The Vegetable Patches

It occurred to me that I haven't posted with a status on the two vegetable patches we have going on - the traditional container garden in Alexandria, or the bag-patch I am trying out in Stanley. 

Starting with the patch out in Stanley - where I have started a variety of plants from seed, planting directly into bags of topsoil from Wal-Mart.  I took the idea from "Mother Earth News" - the advantages are that the soil is pastuerized before it is shipped, so weed seeds and insects are eliminated, and the bags provide a barrier to any lurking in the soil beneath.  I have green and yellow summer squash here, and also tried cucumbers and eggplants.

The cucumber did not germinate, so I replaced that with a watermelon vine I found at Wal-Mart, although I am not seeing a lot of progress.  The eggplants germinated, but never grew more than an inch and ultimately were fried in the sun, so I replaced them with some white petit pan squash.  The yellow and green squash are going absolutely crazy though, and I saw quite a few blossoms - some just opening, some already pollinated and closed. 

So we'll see what we get next weekend.  Walking around back there to water, the area is a riot of other life, including spiders, grasshoppers, and praying mantises.  Hopefully all of this, combined with the source of the soil, will keep the hated cucumber beetles away; just to make sure, I have a Sevin-like product I have been using - doesn't seem to be causing problems with the other garden residents, which is great news.

Back in Alexandria, Mary is having her usual great success with the tomatoes and peppers.  We haven't hit full stride on the harvest yet but she is already getting tomatoes, and there are a bunch of peppers on the plant just starting to form and grow.

My two squash plants here are casualties to the cucumber beetle.  Each blossom that has been pollinated and closes produces a feeble little squash that soon withers on the vine.  I have tried the Sevin-like product here, but I think the problem is complex, starting with the old soil that has been in the garden for a couple of years.  While the plants are still alive and still giving blossoms, I've pretty much given up on seeing any squash from these.

Complementing both gardens are some purple flowers - the hostas finally bloomed out in Stanley, and the hydrangeas in Alexandria are still going strong.  In Stanley, we've also got a nice mature planting of bee balm near the garden.