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the south garden patch, mid august: last night i smiled at the single pepper that has grown in one of the three remaining pepper plants. but this morning i discovered it had been a feast for bugs last night. now i’m wearing my sturgeon face. this garden has been an exercise in futility. first i lost all the cabbage & spinach & then most of the pepper plants. the cherry tomato plants appear to be fine, but no blossoms yet.

previous south garden patch updates: [july] [june] [may]

the north garden patch, mid august: this week, within three days, some sort of blight destroyed all the pumpkin, winter squash, zucchini & cucumber. earlier this week i discovered light gray freckles & assumed i was dealing with a plant mold. one treatment includes a ground cinnamon solution. the next day the pumpkin leaves were completely gray & all the blossoms gone. then we used another organic solution, but that didn’t seem to help either. so this morning i cut all the affected pumpkin leaves & discovered one pumpkin plant with green leaves.

the corn suffered another ravaging. i suspect it is from a raccoon i spotted in late july. only the stalks remain & i plan to cut them down later today.

on a good note, the family has enjoyed zucchini, cucumber & beefsteak tomatoes from the north garden. the zucchini & cucumber plants appear to be concluding their yield while the tomatoes are just coming in to it.

maybe it’s too early to tell, but i think i’ve lost all the pumpkin, winter squash, & zucchini plants. the cantaloupe & cucumber plants don’t seem to be too far behind the pumpkin plants. i really suspect it’s a plant mold due to all the rain this area has had recently. the beefsteak tomato & cherry tomato plants appear fine.

no one said organic gardening would by easy.

previous north garden patch updates: [july] [june] [may]

the north garden patch, mid july: though a quarter was destoryed by a very hungry critter, there are still a variety of un harmed plants: 4 pumpkin plants, 4 winter squash plants, 4 zuchini plants, 10 canaloupe plants, 4 cuccumber plants, 10 beefsteak tomoto plants & 6 cherry tomato plants.

i’ve heard it’s not to late in these parts to replant spinach plants. anyone know if that’s true?

the north garden patch at the end of june: i thought for sure that storm that came through on june 18 wiped out the sweet corn, but with kidlinger help the corn survives & thrives. it’s the pea plants that seemed to have withered (but i don’t believe the storm had anything to do with it).

again, for those keeping record: 4 pumpkin plants, 4 winter squash plants, 4 zuchini plants, 10 canaloupe plants, 4 cuccumber plants, 10 beefsteak tomoto plants & 6 cherry tomato plants.

also, 1 raccoon & 1 groundhog have been sited in night sorties.

less than $100 have been spent on the gardens. no pesticides or herbicides have been used with the exception of natural, organic pesticides (like cayenne pepper, ground cinnamon & the like).

the gardening strategy handbooks used: trowel & error by sharon lovejoy & the new self-sufficient gardener by john seymour.

the south garden patch on the last day of may: since i lost almost all the spinach plants in last week’s excessive rains, i may rename the south garden the pepper & tomato patch (since that’s the only thing left). again, going with the found, native, organic gardening goal. the waddle fence boarder is from spring trimmings. the tomato plants aren’t high enough for trellis work. maybe in a couple weeks. the pine boxes to the east of the patch (your left) are recycled from and old bookshelf and are home to various herbs: basil, oregano & chives.