How they plant a tomato

I came across this blog post on Pinterest and found it interesting:

How We Plant a Tomato

They put a lot of stuff in that hole. 

Beans

When I think of my beans, growing in the garden this is what I see:


(www.Tradewindsfruit.com)

 BUT, this is what mine actually look like:

 
Come on Beans, Grow!

By the way, its 91F degrees right now. According to Farmers Almanac, it was 96.1F this day last year. Although, it felt like 110F degrees.

Monday's Harvest

Three Zucchinis and a cucumber - the same cucumber I showed you last week, it grew really fast! Plus, we got some heavy rain today. Thank you Lord!

Squash Bugs

(EcoSmart)

Spotted my first squash bug of the season today. Then my 2nd and 3rd. Isn't it a bit early for squash bugs? Last year I didn't spot them until mid July. Of course last year was the first time I grew something worthy of their attraction, so I could be off. After murdering the first three I began a merciless hunt for their children, the eggs. Ironically, I didn't spot any !?! Perhaps I got to them that early.

(David Rhodes) I must admit, they do lay their eggs very neatly. I looked into this a bit further and according to The University of Minnesota the females begin arriving in early June. Right on time! Then they begin to lay their eggs, which produce nymphs (baby squash bugs) and they take over the world......or just your plant.

Last year I was able to get rid of them by pushing them into hot, soapy water and submerging their eggs as well. I had four yellow squash plants and lost two as causalities. I will need to keep an eye on my Zucchini plant for further developments. In other news, its 95 degrees as I type this and no additional rain yet. Come on rain!

More great weather

This time last year we were in the low 100s with a drought. Praise God this summer is off to a better start!

Garden Update

North Texas has had AMAZING weather the past week. Warm sunny days in the high 80s and cool, rainy nights....every night. Its been Great! So far we've had Carrots, Zucchini and Cucumbers growing. The Zucchini is holding true to its reputation "One plant is all you need" as it has taken over my compost area. YES its just one plant.

So far its produced five Zucchinis, although the plant itself has taken a beating from the nightly storms.

The cucumbers are doing great. Orginally, I bough what was labeled an Okra plant and turns out....Its cucumber. I have a total of three plants growing, two in the picture below. Last year I grew my cucumbers with my tomatoes and they did not do well at all. This year they are planted with beans and they already seem to be doing better, the beans haven't quite taken off yet.

Check out that tiny Cucumber! There are more like this one around each plant.

The tomatoes haven't taken off quite like they did last year. In fact, by this time last year they were several feet tall and had unripe tomatoes already growing. This if the first time I've transplanted from seed and I'm wondering if I'm dealing with transplant shock. Not sure - If you know, please tell me! :)

This is my backyard, a little messy and in need of mowing (lots of weeding too). The nightly storms have been so powerful they managed to blow over my cement bird bath (back right). I can barely lift that thing myself!

The raised bed my husband built for my birthday. He dug about 2 feet down below the ground surface so it has good depth.

Today, I thinned my carrots and harvested another Zucchini. Also, I've planted four varieties of pumpkins on Monday and I plan to plant watermelon and some more beans this weekend. Its going to be a GREAT summer!

Carrots are ready!

This morning I decided to explore how my carrots were fairing and to my surprise, they were ready to harvest!

Also, I have another "Surprise" plant this year. Its in the same spot as my "Surprise" watermelon from last year so naturally I assumed it was another watermelon. Turns out its actually a Zucchini! It took a bit of a beating from a hail storm last Friday, but sure enough we had two Zucchinis this morning as well (they sneak up on you). The best part - I've never planted Zucchini in my garden, ever. This had to come from the compost pile I maintain there (note all of the stuff around it).