A few weeks ago someone said that they noticed my mothering/nurturing instincts really emerging as I started this garden w/ Drew. Hmmm. Maybe so. It is for sure way more work than we thought. But it also brings us much joy and I feel blessed to have a husband who wants me to partner with him in all adventures, including gardening!
Well, after much research and a few shed tears over our dead squash plants… we went after those darn squash vine borers. It was dark before we made it home from the store, but we were determined to save our plants. So we grabbed a flash light, a needle and syringe (yep) and headed out to the garden in the moonlight.
1) We applied Diatomaceous Earth – “Made from the finely ground fossils of prehistoric fresh water diatoms.” Whatever that is… I am told it is basically like ground glass for slugs. Just mix a handful into the soil around the plant and dust the leaves.
2) Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) – This is basically a biological insecticide, it’s a bacteria that the grub are susceptible too and thus die within days of ingestion. It is certified organic, and supposedly safe for human consumption. I gotta be honest though, it freaked me out a little. We actually injected the stems of the plant with this stuff, in the middle of the night! I felt like a stealth plant spy or something. haha.
On another note, the weather is so dry that we decided to look into applying a mulch. Who would have thought, PINE NEEDLES! When we first moved here I was so annoyed with all the pine needles everywhere. But it turns out we have our own free, unlimited, supply of organic mulch. Pine needles can increase the acidity of the soil a bit, but we just happened to plant vegetables that can handle acidic soil. haha. I think there may be a little lesson in trusting God to provide just what we need in this for me 🙂
Finally, it is HARVEST TIME!
I just pulled our first pickling cucumbers off the vine.
Our tomatoes plants are huge with tons of fruit. Our basil is out of control. In fact, I just made a big batch of homemade pesto a few days ago and the plants are already growing back. <<note: a BIG key to big bushy basil is good pruning, don't be afraid to prune your plants back. Here is a great youtube clip to show you how to prune your basil.>>
As always, come on over. We will have a cup of tea waiting for you!
Mamas Gone Crunchy... 
I can’t wait to visit Houston. Whenever I make it back down there I have to come over and see your garden. The pictures are beautiful, I can’t imagine how great it must be in real life.