Midwest Gardening 2024:Vegetable Garden Heat, Rain, Critters and BUGS

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Along with the BEASTLY temperatures most of the country is suffering through, we now are having Gallons---What's a Cubit, Lord---Rains! 

Along with the rains, comes voracious BUGS,  after the bunny/mole/vole/chipmunk spring planting infestations. I've worked so hard, and am cursing all along the way.

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This is one day's damage, they were perfectly fine when I weeded a day ago....Miss GREEN here just drowned the entire garden in bug killer--(safe for animals and vegetables) which will work only until the next deluge and then will have to be sprayed again.

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Here's our garbage can  full of potatoes, almost ready for some more dirt. They seem to be bug free at the moment.

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Luckily the planter boxes have been pretty immune to the crawly bugs. Radishes are done, but the lettuce keeps going. The pot on the ground is a cherry tomato.

I have two planted along this fence with marigolds to attract the b

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These flowers are the last things I have planted in the garden during the heat wave to attract pollinators. 

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The Broccoli on the left is also nibbled on, first by bunnies (I now have netting all around them) and now the bugs, hopefully the spraying will work. The greens are  different kinds of chard which is doing okay...I need to weed them again.

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Along the fence under the planters is a whole line of asparagus, which are seeding nicely. Hopefully we will have a crop next year-(12 plants 2 years old now and the seedings) 

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The beets in front and the carrots in the back are almost ready to thin. I pulled weeds and in one day of heavy rain everything has doubled in size.

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The back trelesses are starting to support climbing Kentucky Wonder beans. I've planted Balsam and Tall Marigolds  between them. NONE of the Sunflowers made it through the critter niobbling.

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This corner has Winter Squash plants, I got the varieties mixed up in the greenhouse so we will see what happens.

This is my CORN patch......LOL...no corn just weeds, tomorrows project.

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We only have three Zucchini plants this year...but they look very happy and are caged.

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I have two bean plants from 2 packages of bush bean seeds. JEESH, something got at the seedlings immediately when they came up---this planter is two feet off the ground. The spinners deterred no critters at all.

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The other side of the long raised planter has Pickle Bush Cucumbers, which are HAPPY, and blooming like crazy. Won't be long (next week) and we will have cucumbers for PICKLES.

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Two days ago, I severly trimmed back the Heirloom Tomato plants. I removed all the secondary stems (without blossoms) that weren't supporting assistance for the plants. This gives more growing energy to the tomatoes. We have only 8 plants this year since I still have so many canned tomatoes.

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In the center of the garden is the large bedspring trellis. This year the plants are in pots, and we are growing climbing Cucumbers in these pots. on the corners are 

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Green Pepper and Carnival Pepper Plants. These are all blooming and starting peppers already.

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There has been minimal bug issues here, but I sprayed anyway.

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The other side of the trellis is full of climbing Green Beans. I may have to thin these out---as those pots are really full.

I didn't get photos of the Pumpkin plants which are blossoming and the Rhubarb which is ready for it's third cutting I'll use for JAM!

Goals tomorrow: weed, and replant the Corn field (with a new fence around it), replant the depleted pots with radishes and onions...and I'm not sure what I will try in the large raised planter, maybe more onions and I may try some eggplant there, as the ones along the east fence aren't doing much. Also have to replant the fence line planter not shown with Asian Purple Beans---which were also eaten the first time. 

At the price of seeds---this has been a very expensive year...8 packages of Sunflowers, 6 packages of Beans, at least 6 packages of flowers of Balsam, Marigolds, and Zinnias  have simply fed all the greedy critters around here with no food or beauty for us. SIGH!

We've invested in some additional small hole plastic fencing and some netting. The first roll of netting saved the broccoli, and then it just was eaten by bugs...very weird year so far and we seem to be on the losing side.

WHO ARE YOU SHARING YOUR GARDEN WITH???

LOL! 

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Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Sandi