🍈 This week we enjoyed some of the fruits of our hard work. The melons are starting to ripe and you can tell that they are ready in the same way you can tell watermelons are ripe. Just look for the closest tendril on the vine to see if it is dry and brown. If it is green it needs more time.
🍅 We can't believe we are still seeing tomato fruits. The sungolds are hanging on and our weekly foliar sprays of seaweed and insecticidal soap seem to be helping. We plan to leave some of the indeterminate varieties but also take cuttings and start new plants. See the Tim's Tomato Tip video to learn how to do this. 💦 Be sure to leave water for birds and wildlife so they don't find the water in your juicy vegetables.
🕷 Seeing some helpers including a yellow garden spider. The main benefit of spiders is that they eat insects. Spiders can help control flies, mosquitoes, moths, beetles, wasps and other insects, keeping their populations down. This helps protect you from being bitten or stung while you're working in your garden, and it can help your plants by reducing the number of hungry insects in the area.
🦎 Catch a cute moment with a small anole in the melon patch. Male anoles have a pink colored throat fan (called a dewlap), which is used in both territorial and courtship displays. They eat insects like grasshoppers, moths, grubs, and beetles. ⻌ Walking sticks are herbivores. They have chewing mouthparts and eat the leaves from the tress, shrubs and other plants on which they hide. Walking sticks are generally not considered to be a pest, though large populations may defoliate plants to a noticeable degree. 🍅 Many of our Cherokee purple tomatoes were being eaten by wildlife because of the drought. Be sure to leave water for birds and wildlife so they don't find the water in your juicy vegetables. 🐟 We continue weekly foliar sprays of seaweed and insecticidal soap. We're starting to see more aphids and mealy bugs on some of the cucumbers that are fading out with the heat.
Here is what we were seeing this week in the teaching gardens Zilker Botanical Garden:
💦 Watering is the most important task these gardens and we are so grateful for the recent rains. The gardens have irrigation and we also get extra moisture from the Ollas. 🍉 The melons are starting to take off. We are most excited about the Kajari melon and we hope we get to it before the wildlife. 🦗 Tomatoes are still ripening and this week we didn't see any stink bugs! We are using insecticidal soap and seaweed foliar spray. The seaweed is like a stress wrap and gives the plant nutrients it needs for growth. We have lots of exciting things coming including in-person classes at the teaching gardens once a month on Saturday mornings. Planning and seed starting begins in August! We will be out there every Saturday until then tending through the summer. Join us! |
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January 2023
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