COMPOST DOING GREAT!.....

Tried to get a shot of this butterfly taking off. You can see his wings beginning to flap, but each time he took off he was quickly out of the picture (or I just wasn't fast enough!). My compost is really breaking down quickly. As I said, I bought a pricey bio-excelorator and it is really doing its job! Of course the heat is helping too, but when I put in kitchen scraps, in a few days they are completely broken down.
It is loaded with big worms too! The goldfinches are taking apart the zinnias one petal at a time. Maybe that's how they get to the better
seeds. This poor zinnia was almost stripped, but that didn't stop the butterfly from enjoying his meal!

"DAD GARDEN" AT IT'S PEAK.....

It was 4 year yesterday that my Dad passed away. This garden is dedicated to him. He LOVED to sit outside and watch me work in the
gardens. Although he was born on the Grand Prarie in Nebraska, he had NO INTEREST in gardening! He remembered his Dad making
he and his brothers gather potato bugs and put them in a can of coal oil. Grandpa knew better than to NOT have the proof that they were doing their job! My Aunt Ruth, Dad's sister, has a wonderful garden in her backyard in Columbus, NE. I usually talk to her each
week and we swap stories about how our gardens are doing. She says there is a pumpkin vine that is taking over her garden!

BIRDBATH GARDEN....

It took 4 attempts at repair to get my "inground birdbath" to hold water. It is the only one that the birds seem to be using since the others are close to where "the boys", Boots & Blacky, hang out most of the time. The flowers are really at their peak now. I have been
watering every day unless we get a afternoon storm. The dogwood shrub in the "dog garden" is absolutely LOADED with berries!
At least the birds can get to them without worrying about the cats!

SUPERSONIC LIVES UP TO IT'S NAME!.....

This tomato plant has really thrived dispite our wacky weather. The fruits have been really flavorful and many have been very large.
I will be making some fresh salsa with the plumb tomatoes and peppers. Bob and I had a great BLT for lunch today with one of the
big supersonics. We needed extra napkins! The sprouted sweet potato I planted a couple weeks ago is really growing. If the heat
keeps up the vines should really start spreading through the garden.

OL-SUNFLOWERS!.......

I planted these in late June. So happy they have matured quickly! So far the squirrels haven't discovered them but something tells me
they will after the seeds ripen! In the meantime I just hope a storm doesn't damage them. I just love seeing them out my window!

SOME MORE 'MATERS!.....

ABUNDONZA!......

Bob helped me pick the tomatoes that FINALLY have ripened! It had never taken this long to get to this point with the tomatoes before.
I counted about 40 roma tomatoes with at least that many left on the plant, which is the smallest in the garden. Just like an Italian,
short, squaty and full of it! ( I can say that because I am part Italian!) The "supersonic" tomatoes lived up to the "hype" big, meaty and
flavorful. The grape tomatoes, which look more like cherries, have produce well since mid July. I pulled up the zuchinni to make room
for the Fall plantings which I will do in the next couple days. Spinach, chard and maybe some lettuce and radishes. I love the mug that
Kathy gave me! It really sums up my feelings about the rewards of gardening!

MORE ZINNIAS.....

Here are two more examples of the zinnias. The monarch butterflies just love them! I'll try to get some shots of them too.

I LOVE ZINNIAS!.....

I bought a packet of heirloom zinnia seeds that said it contained a wide variety of flowers. THEY WEREN'T KIDDING!! Every color from fushia to lime green and some have splashes of color. Even the petals are different. This one is called an exotic needle-petaled cactus
zinnia. My sunflowers have started to open and I will add some pics of them soon.

ITS THE TOMATO HORNWORM!.....

Here is a sharper photo of the little beastie. Can't believe I was right about what it was! But wait until you here what the white thingys are.....cocoons of pupating braconid wasps!! The braconid wasp is considered a parasitoid of the hornworm because it causes the hornworm to die as it pupates. By the time the wasps undergo metamorphosis, all of the hosts insides have been digested.
so when they are ready to pupate, the hormworm with die. While this may be detramental to the hornworm---(just a little!)---
it is considered beneficial to the gardener....as the tomato hormworm (which is actually a catepillar) can be a significant pest.
Parasitism is usually viewed as negative, in this case is considered beneficial. If allowed to mature, the hornworm turns into the five spotted hawk moth with a wing span of 5-6"!! The larvae pass through 5-6 stages maturing fully in 3-4 weeks. If you see only one BE
AWARE THERE ARE MORE LURKING!!


I hope at least one of the beasties gets to mature to moth stage. I would love to get a shot of one of them! One article said to put the
hornworm into a glass jar without a lid so the wasps can emurge and get any more lavae left on the plants. They can be on eggplant
peppers and other plants so I am going to have to check out all the plants before they do any more harm. They will strip a stem of
leaves and cause some to turn brown. "The plan" is to get them before they turn into moths and burrow in the soil to start the cycle
again next year. I may plant some winter wheat this Fall and roto-til the whole garden in the Spring. This is supposed to take care
of at least 90% of the beasties. Thu ends our nature lesson for today!

NAME THAT BUG?..........

While out watering the gardens, getting them ready for the impending "hot spell" I found this "thing" on the "Supersonic" tomato plant.
What the heck is it!! In all the years I have been gardening, I never ran across him before! I will check out some websites to see if I can
identify it. Are they seeds he is carrying piggyback? Is it an alien carrying eggs that will hatch and they will try to take over the world?!
(I think I've been out in the sun too long) Anyway, stay tuned "followers". I will post again when I have some answers!

TOMATO BLIGHT WARNING!......

My brother Ole just told me about a problem Maryland area gardens are having with tomato and
potato late blight. I checked out some websites for information and this is what I found out:

From University of Maryland news desk:

"Late blight of tomato and potato is a potentially destructive fungal disease in Maryland home gardens. This is the same disease that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s."

For more information log onto: www.growit.umd.edu

The University of MD received a suspect tomato sample from a Howard Co. garden on June 12
and quickly determined that it was infected by late blight, Phytophthora infestans. Cool wet weather encourages it, so let's pray for hot and dry weather!
They say not to "overhead water"----hello---any good gardener knows plants absorb the most
beneficial water at the roots! I hope we all get to enjoy our "tomatas and potatas" without
Phytophthora infestans showing up!

MY LATEST BIRDBATH....

I made this one to go on a "stump" which is actually part of a branch of the oak tree. It was one big tree! I saw this idea years ago and
wanted to try it. You suspend a bucket over the birdbath with a pinhole in the bottom and fill the bucket with water. The water drips down and is supposed to really attract the birds. I feel kinda guilty though trying to attract the birds when we have two "outside cats" that hang around most of the time. Let's hope the birds are fast and the cats are slow!

OUR STATE FLOWER.....

Ole gave me a clump of Blackeyed Susans a few years ago and I can't believe how much they have multiplied! There is always a lot of activity around them especially bees, but we see a pair of goldfinches on them quite often.

HAPPY FROG!.....

The flowers are at their peak. I love it when the butterflies and finches stop by the garden. Haven't seen any hummingbirds yet. We did
see grasshoppers and the "mystery moth" is back with more coloring than last year. I'll try to get a shot of them. No praying mantis yet,
but I am looking! The turtle Bob rescued flew the coop before we had a chance to take it out to Double Rock Park. I guess he hanging out
in the back garden.

AUGUST HARVEST......

Here is a photo of the garden this week. We are s-l-0-w-l-y getting "tamatas"! Plenty of grape tomatoes for a few weeks now, and the
Roma and "big" tomatoes are coming in a few at a time. We have enjoyed the zuchinni, eggplant and peppers. It is difficult to let the
red, orange, and yellow peppers stay on to mature. They won't be ready in full color until later this month or September. You can see
my compost bin in the background. Found a good bio-excelerator by Epsoma so the kitchen waste breaks down quicker. I have really
made an effort to "recycle" as much as possible so we have as little garbage to put out for the weekly collection. Bob and I recycled
long before curbside pickup. It is so easy to do now with our weekly pickup----no excuse not to do it!