Corn Serves as Praying Mantis Habitat

I may not get any ears from my Indian Corn crop, but at least I know it's going to good use.  The past few times I've visited the Brunswick Street Community Garden, I've spotted this tan fellow on my cornstalks. Why did I plant corn in such a tiny garden?  Last fall I bought a decorative trio of small Indian Corn ears at a farm stand in Lancaster, PA and saved them until this spring.  Each ear was a different mix of reds, yellows, browns, and oranges and I was curious to see what I would get from their offspring.  So I planted and they came up, survived the rainy-hot-rainy-hot cycle of summer weather, grew tassels, some toppled over, and most are developing very tiny ears.  I don't know if any of the ears have kernels on them; it looks like only one is plumping up.  My plan is to harvest them when the stalks begin to dry out.  Until then, the praying mantis gets to enjoy his own little vertical cathedral of maize.

A few more deep brown Earthwalker sunflowers are blooming on the single stalk that grew large enough to flower.  Both the bees and I love them.

Who's got eggplants?  I do!  One of my plants is nurturing at least a half dozen purple fruits.  They're a small variety, so we won't be overwhelmed by the harvest.  As you can see, the plant foliage is under siege by flea beetles, who are making Alpine Lace out of the leaves.  I diligently squish any that I see when I water but it seems to be a relentless assault.  Regardless, the plant is doing a fine job of flowering and holding on to the fruit.

Harvest!

Everything is big and bushy in the garden.  I've managed to stay on top of the cabbage looper invasion and harvested lots of broccoli greens today for Mao Mao and I.  The cherry tomato plants are full of blossoms and a few fruits and my Cherokee Purple is flowering.  The shuyo cucumber has several 5" long fruits on it but they are about as thick as a pencil at this point.  The beans are just beginning to produce and look like they could be a prolific variety.  I threw a few more carrot seeds into the ground in the bare spots despite the unfavorable moon planting conditions.

The harvest today was surprisingly bountiful: garlic, kale, broccoli greens, carrots, purple onions, beans, and peas.  I enjoyed most of it for lunch.  Ahh, the sweet rewards of my gardening efforts!

Presby Memorial Iris Garden #6

It has been a few days since I've visited my own garden.  We have been having a nice mix of both rain and sun, so everything should be doing fine unless there has been another pest outbreak.  I looked up the worm that ate all my lettuce and it seems I have been a victim of cabbage loopers.  Hopefully they haven't found the broccoli!

Presby Memorial Iris Garden #5



While these iris thrive, my own garden has been struggling all season with various pest invasions.  Over Memorial Day Weekend, bright green worms ate ALL of my lettuce, right down to the ground.  Another worm has been attacking my beet greens.  Something ate the rest of the ripening strawberries.  Aphids have shown up on the flowers, broccoli, and even on the top of one carrot.  Fortunately nothing has touched the tomatoes, cucumbers, or pepper.  I also have some peas that have decided to grow.  We'll see what happens but this may turn out to be a flower year.

Beets, Baby Cukes, Swiss Chard Yum

Lemon Cucumber plants are flowering and covered with tiny cucumbers. Pickles, anyone?

The beets are doing fine and providing a mild supplement to the spicy mesclun mix salad greens.

The Swiss Chard is enjoying the rain and sunshine. I've got ten or so plants growing in succession (happened naturally somehow) for some excellent side dish portions.

The plot is in fine health despite the overwhelming numbers of woodlice (pill bugs) rolling about. In researching the problem, I've discovered that they are crustaceans, not insects, and they thrive in damp conditions. I'm hoping they'll be content to munch on my bolting radishes and leave the rest alone.

Squash Vine Borers Attack!

While at the garden this morning, I happened to notice that the vine on my largest squash plant (the volunteer from the compost heap) looked more like swiss cheese than a healthy plant stem. The damage was so bad I was actually surprised the plant appeared as healthy as it did with large green leaves, five or six blossoms, and plenty of buds. Right away I knew the culprit: the squash vine borer. Based on a couple of things I've read, I got to work opening up the vine using a combination of my thumb nail and some clippers (probably not the best tools) to hunt down the pest. I found lots of little borers (tiny white grubs) and some other bugs and a sawdust like substance running down the damaged area. I dug out a lot of junk, took the hose and cleaned away the mess, and hoped for the best.

I figured I better take a look at the other plants too. Sure enough, the acorn squash was almost destroyed. I yanked it out and just threw it in the garbage. The stem was holding on by a thread.

One of the crookneck squashes had a big hole in the vine but it wasn't too bad. I opened up the stem and dug out some similar contents. Then I hit the jackpot: a big, inch long, white worm. This must be it! The dreaded vine borer is a big, white, grub-like thing. It tunnels through the vine, munching all the way until the plant's connection to the rootsystem is severed.

I went back to the big plant, determined to find a big, healthy borer further up the vine. I dug around some more and came up with a half inch long borer. Could that be it? I probed a bit longer but didn't find anything else.

Hopefully the plants recover enough to produce a couple fruits. Now that I know what I'm looking for, I'll be more diligent about monitoring them. I'm certain that the borers will eventually win. There were too many babies in the large plant to safely assume I got them all. Also, every other squash plant in the garden has died at this point and I'm imagining they all succumb to the hungry borers.

I know. This is kinda gross. I'm sitting here feeling a little creepy crawly.