Weekly update

Another week already, and boy has summer finally come! The average high so far this month has been 84 degrees, the veggies are loving it! I had several squash, but as you recall, they were taking over the yard and killing the grass as you can see. I did a little creative transplanting.... right into a trash bag! I would have put them into the compost pile, but since they had a case of powdery mildew, and a few squash borers to boot, I decided not to contaminate my compost pile. I did manage to salvage a few parts of the plants, and hopefully if I keep them well watered they should fill back in and produce a few more squash for me. I think I am going to have to create a chicken wire tiered shelf thing and get the squash to grow up the levels of that, instead of taking over the flower bed, then the yard, and getting powdery mildew from sitting against the dewy grass. Some day I will be rich and famous for patenting a new system that revolutionizes urban squash gardening. Or at the very least I will have the strangest looking squash plants in the neighborhood.

This by the way is what squash borers do. They eat their ways through the squash vine, starting just above the soil and working their way out toward the leaves. Eventually where they went in, near the ground, becomes so week and rotten that the whole plant dies. I am going to have to do some research and find out what I can do to prevent this (besides getting the majority of the plant off the ground with my crazy, tiered squash growing contraption).

I have continued to get a good supply of beans, chard and flowers. I have even been lucky enough that the cats have yet to find the vase of nasturtiums on the kitchen counter or in the bathroom... let's see how long this lasts! Especially since the flower plants are having their second wind and I can pick them as fast as they go bad in the vases.

I put in some lettuce seeds. They are slowly putting on leaves. If I keep them watered, I think they will need thinned soon. Next year I will keep them going all summer, I have missed having fresh lettuce just steps away from the kitchen!

Fresh green beans for dinner tomorrow = ).