Monday, June 3rd
Roly-Polies
Today I put out dog and cat food cans filled with beer for what we call the “Roly-Poly Beer Party”. Several years in a row the stems on our squash plants would look like they were rotting and the plants would die. Also, our marigolds were getting eaten up. At first we thought the issue was too much water or a mold but we finally figured out it was Roly-Polies (also known as Pill bug or Armadillidiidae) eating the stems which then caused it to rot and the plant to die.
We found a tip online to put beer in cans and bury them so the tops were at soil level. This has worked great and we caught a ton of Roly-Polys. Our squash has done great since.
Wednesday, June 19th
Today we weeded for the first time since we planted on Friday, May 31st so it’s been almost 3 weeks. We tried weed cloth for the first time this year. I’m not sure if we bought the wrong weed cloth, are doing something wrong or just being impatient but it seems like we have just as many weeds as before just now they are under the weed cloth. We staked the cloth down more with garden stakes hoping the weeds will dye back but it seems like they are getting a lot of sun through the cloth and are growing like crazy.
Friday, May 31st 
Wednesday, June 19th
Yellow Leaves on Tomato Plants
The bottom leaves on our tomato plants are getting yellow leaves with brown spots. From what I found it looks like it is “Septoria leaf spot” a fungal disease that affects the leaves, but not the fruit. The recommendation is to pull off the bottom leaves that are infected, don’t plant tomatoes in the same spot every year and water the plants via trickle irrigation to keep the foliage dry.
I am wondering if it is from the weed cloth being high on the plants and the large amount of rain this June.
White Spots on Squash Plants
Our Squash plants have white spots on the leaves. In the past Rob has sprayed the plants with Copper something and this has helped the issue.
Oh Baby – Let’s Make Some Squash Babies!
For some reason our bees don’t do their job pollinating our squash flowers so Rob has had to step in! He is now referred to as “The Zucchini Whisperer” (he pollinates the summer squash too). Rob goes out in the morning with his magical paint brush, plays Barry White on his phone and pollinates the squash. Most times he will have a can of Bush beer with him for the Roly Poly Beer Party which adds the affect. Such a goof!
Wednesday, June 26th
Today we cut more leaves off the bottom of our tomato plants that were infected with the Septoria Leaf Spot. I hope this isn’t a losing battle. Several of the plants are starting to grow tomatoes despite the fungus on their leaves. We will have to be sure not to plant tomatoes in the same bed next year.
Rob pollinated more squash but a lot of the female flowers are either not open yet or have already closed. We have a couple squash trying to grow.
Thursday, July 4th
Today we worked on the right flower bed. It is a mess. The plants on the right in the left bed are kale that came back from last year. We were able to get kale from them for my smoothies starting in about until ? They bolted too much and stopped producing leaves. Also the bunnies ate most of the lower leaves.
In the right bed we picked a few more leaves off the bottom of the tomato plants. I smashed the weed cloth down and put the yard stakes on an angle to try and hold the cloth down better. The weeds are still growing underneath but the cloth is keeping them down a little.
Rob picked our first squash of the season!
Sunday, July 21
Worked in the garden for about half an hours. Pulled up the weed cloth from around the peppers and weeded. Removed some seas leaves from the tomatoes. They are looking pretty sad.
Sunday, July 28
Worked on the garden for about an hour this morning with our helper Eleanor. It’s looking pretty bad. Fertilized, watered and put down black weed cloth around the peppers. Pulled out the bolted lettuce. It got too hot so we stopped for the day.
Tonight it took an hour to pull up the weed cloth around the tomatoes and squash, weed, fertilize and water. The tomatoes have a lot of “Septoria leaf spot” so I pulled off a lot more Infected leaves. The squash looks pretty sad and the leaves are shriveling up. I’m hoping removing the weed cloth and weeds helps. There are some new bugs in the squash bed that we have not seen before.
Firday, July 30th
Rob planted the kale, lettuce and Swiss chard that he grew from seedlings.
August 10th
There is only one Zucchini still alive. All the others were killed by either Roly Polys or squash beetles. Today we decided to get rid of the right vegetable bed. We pulled up the paving stones, ripped out the side panels and sprayed the area down with weed killer.
