I thinned things out 2 days ago...and ATTACK! Flea beetles...

I gave away lots of cukes, Roma tomatoes, beans and peas to friends in my homeschool group. I simply had too many. I may be callous enough to pull random sprouts from my beds (since I know I've not sown any seeds recently...they HAVE to be WEEDS...so I have no qualm plucking those out) but I am not able to thin my plants and just leave them to die. So...found them new homes! Hopefully they'll produce lovely veggies for my friends ;)

Since doing so I swear the plants have doubled...again! Funny how that works. I thinned out and moved some things so they were better spaced. I've still got plenty of everything.


Here are the cucumbers (bushmaster & lemon...the lemons are on the mounds):










































My beans have nearly tripled:















Tomatoes seem to like having more space...I moved some to the right-side bed since my salad greens are faltering (don't try to grow salad greens in the summer in Georgia...it won't work.)















The peas have runners! How adorable is that? I'm going to have to trellis them today. I'll do it and take pics later this week. I found some old trellis wood in the compost last week so I'll be screwing that into the boxes and stapling/screwing my netting into those, making a tent-like trellis net.



























I moved the zucchini farther apart...the poor guys needed room to stretch ;)













My herb garden is happy. I went to Pike's (again) the other day, this time with Christy...they had their veggies and herbs 25% off! Whoa that's a crazy dark photo. That's what happens when I'm talking to my 5yo at the same time as I shoot...doh. (See...I can take really terrible photos too ;) )













~Oh happy day~She kept me from buying too many. Her thought was that if I didn't know what I'd use the herb for I probably shouldn't buy it. Hmm...lol. Dang it she's so logical!

So...I bought some catnip (to fend off the offending FLEA BEETLES...keep reading to learn about those pests), lemon thyme and lemon grass.













I like the idea of lemon grass and catnip serving as mosquito repellants this summer. I intend on turning the area around my pergola/deck into a functional herb garden (with truly functional herbs...not just little kitchen herbs but lovely things like cohosh and TONS of lavender and echinacea...oh and some calendula and...and...and...!)

Now...let's discuss pests. No, not your 5 year old. No, not your dog (although they can be rather pesty...mine keeps insisting that his potty needs to be right near my left garden bed. I apparently offended him when I usurped the yard corner for my garden...he loved to *use* it ;) ) I'm not even talking bunnies. We obviously have them so I spread wormwood clippings around the sides of my beds and thus far it works (while my marigolds are growing bigger...they're getting there.)

I'm talking bugs.

I'm not a big fan of pesticides. I love the idea of organic gardening...really I do. And you know what? Other than a wee bit of Miracle Grow dirt that I used to sprout *some* of my seeds, my garden IS organic. Now...I do realize that the hay the horses who produced the manure I used may not have been organic...and the cow pasture that became a shopping center and gifted me topsoil probably wasn't organic...and I didn't buy "certified organic" seeds...but I have thus far grown and maintained a *mostly* organic garden. I'm happy about that! I'd love to keep it this way all summer. The way I see it, the less chemical CRAP we use the better, right? Well...then there are the FLEA BEETLES.













Now folks...lemme tell ya...they are annoying. They are pernicious. They are TENACIOUS. (I love big words.) They are plain ole' DAMN ANNOYING is what they are. They apparently LOVE my eggplant as much as I do and are less patient than I in terms of waiting for harvest. They seem to believe I planted it JUST FOR THEM. Wrong.

I have tried the soap water (squirted on the plant several times a day to knock the bugs off.) I bought catnip and put it NEXT to the eggplant...nope, didn't work. Then...I sprang for the big guns.
No, silly. I didn't spray it with bug stuff...I brewed a tea. What am I known for? My tea! Of course (anyone who knows me well knows the secret I hide in my cupboards...TONS of tea varieties! I have a veritable PLETHORA of tea! I love love love TEA!) this wasn't your average cup o'chamomile, not even a fruity spring peach tea...this was vile stuff. Catnip, black pepper, chili powder and minced garlic all went into my tea. It steeped for A FULL HOUR. Then, I went out and brushed it on my plant at dusk. I poured the
remaining tea in a circle around my eggplant.

Today, the plant is covered in dried pepper, chili powder and minced garlic (that is what you are seeing in the 3 photos...dried tea *stuff*.) I found ONE flea beetle this morning. Just...ONE! I promptly squished it and left it laying next to the plant on the dirt, as a reminder to those who follow...DO NOT MESS WITH TRACEY'S EGGPLANT!













So far it seems to be working. Of course it's only been 14 hours... ;) Here's to lots of lovely, yummy roasted (fried?!) eggplant later this summer!!