Aches and Pains

So, I went out last night while the kids were at their church soccer practice and weeded the potato field.  I ache in so many places today.  Ibuprofen is my new best friend.  Some of those weeds were enormous.  A few I had to pull with both hands and almost ended up sitting down.  I met some lovely Colorado potato beetles and sent them off to be with their maker.  I really only got about 3/4 done before soccer was over.  (I had done some in the morning already).  It looks so much better and I am thinking that there is some room to plant a few things in the spaces where nothing came up.  Spinach?  Peas?  Need a cool weather crop this time of year.  Hmmmmm.  I am thinking peas.  I still have quite a lot of seeds.

Squash Bugs?

A wonderful lady at our church garden passed this advice on for those really annoying squash bugs that attack your zuchini, pumpkins, etc.  Squash bugs lay little red eggs on the underside of the leaves and the bugs are fairly large - about the size of my thumbnail.  They can make a real nuissance of themselves.  My friend encourages the planting of lavender with the squash or the planting of white radishes along with or around the squash and tells me that the squash bugs will avoid those types of plants.  You can also take the flowers off the lavender stems and sprinkle them around your plants.  Not only does it keep the bugs away, it smells amazing! 

Controling Pesky Pests

Did you know that often just laying out a strip of duct tape - sticky side up will catch the bugs that are bugging you?  Cheap, easy fix for roly-poly bugs around your favorite garden plants and even some spiders that may sneak in your house.  You don't have to always invest in glue traps or spray toxic pesticides.  Try it.  Let me know what you catch! 

Share and Share alike

I have often found in my local gardening adventures that if I offer something I have to share, others will know that I garden and they in turn will offer something I don't have.  Example:  I have a friend with a peach tree.  I have raspberry bushes.  She doesn't can her peaches and always has an abundance.  We share with each other - I give her jars of fresh rapsberry freezer jam and/or fresh berries and she gives me peaches! 

Also, offering a helping hand, whether it is at a community garden or an elderly neighbor's house, sometimes results in a postitive "reward" of garden bounty.  Not that that is the best reason to help, but it's a nice side benefit!  And many times, people find out that you can fruit or tomatoes and when they have an abundance that they don't want to process, they seek you out so you can "take it off their hands."  Anyone had that experience with the zuchini the size of a horses leg?   You can grate and freeze it, you know. 

Happy Gardening!

From the church community garden!  Mmmmmm.  Pays to help out!