Garden Update Aug 28th

Things have been growing, growing, growing in the garden! My pumpkins and winter squash are getting pretty big.

Winter squash

Carving pumpkins

more carving pumpkins

Decor pumpkins (mini pumpkins)

I think I will have to let them grow over onto the cement. Maybe I can lay some burlap down or something to keep them from getting burned. I had quite a bit of a caterpillar problem for a couple weeks. Every morning I went out and picked off all the caterpillars I could find.

the most I found in one morning- 5 caterpillars

Now that the caterpillars are mostly gone, the squash bugs have made their way in and are trying to take over! I squished as many of the eggs and bugs as I could but I am going to try some peppermint essential oil and see if that deters them. I really want to keep my garden organic. That's one of the big reasons I wanted to grow my own food! I feel I am going to be battling bugs constantly. If you have any suggestions on how to organically deter bugs from your garden, please let me know!

Today I added some bat guano to the soil around the pumpkins and squash.

I also ordered a huge bag of fertilizer pellets from Azure standard. I'm not sure which fertilizer I will use for the rest of the soil. I would like to fertilize it this weekend though, and possibly plant a few more things as well. I received my seeds in the mail a week or so ago. I was so excited!

Carrots- Danvers 126, Cosmic purple
Celery- Tendercrisp
Onion- Stuttgarter, Yellow of Parma
Swiss Chard- Rainbow
Lettuce- Crisp Mint, Outregeous
Cabbage- Early Flat Dutch
Broccoli- De Cicco

I also have some heirloom radish seeds and a head of garlic for planting. I realized one thing I completely forgot about planting this fall is spinach! How I could forget about that I have no idea. We eat that green more than any other in this house! Oh well, I may order some, I may not. I haven't decided yet. I don't want to overwhelm myself.

I've got my garden planner all set up and organised with what to plant where. I hope I haven't bit off more than I can chew! I've already decided I am going to blog less so I can spend more time with my kids. When business gets busy (which it always comes in waves for some reason), I won't be posting much. I've also been doing a little preschool work activities with my daughter. I'm hoping she will enjoy helping in the garden with me.

Do you have an organic garden? What are you growing this season?