Beans, Beans the Magical Fruit!

Ok, I failed again... I still can't grow green beans!

The acorn squash are going crazy

The first time I tried, they were in the nice moist seed starting mix. The soil for seeding has tiny bits of clear gel in it to help keep/hold a consistent moisture level. Evidently that level is too high for beans, since they promptly rotted. Ooops.

Artichokes looking good

So next I tried to plant them in my raised beds. Well, our soil is super sandy here and even though I added some compost, the top layer still dried out a little too much for the bean seeds to sprout. They shriveled up and decomposed. Crud.

Cucumbers climbing

So what do I do? Combine the best of both worlds: I put some of the seed starting medium into a square foot section of my raised bed so there is a 50/50 mix. This was supposed to keep just enough moisture without being too wet. I thought it worked because all but one of the seedlings popped up! But then I went back two days later and they had shriveled again... not quite enough water. Errg!
Aren't 2nd graders supposed to be able to grow beans?! Seriously!

In other garden news, I cheat. Yep, I admit it... I use Smart Gardener, a free online garden planning tool, to help remind me when to do things in the garden. When to seed, when to transplant, when to harvest. It is great! While it isn't 100% accurate, it really does help. This week I was in for a couple surprises:

Almost ready to pick!

Evidently, you have to prune your cucumber plants! Who knew?! I sure didn't know that, and I even grew them last year... yet another example of why I am not yet a true gardener. Anyway, if you are actually interested in how to prune them, this video is pretty good at explaining. After learning that I needed to prune, I headed out to the garden with my shears in tow... It looks like the pruning may be working, since here is the biggest cucumber I have so far! (See left)

The other surprise is that I have to start my brussel-sprout seeds already! I knew they were a cold weather plant and everything, but I wasn't planning on starting them until later when I have room from my finished summer veggies. Hmmm now where do I put them...




Just in case you (mistakenly) think I have it all under control, here is a picture of the "landscaped" beds in the back yard. Why yes, yes those are 7-foot weeds, thanks for asking.
And that dead patch of lawn? Oh yes, DH (Dear Husband) and I found out yesterday one of the underground sprinkler heads isn't rotating so it misses a large portion of the yard.






EWWWWWWW! Just as I was going out to take the pictures of the garden, I noticed something had been munching on my tomato plants. I was just reaching up to prune part of it, when I touched a large green squishy. Ew Ew Ew Ew Ew. I of course squealed like a girl and proceeded to freak out.
After some icky google research on creepy crawly things, turns out they are "tomato hornworms." Gross!
Of course as I was trying to pry them off (jumping around with the ickiness factor) DH captured the moment for his own entertainment purposes.


Here I am (below) scolding him for laughing, waiving the spork and chopsticks I was using to try and pull that creepy crawly off my plant.  Notice how Eva is excitedly watching on intently... or laughing at me too. I can't decide.

They really gripped on and I ended up having to clip the branches off.
Ick Ick Ick Ick Ick.... yeah, totally not a real gardener yet.
Eva just looks entertained.