Bees, bugs and caterpillars

The bees are in the garden like crazy, doing their thing. It's great. The buzzing sound while weeding this morning was therapeutic. I have a small cucumber beetle epidemic and I have found two potato bugs. I did some research on getting rid of them and it appears there is one "solution" that takes care of both and can be bought for about $16 and is organic and all-natural.

I am confused on hilling the potatoes. I think they need to be hilled again. How much green should be out of the top? Anyone? Anyone?

Also, I've looked at other people's squash plants - summer and winter - and why are mine SO gigantic???? I am wondering if the chicken poo we scattered earlier in the spring worked like steroids. They are seriously out of control. I keep cutting them back so I can actually get into the garden.

I have my first sign of watermelon fruit. It is the size of a large marble. I am very excited about this.

The cucumbers are kind of a mess. Part of the plants are trellising and part are bushing out at the bottom and I am having a difficult time figuring out what is what and if there's any fruit in there. I did eat my first pickling cucumber on Saturday which means I need to get some pickle jars asap and figure out how to do this pickling thing - also a first. I LOVE PICKLES! But only the kosher dill kind (extra garlic). Does anyone have any good recipes for brine?

The tomato plants looks like small trees. They are huge. I cut those back as well so they did not fall over. Seriously, the garden is on steroids.

And finally, the monarch caterpillars are arriving - about a month early (as everything this year). For those of you unfamiliar, they are white/black/yellow. They turn into those fantastic orange butterflies. They LOVE milkweed and we have so much here at Snow Meadow Farm. It keeps popping up like mad in the Warehouse Gardens as well. This morning I found a bunch. Mostly tiny little babies, the size of inch worms but I found one fat juicy one that I jarred for my nephew who will come out to the farm and "conveniently" find it for his bug house.

Why jar these creatures, you ask? To watch them eat and eat and eat then spin its chrysalis, which starts out green with the most fantastic gold line that runs around the entire thing...and then the entire thing turn translucent and you can see the butterfly through the chrysalis. It then bursts open and cleans its damp wings. The butterfly is so new to the world you can hold it for some time before it flies away. It's really a spectacular process. Charlie and I have been on the hunt for a year now and Auntie finally came through!

Coffee break is over. I need to get back at it before the storms come this afternoon. YAY RAIN!

Happy growing and eating,
--Annie