Juli Lawrence – Rakish Gardening

July 18th, 2008

Yeah, picked the first two cucumbers today, plus five jalapenos (no salmonella there!) and two tiny grape tomatoes. The tomatoes weren’t quite ripe, but getting them before those pesky squirrels do.

That Kaolin Clay was very easy to spray (using a pump sprayer) and turned the plants gray. I noticed the bees are still quite active on the melon blooms, so it hasn’t caused them to leave. Thank goodness. I had also sprayed my potted hibiscus because those Japanese beetles seemed to like it a little too much, and it seems to have worked.

Unfortunately, they may have moved to a different garden. I found one eating the tansy! Now tansy is supposed to repel these beetles (along with cucumber beetles and a few other pests), but this is the second time I’ve found one on the tansy. So for me, it’s official. Tansy doesn’t work on the Japanese beetles. Fortunately, there are only a few, so easy to pick and drown them. This guy was so busy eating (a bloom) that he didn’t see me coming.

Anyway, I’m excited that the crop is starting to come in….finally. Things are so late this year. Everything is looking so healthy!

• Squirrels eating the tomatoes!
• As summer starts to wind down
• Companion Planting – Paying Homage to Sally Jean Cunningham
• More Japanese Beetles
• Japanese beetle frenzy!

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