Garden Update

Yesterday I spent some time in the garden weeding. Really weeding, not just the kind of weeding that is done with a hula hoe. I also discovered some squash bugs, squash bug eggs, and a few squash beetles. Darn those pesky little buggers!!! I got 'em good though with the following spray:

*Neem Oil
*Peppermint Bronner's
*Warm Water

I, of course, didn't measure anything, but the recipe is here.

I sprayed it all over all the varieties of squash we have in our garden as well as the cucumbers. I even sprayed it directly onto a squash bug. It died. All's fair in love and squash bugs. Seriously. Two years ago they TOOK over the garden. Big time. Akilah, Tony, and I were out there every day picking off the bugs, squishing them, and pulling all their little damn eggs off and tossing them into a jar of dish soap and water. They significantly impacted our crop that year. I'm on to them. My next move will be diatomaceous earth. And then perhaps the diatomaceous earth mixed with cayenne pepper.

I also found this little friend on our fennel:

A Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes). I believe it is in it's Second Instar stage, but could be completely wrong. I really want a detailed reference book that is all about butterflies and all their stages!


Update: So I just went out to check on our little friends (there were 3 or 4 yesterday) and they were all gone! So sad... Especially because instead I found 2 squash beetles (Epilachna tredecimnotata) and one squash bug (Anasa tristis) laying some damn eggs. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. (The rain last night washed away all my spray...) 

Squash beetle (Epilachna borealis)

I chased it from the squash to this sunflower, snapped it's photo, then smooshed it.

So I got 'em good again. It isn't supposed to rain for a few days so I splattered all the various cucurbits with food grade diatomaceous earth. A whole half gallon. Take that.

I have been having a challenging time the past few days trying to snap a photo of the garden. Too sunny or something... This is the best I've got. I will try in the evening.

Butternut or spaghetti squash in the foreground and zucchini in the background.

More zucchini. I think. These are the ones that volunteered themselves in another portion of the garden (where the acorn squash were last year.)