2012 Veg Garden Naughty By Nature

Two tomatoes, one stem! These tiny jewels (title reference pun intended) are even sweeter than the slightly larger but still small gold nuggets, I didn't think that was possible! We're nearly at the end of the season here in our little pacific northwest microclimate, with no real rainfall for well over 60 days now it's a textbook indian summer. A stroll to the garden today sent dozens of crickets jumping in a wave in front of me like I haven't seen since I was a kid in Connecticut. The rain and humidity usually keep their numbers very low in these parts but not this year. Friday, the bizarrely large orange morris the cat doppelganger, couldn't be happier. He brings several a day to the patio for playtime, holding a giant paw on them with just enough pressure not to squish, letting them go and chasing them down again. Until another kitty shows up that is, then it's gobbled up.

2012 Veg Garden Ghostly Visitation

I've never seen a white furry caterpillar before so was very surprised to see this one in a very wet predicament on a rock in the fountain. It was fairly large, and still probably due to the cold and wet location. Since we don't see many except gypsy moth caterpillars here my first thought was to destroy it in case it turned into something that would eat my veggies next spring. Then I thought it was so pretty perhaps it was a butterfly? So, you know what happened next. Drop in aerial rescue and relocation to a safe and hopefully food filled blackberry bramble in the sun. I have to wonder if this odd sighting is an indication of things to come. We are over 50 days without rain here in the pacific northwest, a record for us, leading many to speculate on the insect implications. My home is surrounded by maple and fir trees and I noticed what seemed to be many more monarch (? Large, pale yellow and black?) butterflies flitting through the leaves this summer.

2012 Veg Garden Great Pumpkin Disaster

The lone pumpkin this year has come under attack. From the looks of the wound, and the two squirrels the cats have brought into the house in varying stages of death, I'd say the culprit is no mystery.  Bummer.

2012 Veg Garden Tomato Bounty

From one tomato last week to glorious bounty this week. We're going to break out the dehydrator and see how well it works for making sun dried tomatoes. In the meantime those sweet gold nuggets are addictive and don't last long once they ripen.

2012 Veg Garden Perfection

This red jewel is the first of the heirlooms to ripen. Finally the carrots are big enough to harvest. I'm not sure what happened but it's taken from the spring planting until now. This little guy is a mini and is so very sweet! Despite what turned out to be a devastating case of powdery mildew the on the winter squash side of the garden the summer squashes are still coming.