It’s been a while since I gave a garden update and a lot has happened!
First, the good news: The tomatoes are thriving! My husband planted 20+ plants and I planted 4. They are all doing well, and we even have a few fruits beginning to turn red. We have a pretty wide variety of types and we are looking forward to trying them all.
Thriving Tomatoes
The potatoes are also doing great! They are growing well and I have even spotted a couple potatoes forming.
Potatoes
I have planted cucumbers, cabbage, zucchini, green beans, and a couple of experiments: eggplant and okra.
Okra Plant
Now, the bad news: Pests! What kind of pests, you ask? Many: ants, earwigs, mice, and moles. I even spotted a skunk in the garden the other night, and saw a big slug FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER in our hot, dry climate. There are probably other pests out there that we just haven’t seen yet and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before the racoons find us.
The two pests that seem to be doing the most damage are the moles and earwigs. The moles really love my nicely dug garden beds and are zig-zagging their way around the whole thing. It’s hard to put my hand down into the beds and NOT feel a mole tunnel. My husband has set a couple traps, but so far we haven’t caught one.
The water from the drip line is creating holes in the soil above the mole tunnels.
The earwigs (I HATE earwigs!) are eating our plants. My husband confirmed this last night when he went out after dark and saw his basil plant covered in earwigs that were clearing eating the leaves. Most of the sprouts I grew from seeds were eaten, and I suspect the earwigs or the mice.
I had a basil plant completely stripped of its leaves in one night, and all that was left was a stem and a few branches. The plant is rallying though, and is starting to grow new leaves!
The basil plant "stripped" of its leaves.
So while we’ve had some great successes, we are waging a frustrating battle with garden pests.
Almost ready for harvest!
Do you have trouble with garden pests? What do you do to combat them?
I shared this post on Garden Tuesday at Sidewalk Shoes.
From Scratch 
I only grow herbs really, so I don’t have many pests. I’d love it if you linked this up to my Garden Tuesday post!
I didn’t mention it, but my herbs are doing great and I love my herb garden! I linked up to your post – thanks!
What a beautiful garden you have, Karen! You are going to have tomatoes galore soon! 🙂 I did not plant as much this year because I knew we would be gone for long periods of time this summer and I didn’t want to come home to a dead garden. I am looking forward to seeing how your potatoes come along as I have never grown those. Unfortunately, pests are very much a part of gardening, but I hope they don’t cause you too much trouble!
Karen, I try to keep my garden mostly organic, so I hate using bug spray but I just found something that works great. It’s called Organocide and its main ingredients are sesame oil and edible fish oil. I bought mine at Home Depot. I started using it as soon as my plants were established. This is one of the few years my zucchini is actually producing and the plant is green and healthy. It also works as a fungicide. As far as gardening goes its my new favorite thing! I have my share of pests too!
Thanks for the tip Kathy! We are trying to stay mostly organic too; I will definitely check out Oganocide. That’s funny you mention zucchini…out of the 6 seedlings I planted, only one of them *might* survive! I’m glad I’m not the only one…