Sunday, July 17, 2011

kinderGARDEN Thursday: week 11

It has been truly hot and miserable around here. Matthew hasn't had any interest in the garden, except to add more dirt that he's dug out of the dog wallow.

Which has really made our participation a sham in this contest, but that's how it goes with high temps and 4 year olds.

I believe all the radish infestation is aphids, not that I've ever had them before. But it was truly gross. Many plants (10 at least) have said adiou and been burned, along with single leaves. I think we have the situation under control. Some squash plants have more light and I have seen good bugs like ladybug larve and ladybugs and assassin bugs tooling around, so things seem to be going along alright, for now.

The new variety of green bean is blooming prettily. The 1 plant of the old variety has given us some green beans. We might have enough to have a couple beans each now.

Boy, the garden really looks small with me in it. *photo by Matthew

Here he is doing the only other thing he likes to do in the garden right now, get wet.



We have yard long noodle beans growing. I should measure their growth, cause it's fast too.

Here's our macro shot. I can't wait for the 20+ tomatoes to mature.

We are getting sunflower heads growing. I'd say the sunflowers are around 6'5" tall. But that's a guess at this point.

Although aphids seem to love these plants, I love them too for their beauty and the fact that every time I find a squash bug, they are camping out on the radishes. Different plants have different bloom colors, white to dark purple.

I'm in love with the noodle beans blooms too.

I'm officially throwing up my hands with the strawberry seeds. I've gotten them all to sprout and grow and then try to burn up in the sun and heat and now I have a tree frog wallow in the pot. Obviously this isn't my year for strawberries!

To see what other families are doing in the garden go here.
To see our post from last week, that we didn't get linked in time, go here. It talks about the beginning of the aphid saga.

11 comments:

Auntie said...

I think you are doing a fabulous job, given the week or two of extra hot summer days. A 4 yr/o is to be forgiven for wanting only to dig and stay cool, and I am amazed you are out there working. Cute little frog -- tis the season for wallows.

Mama Bean said...

i'm glad i'm not the only one who missed last week's link up. i don't think anything makes your participation a "sham" - you're a mom with a kid and you garden! he's out there getting wet and moving dirt, that's all that matters :D all my guy does is make mud, and all my girl does is sleep in the sun lol. i'm excited to see your sunflowers :)

Auntie said...

I agree with Mama Bean. If you forced him out there to "do his part" blah blah blah, just imagine how thrilled he'd be next year! Or even tomorrow! Cute photo of Mamaw and Matthew.

Auntie said...

And of you in the garden!

Nap Mom said...

Your sunflowers are just about to pop open. It's so hard to be patient and wait for them to bloom. I just want to reach over and pop them open myself!

Angela said...

I agree with Auntie and Mamma Bean- you are letting Matthew do what he wants to do and he has enjoyed the garden and it is HOT here!!! Yes, those are aphids on your leaves. YUCKY!!! burning is a good option especially since they have exploded in numbers too quickly for the predators to get a foothold on the population.

raisingsweetgrace said...

I want to play in the water all day too! It's so unbelievably hot out there!!

I have never seen so many aphids! Hopefully you have them under control!

The author said...

Auntie, thank you, I just wish he was more interested this year, but it's ok.

Mama Bean, at least you didn't post on time cause you were on vacation, but me, lack of time and motivation. I suppose so, but I feel like he was more interested earlier in the year and last year. Maybe he just really loves the planting and eating, not the middle work!

Nap Mom, I'm not feeling that way about the sunflowers, but it's killing me to wait for female squash blossoms to appear.

Angela, haha, I knew you'd confirm or deny my id! I guess you are right, he has enjoyed it.

raisingsweetgrace, I've never even seen aphids before, but ewwwwwwww! Some of the first plants were covered from top to bottom. Ick. I think the natural predators have cleaned up the random ones that were left. We'll cross fingers, not that I can't spare some radish plants.

Jess said...

Dish soap + water in a spray bottle will take care of those aphids in a hurry. They are gross. I've got them on my hibiscus and my cranberry bush. SOAPY WATER! DO IT!!!

Mom said...

I think that tree frog is the cutest thing, but I've never seen one in a flower pot before! Maybe he was just sleeping off a wild evening catching bugs!
Jess has a great idea about the soapy water!

Kirsten said...

our gardening interest has flagged as well, thanks to heat and bugs. it's hard to have fun when you're dripping with sweat and there's a swarm of gnats flying around your head. :(

your long beans are amazing! very cool.

and the aphids! wow. just...wow.