Holy mother...I just put the ladybugs out like the instructions said, at night, it literally took them about a minute to start eating the aphids. I'm impressed! Who knew that cute little ladybugs were so murderous. R.I.P. aphid scum.

Die Baby Die

Ladybugs arrived today. All aphids must die. Pictures of the carnage later. Godspeed little ladybugs.

Aphids

So not alot new going on. Squash are blossoming, beans are about 8 inches tall, cucumber bush is about 6 inches tall, and all of the tomato plants have tomatoes. The sweet 100 tomato also has an infestatin of aphids as seen above...hiss! Worry not, ladybugs are on the way and I'm sure they'll be hungry by the time they get here. Mitz's not too happy about the ladybugs but being the loving wife she is she's going to let me store them in the fridge. Hopefully they'll work out and devour the little sap suckers! Also the carrots have sprouted, but they seem to be growming very slowly.

Tiny Toms

I know what you're asking yourself...how do I achieve the lifestyle you live Jacob? I want to get excited and blog about tomatoes on a Friday night. Today I noticed the first tomatoes on my plants...proud moment for a gardener. The tomatoes are on the cherry tomato plant. Those tomatoes don't grow to large so hopefully they'll be ready to eat pretty soon. That's Mitzi's hand on the tomatoes. I told her to keep her damn dirty hands off my fruit! Also, not in my garden, but growing at our house...Asiatic lilies! Here's a pic...ooooo.pretty!

These two wanted on the blog. They're jealous, or maybe exicted about all the fresh dropped vegetables they'll no doubt be chomping on. Here ya go turds...you're on the blog!

Slowly but Surely

Slowly but surely things are growming and blooming. We've had a lot of rain the past couple of weeks and I'm a little worried about leaf spot with my tomatoes. Leaf spot is a bacterial infection that causes yellowing and bronzing of the tomato leafs. Hopefully they don't have it and if they do hopefully it won't kill the plant...maybe just slow it down a bit. The beans are now about 3 inches tall and getting close to the trellis. The one cucumber seed that actually sprouted is also about 3 inches tall. I'm anxious to see how it grows; it's a bush variety and I don't have any experience with those. The squash are doing great with the first squash blossom of the year popping up.

Recipe From the Garden

We just ate our first meal with something from the garden. Basil Burgers. Here's a recipe for you.
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil (must be fresh)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/8 cup Dale's Steak Sauce
Mix. Pat into burgers. Grill. Eat. Enjoy. We had ours with grilled asparagus. Yum.

Beans, Beans, They're good for your heart...

Beans are thru the soil! Glad they made it out with all the rain we've been getting. Now all that's left to pop thru are the carrots...and honestly I have no idea what to expect with them.
Also noticed my first blossoms on the Husky Red Cherry tomato plants; so should be seeing some fruit starting to pop out soon. Can taste them already. I ran across a fellow garden blogger and she swears that if you shake the plants when they first start to flower that they will fruit much faster. So of course I did some tomato shaking today...Mitzi made fun of me...this is beginning to become a pattern. I do something old and lady like in the garden...my wife laughs at me...

Laby Bug Gaga

Bean plants are sprouting today...always exciting. It's just amazing that you put that dry looking little seen in the ground and in about a week you get the little green sprout...amazing! I'll get some pictures once they get a little larger.

My new obsession with my garden is ladybugs. I want lots and lots of ladybugs. Ladybugs eat aphids, mealy worms, scale, leaf hoppers and other destructive pests. One lady bug may eat up to 50 aphids in just an afternoon, and they don't eat vegetation at all. Who knew ladybugs were such killers. I found a couple of places that will actually ship you ladybugs...1500 of them! Only 10 dollars! But they're stored in your refrigerator and Mitzi says nope. Oh well...maybe they'll naturally be attracted.

We've been getting a ALOT of rain the past week and I'm a little worried it may be too much of a good thing. Of course I'm sure in about a month I'll be begging for rain for the garden.

Year 2: Week 1

So this year I've streamlined the garden significantly. I think last year I got so excited about planting that I wanted to cram as many plants as I could into that one bed. Unfortunately that didn't work out too well for the plants. I'm also trying companion gardening...planting plants together that are beneficial to each other ...and I'm trying out a new organic fish emulsion fertilizer. I have 2 yellow summer crookneck squash growing alongside 2 mint plants, and 4 tomato plants (Red Beefsteak Heirloom, German Queen Heirloom, Husky Red Cherry, and Sweet 100 Grape) growing with 2 Sweet Basil, and 3 rows of Big Top Carrots. Along the trellis I've seeded Kentucky Blue Pole Beans that should start to sprout any day now. I also seeded a Spacemaster Bush Cucumber that has already sprouted and has its first set of true leaves. At the end of the bed I've planted Mexican Marigolds. The Marigolds are supposed to attract beneficial insects like wasps, ladybugs, and lacewings that eat insects like aphids and squash beetles, and also repel some harmful insects and deer...though I can't figure out why the deer would fear a flower. The soil is mixed with my own compost and I've fertilized with an organic fish emulsion and I like to use coffee and tea grounds. Here's hoping for the best! Wish me luck!

Hello Interwebs

So I'm a gardener...a pretty bad gardener...but I'm new to the world of seeds and soil and I'm learning. I'm also a relatively new homeowner, and much to the amazement of my family and in-laws I LOVE to take on home projects that I usually have no idea what I'm doing. I'm 28 years old, married for almost 2 years to my amazing wife, and have 2 dogs. I was raised in small town Savannah, TN but now live in the metropolis of Jackson, TN.
For whatever reason, last year, I got the itch to plant a garden. Maybe it's genetic. My grandparents always had a large garden when I was growing up. They used us grandchildren as cheap labor to help harvest the crops. I mainly remember picking beans, snapping beans, and shelling purple hulled peas.
I had recently found a small pocket notebook that my grandfather, who had passed away, used to draw out the plans for one of his gardens. He had a nice large piece of land that got plenty of sun. I have a strip of grass that goes along my drive way that floods from time to time. So I decided to build an above ground bed, plant my seeds, and hope and pray. I won't get into last year's garden...I'll just say I was a little over zealous. This year I have a year's experience behind me and a whole new spring and summer...so here goes nothing...