Attack of the Killer Tomato Hornworms!

Well, they were actually Tobacco Hornworms, but Tomato Hornworms made for a better title. Anyway, when it comes to Tobacco/Tomato Hornworms the potential devastation is the same and the difference only comes down to the color of the "horns" on their bottoms.

My 3 year old daughter and I discovered these viscious little beasts on one of our daily garden inspections. She immediately fell in love "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and demanded that we allow them to stay in the garden so they could become "big fat caterpillars, build a cocoon and become beautiful butterflies". If you have small children and have ever read the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle then you know what I'm up against. I convinced her that we should at least move them away from the garden so that they could eat some nice green leaves, then I checked my favorite site for all of my tomato questions, http://www.tomatodirt.com/ and discovered that these were not harmless little green caterpillars. I had a tomato killer on my hands. These little buggers left unchecked are capable of devouring an entire tomato plant in just a few days!!!

As to the fact that I refer to them interchangably, they are very similar in appearance. The most obvious distinction between the two is the color of the horn. On Tomato Hornworms it is dark blue, dark green or black and on Tobacco Hornworms it is red. Mine were definitely red and that's actually how I found them. There bodies are the same color as the tomato leaves making them a little difficult to spot. You should also be on the lookout for leaf wilt and missing leaves. The best way to prevent full blown crop devastation is to inspect your plants daily in the early morning or late evening and catch them early.  If you happen to be unfortunate enough to find these vile little creatures gorging on your prized tomatoes, the best defense is to pick them off and drop them into a bowl of soapy water. The lovely folks at Tomato Dirt were kind enough to give me a little more advice via a very prompt reply to a message sent to their Facebook page regarding prevention of future infestation. As soon as your plants are done producing in the fall, till the soil to deeply bury any larvae that may have been left behind. That should kill 90% of the eggs. Then in the winter burn your leaf piles in the garden area. Not only will it kill any remaining pests and fungi that may be lurking about waiting to feast on next years crop, but it will add nutrients to your soil. I am happy to report that no Hornworms have been found in my garden for 3 days now. It pays to be totally obsessed with your garden!

Organic Veggies... not this year :(

By now, it should be fairly obvious that I have little to no clue what I'm doing in the veggie garden. I'm giving it my best shot, however and this blog is a great way for me to document the successes and failures. For me this garden serves many purposes. It's not just about the fresh produce for my family, it's also an excuse to spend time outdoors, great exercise, and an opportunity to challenge myself. One of the goals that I initially set was to grow completely organic vegetables. Due to the fact that I didn't properly prep my soil with compost, I've had to resort to, *gasp*, using Miracle Grow. It really hurts to admit that, almost as much as it hurt to purchase and apply it. After two applications of it, some areas of my garden still aren't growing quite as fast as they should be ,but overall the plants do look healthier. I started my compost heap at the back of the field so maybe next year I can do it without the chemical fertilizers. The compost pile consists of coffee grounds, eggshells, fruit and veggie peels, and  yard debris such as leaves and grass clippings. I do have some friends that are appalled by my decision to use the dreaded Miracle Grow, or MG, as I now call it. In the grand scheme of things, I feel that a little fertilizer is still 10 times better than most commercially grown vegetables that have been shipped across the country or even from other ones. I'm looking into other methods of fertilizing, but being a novice gardener who had never even heard the term "side-dressing" until a couple of months ago, I'm going to try to keep it simple...for now.

DIY Trellisses... no tools required

I first decided to build trellisses for my garden when I realized that I had planted my cucumbers to close together. The cucumbers are not an issue at the moment, since they all died, but I have replanted some and will get more in this week. I searched gardening blogs and pinterest for weeks trying to come up with something that I could build on my own that was also cheap and relatively quick to build. Through my searches I found that you can pretty much make a trellis out of anything... you just need a little imagination, time and patience (that one I'm a little lacking in sometimes). While digging around in the shelter where my husband stores the heavy equipment for his forestry business, I found a huge pile of approximately 1x1 stakes that are about 6 feet long... perfect for my project! They are, I believe, old tobacco stakes that he and his dad salvaged from an old barn that was being torn down a few years ago. I'm not sure what type of wood they are but they are weathered and smooth in some spots, they should hold up well in the garden.



I used a hammer to help drive the stakes a few inches into the ground at equal intervals around the base of the plant. (this step is much easier to do if the ground is wet) I used twine to secure the top. Then starting at the base wrapped the twine around the poles leaving a few inches between rows (make sure you can easily fit your hand through or harvesting could be tricky). Last, I ran a piece of twine down the center from top to bottom. On the first one I used 3 pieces, but then decided that one piece would be sufficient for the rest.





Through my searches I discovered that there are many benefits to growing vegetables vertically. So, even though the cukes don't need them right now, I built them for my squash and zucchini. Most people with small backyard gardens do it to save space, but it also helps prevent disease and pest problems when your veggies are up in the air instead of laying in the dirt. Keeping the plants weed-free and harvesting should also be easier and I won't have to worry about my kids stepping on them when they help in the garden. Last, but certainly not least, they trellisses are pretty and should be gorgeous when the vines are covering them. So, far I have built 8 of them, but I will be building more when the cucumbers start growing.

Weather Obsession and a Case of Insane Plant Love

Last Saturday, we got about two inches of rain in just a couple of hours. It came down so fast that my backyard and garden very quickly flooded. I was just standing on my back porch watching the torrential downpour and trying not to panic. I just wasn't sure that my poor little plants and seedlings could take it.

When the rain finally subsided, I quickly threw on my garden boots and ran to check on my babies. The corn and sunflowers were fine. There was standing water between the rows, but since I had anticipated that problem, I had built the rows up a little. Cukes, squash, zucchini, okra, watermelon and bell peppers were all fine. Once again, a little standing water but not near the plants. Then I took a look at my tomatoes and I nearly had a heart attack! My little babies that I had taken such good care of and grown from seed were laying in the dirt. I just stood there staring, almost in tears at the prospect of losing all of those beautiful plants.  I walked down the rows and then gently lifted one of my plants from the ground. I then realized that the stems were not broken but the leaves were caked in mud that was weighting them down. I very carefully went over each of my 16 little plants and gently brushed the dirt from the leaves. Later that afternoon, they were standing up straight and happy again! 

We have more rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, but they're a little bigger and stronger so I think they'll be alright. Now, my biggest concern is a forecasted low of 41 degrees tomorrow night. I'm working on a strategy to get everything covered to protect from the potential frost. We have tarps, some old bed sheets and stakes. I should be able to rig adequate plant covers from those items. 

Best of luck to the fellow Georgia gardeners this weekend... The weather will be crazy but with the right prep work and diligence we should all be able to keep our plants safe, happy and ready to provide a bountiful harvest!




***UPDATE***  April 6, 2012 5:30pm
Latest weather forecast in my area is calling for a low of 46 degrees with a light wind which means no danger of frost!!! Phew... that is a huge relief. My plants are safe...from frost damage anyway!

Sprouts and Signs

It's a busy time in my garden, for the plants anyway. While my little seeds are busy sprouting, I'm on constant patrol... trying my best to keep up with the ever changing "sprout count" and doing my best to keep the weeds out.

Up until this point, I have been in complete control of my little seed/seedlings. They lived in a climate controlled home with the proper amount of sunlight, water, wind and nutrients. Then I had to turn them over to the elements. All of the tomato and bell pepper seedlings appear happy and healthy and over the past two days many of the seeds I planted lasted week have sprouted. I'm trying not to "love them to death" (too much water, handling, etc.) but it can be difficult to let nature take over.

In the meantime, I decided to keep myself busy by making signs for my garden. I used some scrap wood we had lying around and painted the names of the veggies on them with a craft acrylic paint. (see above pic) I then attached the signs to small posts that we also happened to have on hand, sprayed  them with a clear outdoor sealant and put them in the garden. It might not be a necessary project, but for the time being it's keeping me from meddling too much with my plants well-being.

My Garden Helper... Olivia

My 3 year old daughter is in love with our garden and has been by my side every step of the way. Every morning, right after breakfast she can't wait to go check on the garden. She helps pull weeds, sings and talks to the plants and loves to "make sure they are happy plants".

Olivia enjoyed reading to the tomato, bell pepper and marigold seedlings while they lived on our kitchen table. When they were a couple weeks old, we started taking them outside for a few hours each day to get them used to full sunlight, wind and slight variations in temperature (a process called hardening). A few days after we started, we had to transplant the tomatoes to larger containers. We carefully removed the netting from the peat pellets (they are supposed to be biodegradable, but I read on several gardening websites that they break down too slowly and can constrict root growth, so we took them off) then planted them in the plastic 6 pack containers that I had saved from some flowers we bought.

On March 24, we planted all of our seeds. It was a week or two earlier than we were supposed to but we have had an exceptionally warm spring here in south Georgia so we went for it. The soil was nice and warm, it's been in the 80's during the day and the 60's at night... perfect planting weather.

We have four rows of corn, three rows of sunflowers, twenty hills of cucumbers (it's a lot but we'll be making homemade cucumber relish when they come in), four hills of squash, four hills of zucchini, one row of okra, sixteen tomato plants (roma, early girl, and sweet one hundreds), eight bell pepper plants and one "giant" watermelon that my 11 year old son is growing for 4-H competition.