Growing

I know it's irrational, but I think my garden read my last gardening post.

Just when I was about to throw in my gardening gloves and head to Publix for our produce, the plants perked up and started cooperating.

The tomatoes are looking pink, the okra started producing, and those dang squash bugs are on the way out.

I'm back on the gardening bandwagon.

Gabe thinks the okra are awesome.  

The squash bugs were a beast to handle.  

I was glad I only had one plant or I would have had to pull them all up.  I scoured the internet for an easy fix and stumbled on one that said mild, soapy water would do the trick.  I spent some time flicking the adult bugs into a jar of soapy water and squirted the ones that tried to escape.  They all keeled over within a few seconds.  I had to cut a lot of leaves off that had eggs on them and have to check it every day or so to make sure there aren't any new ones, but the plant has a bunch of baby squash coming in so I think we made it through that crisis.

My newest garden pest?

Caterpillars that love to snack on tomatoes.  Seriously little guys, at least eat a whole tomato instead of taking a bite and moving on to another.

I had a couple people ask about how our garden was set up, so here are some pictures.

It's a long bed that runs the length of our pool and about 15 feet longer.  I'm thinking I will make a few square beds next Spring, but this has worked awesome for our small garden.

We are going on vacation in a couple weeks and, if this heat keeps up, I'm sure we won't have much to work with when we get back.  I'm just proud I didn't let the bugs win and am enjoying dirt under my nails again!