A Date That Will Live In Infamy

I saw the first Japanese Beetle of the year today.  The invasion has begun.

Garlic on the (land)scape

I went out this morning to check the garden and noticed that the garlic has put up scapes.  I had looked for this about a month ago but then was told by a farmer at the Abingdon Farmer's Market that soft-necked varieties don't have scapes, only the hard-necked kind.  Either I planted something different or got some incorrect information.  I've written Ellen at Beagle Ridge Herb Farm where I obtained the garlic for planting to see if she can help clear up the mystery. 

A snapshot in time

Here are some photos to log how each item in the garden was doing on today's date so I can compare progress in future years.

Choppin' broccoli

My broccoli plants had huge leaves but weren't producing any of the good stuff. I was willing to wait it out but then the bugs attacked and started eating holes in the leaves. I didn't want to risk an infestation on my other plants for the sake of something that might not produce anyway so I pulled the broccoli (bugs and all) and sent it to the compost heap.

Then I noticed a small black mite-like bug on my potato plants that was also causing some tiny leaf holes. Following the suggestion of some Master Gardener friends, I sprayed the leaves with a soap/oil/water concoction in an effort to kill the bugs. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Oh, the big news is that it's finally rained a little in the past week or so, the first significant rainfall in about six weeks. The paper says that from January to May was the worst drought in our region in 118 years. I've been watering the garden so most everything is still looking ok but the giant pumpkin has definitely suffered under the drought and heat. It's still healthy but nothing like what it might have been under the best conditions.