites. the leaves look like lace. i wonder why! i planted all the nightshades together, with aromatic herbs all about, and marigolds as well, with some carrots in between. i read that this was a way to repel the bad bugs. apparently, the eggplants are too delicious for the insects to resist... there is minimal damage to a few tomato leaves, and surprisingly to some basil, too, which i thought was unnatractive to leaf-eaters... apparently not. i hope some eggplants come up anyway, as i planted a variety of colors and shapes, and i just love eating things that look pretty and different. imagine the pretty kebabs! i rubbed all the leaves, hoping to kill any bugs i can't see. fingers crossed it works.



tomorrow, i'll sprinkle them with cayenne and hope that helps, too. i know its good for keeping animals away, not sure about insects... vinegar? does that work? soap? i've heard these things help... anyone? experience?

check out the little baby cornfield bed! there are like a hundred plants in here. 2 types, blue iriquois sweet corn and bloody butcher. i couldnt resist. i hope there will be speckly purple corn in the middle.



love <3