The kids and I were in SoCal for 2 weeks (Doug for one) and this is what 'welcomed' us back...
I can't believe how high the corn grew around here (it must've grown at least 2 feet!), our garden and even more the weeds in our garden in just two weeks! It looks as if it was more like a year (at least from what I'm used to)! I'm not used to the superhero weeds and bugs here!! I've never seen so many bugs and weeds! I'd much rather deal with whatever soil in California than all these weeds and bugs!!! The japanese beetles and another bug have taken over the garden and everything around it! I've never had to battle things like this before. I just spent 3 hours trying to get rid of all the monster weeds in the garden, but needed a break from the hot humidity -- I'll hopefully finish when (or rather if) it cools off any later or early tomorrow morning. I think I'll have a netted greenhouse garden if I ever have a garden here again! IF ANYONE WHO KNOWS THIS AREA AND HOW TO BEAT THESE THINGS ORGANICALLY, ANY HELP/ADVICE IS MUCH APPRECIATED! I will have lived here for a year in August and am still so not used to so much!!
These are all weeds, with many of them up to my knees! There are two Brussel sprout plants and a few other intended plants buried in there.
all the spinach and lettuce went to seed and grew at least 2 feet.
the tomato plants are gynormous! I planted them as far apart as the instructions said, but as Doug guessed, it was not far enough! These grew about a foot or two also! Hope we can find all the tomatoes when they are ripe in that giant mess. There are a bunch of green ones. They'll be ready soon.
This is a raspberry bush that is nearly all devoured by these lovely Japanese Beetles.
They devoured our green beans, too! :( We did get a lot of green beans, though, beforehand.
This is a nasty Japanese Beetle. They are EVERYWHERE out there, devouring trees, weeds, raspberries, everything. I'm afraid our tomatoes are next, because there are a lot of them on there.
DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF THEM WITHOUT CHEMICALS?!
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS BUG IS?
They are mating (as these two above) all over. There are tons of them!
These eggs are all over all our squash plants. ARE THEY FROM THE ABOVE BUG?
I'm wondering if spraying soap water on them will kill them?
and these things are eating lots of our zucchini and yellow squash! ARE THEY A LARVAE STAGE OF THE BUG ABOVE, THE EGGS ABOVE, OR SOMETHING ELSE? ANYONE KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF THESE WITHOUT CHEMICALS!?
They eat right through the whole squash from the inside out!
Maybe the bugs eating the squash are the babies of these?
These are in large quantities inside the flowers?
Even with all the weeds and bugs, we did get some harvest!
Yummy beets and carrots!
and some zucchini that escaped infestation and one yellow squash :)
We got a lot more snow peas and green beans, too.
This is how far I got. Much better, but much more to go!
Maybe Doug will help me when he gets home from work :)
5 comments:
Brooke --- there are Japanese Beetle traps (no chemicals) that you can buy at the store. I bought mine at Farm/Fleet last year. They catch alot, but don't get them all. I've added Sevin to my fruit trees because the traps alone won't keep them away. There are just too many.
Linda Baurer
My goodness, those are gross! I feel like they're crawling on me now :-\
Bug + humidity would = one grouchy me.
I'll pray for you, Brooke.
Yes, the humidity does make things grow on steroids- my parents are always talking about battling the weeds and bugs in their garden. I know my mom sprays I will have to find out what she uses. I think she also uses netting on some of her plants because she finds that it really helps. I will forward this post to her and see what she is doing. I don't follow the gardening world :) and wouldn't have a clue as to what to do.
:) xoxoR
Brooke- I buy all my gardening/bug killing supplies from Gardens Alive (gardensalive.com ). Their products are as natural as they come.I have followed closely this year with what I have sprayed and when and it seems to have helped. You can request a catalog and some of them will have a pest and disease guide which I find very helpful for knowing what bug or disease you have and what to use to get rid of it. We have a problem with the squash bug (the ones you showed mating) they have ruined my zucchini and yellow squash (the little eggs are from them) so not sure what we can do to get rid of them. Check them out- the products I used with great success are Bulls Eye, Soap shield, Payola and Surround. They would take care of most of your problems. Also I was going to suggest that you mulch. We have bought a large round bale of hay that we use to mulch the whole garden- no more pulling all those weeds- just be sure to get it thick enough-8-10 inches. AND be sure it isn't made from an invasive grass such as bermuda- we get one made from orchard grass and we have had lots of clover to come up as a result. Clover is good for the bees (honey bees) and their honey is nice too. I have moved lots of it to the edges where it can grow freely. If you have any other questions you can email me- I'll help all I can. Linda McAuley
Oh sorry- our website is www.cedarbreezefarm.com and our email address is on there.
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