Due to some exciting goings on, my next few posts will be bird-related, so I thought I best put out a veggie garden update. But first I want to share some thrilling butterfly news — the Monarchs, Queens, Swallowtails, and Gulf Fritillaries, among others, have finally returned to the garden! You can believe I’ll be out there with my camera. I did manage to capture a picture of my first Gray Hairstreak butterfly. I was happy to see her on the Blackfoot Daisies — those flowers are often ignored by the bigger butterflies, who go straight for the Lantana or Mistflower. I read that Gray Hairstreak caterpillars will eat bean plants. Oh well, guess I’ll share.
But back to the “farm.”
The cantaloupe experiment has finally come to an end, and it’s report time. It’s kind of sad, really. My beautiful cantaloupe plants finally succumbed to the aphids, which had become so abundant (despite the ladybugs) that their sticky “honeydew” residue, combined with the rains from last week, had led to a nasty sooty mold problem.
After several days of wondering whether to let my cantaloupes keep trying to ripen, I decided to go ahead and pull the plug. My big one just kept growing but never sweetening, and the shapes of the other two medium-ones led me to believe that I was, in fact, growing a hybrid. I suspected as much, but I decided to enjoy the process anyway.
The big cantaloupe, cut open, actually did look like a cantaloupe. I opted not to take a bite, but I did lick a piece. Yuck… as I suspected. Though I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, I do consider the experiment a success. Growing the cantaloupes got me excited about my first veggie garden, led to my first raised beds with trellises, and really helped me get a headstart on the veggie learning curve. I did learn a lot, and I got hooked on growing edibles. Plus, one can’t beat the excitement of finding out that your plant is actually growing fruit (even if it’s weird hybrid fruit). I don’t consider the cantaloupes my first official harvest, mind you. They were an experiment, especially after I found out that seeds from store-bought cantaloupes should not be used, no matter how much fun it might be.
So I began the process of cutting up the fruit for the compost bin. By the way, ever wonder what the inside of a young cantaloupe looks like? Pretty cool.
Removing the icky plants from the trellis was NO fun. During the process I realized why many garden bloggers opt only to show their beautiful harvests instead of what might be a failure — it’s depressing. I was out there quite grateful that my camera was nowhere near the sooty mold, and while I felt partially obligated to show the whole miserable trellis, I just wanted to get that cantaloupe and all the thousands of aphids into the trash and as far away from my sugar pumpkin plants ASAP. I didn’t even want the plants to go into the compost, they were so gross.
A closer inspection of the sugar pumpkin plants showed that the aphids are starting to move over, and I plan to attack them better. I was happy to find several ladybug nymphs — hurray for my aphid-fighting allies!
But all is well, and I’m looking forward. The sugar pumpkins are the biggest things I’ve ever seen. They are growing up and over and out from the raised garden bed.
I FINALLY had a blooming female bud on a sugar pumpkin, and hopefully I helped it pollinate in time. Cross your fingers! There will be more, and I must be on the lookout. There were two blooming females on the jack-o-lantern pumpkins, but I doubt they’ll be big enough for carving by Halloween. At least they opened, and I did the pumpkin porn thing to help things along — I didn’t have time to watch to see whether the bees were doing their job!
The jack-o-lantern pumpkins have begun their spread into the perennial garden, so I have to monitor them. One is even taking advantage of the dead Mexican redbud. It’s nice to see green on the redbud again, poor thing. 😉 It’s scheduled for fall replacement.
The corn is growing, though I’ve found a couple of worms hiding out in the leaf niches. I’m trying to watch for more, but they seem to sneak in when the gardener’s not looking. I’ve also got young beans, zucchini, and snap peas growing, as well as tiny kohlrabi, carrots, lettuce and spinach seedlings.
This morning I found some strawberry plants at Natural Gardener. These are “Seascape” strawberries, and when more varieties arrive, I’ll try to get some for comparison. I’m eager for strawberry success!
And another exciting find at Natural Gardener — I finally got a gargoyle. They arrived this morning, and the staff seemed as excited as I was. Apparently they don’t usually have gargoyles. He’s a little guy, but his protective watch over our garden is sure to drive away all pests. Right?
Maybe he can tell me what to do about this Green June Beetle. I found it on one of my pumpkin plants. I see beetle grubs in the soil all the time. I believe they qualify as a minor pest, but I’m not sure. The beetle is pretty, as far as beetles go. Underneath is a pretty, shiny coppery surface. It’s still alive, but in a jar, until I decide whether it should stay or go. I don’t care about damage to turf, as I have none worth saving, but I don’t want damage to other plants and fruit.
I did learn an interesting way to identify the Green June Beetle white grubs from other white grubs — the ones of the Green June Beetle will “crawl” on their back via undulating movements. Somehow I think Shrek would appreciate that.
Meredith,
The cantaloupe LOOKED good, too bad it was not tasty! You will have better success next time, now that you are a pro!
The butterfly was lovely, never seen that type up here. You are such a wonderful blogger, I always learn new things from you.
Gargoyles should keep out those unwanted creatures. Perfect Halloween decor as well!
Rosey
*Urban Green waves at Meredith*
You are such a good blogger, and I loved the way you wrote about your experiment. Great to have found you..
Rosey Pollen and Urban Green, thank you. I value your comments so much, and it makes me happy to know you enjoy or even learn something from my little gardening experiences — it sure has been a learning experience for me! *Waves back*
Hi Meredith,
I’m looking forward to the butterfly pics. Re the aphids if you’re gardening organically have you tried using a soap flake solution to wash them off? My great Grandmother always washed her misbehaving plants with soapy dishwasher, this was before detergents were available so it was an old-fashioned soap flake solution. I tried it this year and it worked really well. You make up a stock solution, that looks thick and gloopy like wall paper paste, dilute that one in ten with water in a handspray when you need it and just wash off the little beggars.
Thanks for the tip — I did use a soapy spray early on, but I think they started taking advantage when the female flowers first started blooming — I was so eager to have successful pollination that I stopped spraying the buds in order to protect both the flowers and the bees. I’m going to be a lot more attentive with the sugar pumpkins, but my towering trellis of green is going to be a challenge! The aphids are going to have better luck with the pumpkins on the ground — it will be difficult for me to step through the mass of plant to use the soapy spray. But don’t tell them that! I already bought some more lady bugs, and hopefully they’ll have better success with the aphid population being smaller to start with this time.
You canteloupe looks great. It is not ripe. When the skin of the canteloupe turns yellow between the veins instead of green it is ready.
Interesting post, Meredith! The little cantaloupe looks a bit creepy, just in time for Halloween. But you composted it!
I love your pumpkin supports, they look very serious!
I feel for you. I did the canteloupe thing three years back and had great growth but it was a very rainy year and they NEVER developed sweetness. But it WAS fun to grow them and I think I have recovered enough to try again next year.
Your cantaloupe grew to a good size, and looks great — too bad it hadn’t ripened. They’re one of my favourite fruits. Gardening is all a learning process, isn’t it? And the nice things is: there’s always next year! 🙂
Hi Meredith, lovely learning story– it never ends. By the way, did you see Tatyana’s recent post about photographing the nasties? Check it out, and have I told you ‘Great Stems’ is a great title?
http://tanyasgarden.blogspot.com/2009/09/enough-cuties-how-about-this.html
Aww, Meredith — I’m sorry to hear about the end of the cantaloupe experiment, but I’m excited your pumpkins are doing so well! Great butterfly and beetle shots…
Your photos are always just great.
Too bad on the cantaloupe – looked perfect though! I like the sugar pumpkins on the trellis – I might try something like that in my small little backyard space.
My sister mentioned that she went to a great vegetarian restaurant in the Charlotte area that had squash blossoms on the menu (your pic reminded me of this). Apparently they’re very expensive and very tasty. I don’t know if I could sacrifice a blossom though.
I have never seen a Greystreak butterly. It is absolutely beautiful on the border of albino. So fascinating. Sorry to hear about your troubles with aphids ruining your cantaloupes. Don’t you just hate it when pesty insects take over? I had a terrible infestation with earwigs this year. Just hourdes of them! I really had a very hard time getting rid of them and finally had to resort to a pesticide. But about a month later, they started to resurface. I can’t wait to see pictures of your pumpkins!
The cantaloupe saga was sad, but very interestingly related. I love your gargoyle. To be exact, since yours has wings, it is called griffin. But they still protect your garden as they did on gothic churches. Hope your strawberries do well. They are a fun plant to have.
The cantaloupes looked so pretty! Sorry to hear about the unhappy ending. At least you’re having other successes!
Did the heat in Austin yesterday cause any problems for your newly planted veggies? One of my beans expired and now some squash/zucchini leaves are yellowing. I don’t know if the rain today will hurt or help! I’m sure I wasn’t overwatering – in fact, I hadn’t watered since the rain last week, but I did water just a little yesterday morning in anticipation for the heat.
I’ve since added a bunch more mulch to try to regulate soil temperature …
Live and learn.
As near as I can tell, everything is fine out there. I lost a pole bean, but I think it was because of dog damage. Fortunately, I had another seedling ready to go right back in the spot. The zucchini and one group of pole beans are more at risk because they are planted straight into the ground instead of a raised bed — I’m hoping they’ll get big enough soon for the dogs to notice them and step around, instead of on, lol. They always seem to ignore my barriers if there is someone walking around my neighbor’s yard.
Ah, okay. Well, I’m going to go with my gut and say that it was soil temperature and hopefully the extra mulching will do the trick.