Garden 2024 - Update #1

It has been about a month since the initial post on my garden. Here is how things are going:

4/27/24: I found tiny black caterpillars on the cherry tomato plants and lots of leaves that had been eaten. Did a lot of pruning – hopefully I caught it in time. Sprayed the plants with the dawn mixture. Found some leaves eaten on the beefsteak tomatoes and pepper plants – pruned them as well.

5/3/24: The fight is on! It’s me against the bugs. The eggplants got inundated with aphids and were eating up the plants. I did manage to get rid of the aphids but I was too aggressive and killed the plants as well. I bought more eggplants and surrounded them with various herbs (mint, cilantro, oregano and marigolds) to try and deter those little devils.

In between the greenhouse and fenced in area (lined with cinder blocks), there is a gulley.

Most of the garden is doing well – there are some plant leaves that have been eaten but most of the leaves are good. If I see a bug on the plant, I remove it (well, I kill it).

Something has eaten the potato leaves. (Potatoes are in the baskets.) I covered up the remaining stems with more dirt. I am hoping that it will come back. Basil, mint and marigolds are planted in front of them. (The cinder blocks with the plants line the gulley that is in between the greenhouse and garden. Our yard has a slight hill and the gulley helps direct the flood of water when it rains.)

The rest of the garden also got some thyme, oregano, mint, lavender, cilantro and marigold plants. I am hoping to deter insects with these plants as I do not want to use insecticides. (The lavender and oregano seeds that were planted did not come up, so I bought plants.) As a bonus, I will have lots of herbs to harvest and dehydrate.

5/20/24: As of today, the corn is over 4 feet tall,

the beefsteak tomatoes (pictured) have a couple of tomatoes, but the cherry tomato plants are loaded with tomatoes.

The cucumber plants have lots of flowers,

and the green beans are producing like crazy.

This is the right side of the fenced in portion of the garden: onions, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes and more onions.

The left side has lavender, eggplant, oregano and marigolds. Around the eggplant is oregano, mint, cilantro and marigolds.

This is what is in the topless greenhouse: On the right side is watermelon, potatoes and pumpkins.

On the left side are cucumbers, corn and green beans. There are swiss chard seedlings just beyond the green beans.

I have enjoyed quite a few salads made with the red leaf lettuce, kale and romaine. The kale is now gone (planted marigolds in its place) and the romaine is almost gone. The green beans are in the freezer.