So wanes the Garden...or does it?

I love our straw bale garden! OK, I love the asparagus/beet bed, too, but most of the action (including caterpillar plucking) goes on in the bales.

This has been a very different year for several reasons...
  • We brought in 40 bales and placed them all over the place
  • Nearly all of our plants were started from seed (by us)
  • We tried a lot of new things
  • We have had a ridiculous amount of rain (15.3" as of 6 PM last night, and I don't think my sidewalk has dried out in a couple of weeks).
  • Said rain has brought about prime conditions for tiger moths to breed...and boy howdy are they having an orgy this summer!
So, without further adieu, here is the pictorial update of the garden (including our xeriscape garden), the good, the bad, the ugly, and the "Wow, that's awesome!"

 
Behold the tiger moth! Producer of thousands of voracious caterpillars with an appetite for anything we plant (except tomatoes).


 
Bale collapse! This bales are seriously listing, but the onions are hanging in there. We've harvested a few so far and are keeping a close eye on these guys.


 
More listing bales, these with mini tomatoes (can't remember the variety, but they have stripes) and basil - the only plants we didn't start from seed.

 
Three squash plants used to call these bales home until the squash bugs and 'pillars did a number on them. We removed them last weekend, and this one guy is hanging in there.

 
The green chiles are also hanging in there. We have harvested a couple dozen, and these babies are definitely on the warm side.

 
Our back bales used to be home to 4-5 squash plants, the first victim of squash bugs and 'pillars. The lone survivor, a tiny nasturtium, can be seen on the left side. I am ordering some blackberries to plant in this spot...ones we move what's left of the bales out.

 
The xeriscaped garden is loving the rainfall.


 
The desert willow is wondering what happened to the desert.

 
The sage is recovering from the local defoliant (a.k.a. caterpillars), but I still need to check on them regularly.

 
Hummers love these guys :)

 
Beets and asparagus are faring well in spite of the number of munchers that find them. We'll be harvesting the rest of the beets soon and leave the space to the asparagus.

 
Volunteer squash patch. You can see a small butternut squash in front, and we have harvested quite a few weird-but-tasty hybrids.

 
Peppers are at full-tilt but hanging in there.

 
This is our first year trying cabbage, and they have definitely been munched on. They are still no bigger than softballs, but we'rd not giving up.

 
This is one of the better-looking ones.

 
This used to be the top of the bale until it tipped.

 
Patty pan squash growing into the tomatoes.

 
Yellow zucs are still producing.

 
So are the patty pans.



 
Tomatoes got a bit carried away. We have to wade in to harvest.

 
These are cherry tomatoes, and we're still getting several pints a week out of these plants.

 
Late-planting of onions and beets. The beans were there earlier but looked like they were dying. I think they just wanted company.


 
Still picking 'pillars off these guys, but they're hanging in there.


 
This flower is more than 6" across!

 
Cranking them out...I see pickled squash and calibacitas in our future!

 
Yes, these leaves are as huge as they look!

 
A testament to the amount of rain we've had.

 
Our tomato jungle. Harvesting lots of little ones, and the big ones are starting to ripen :)

We're hoping to continue harvesting for at least the next month, and for the first time I am going to try planing a fall garden with beets, spinach, and who-knows-what-else.

Happy gardening! Enjoy the last few days of summer.

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