Vegetable Garden: Better Late than Never

So remember that time I planted a vegetable garden? Probably not because it’s been two months since I’ve mentioned it. Oops.

Forgive me?

The last time (way back in May) I showed you the garden, it looked like this:

Then June came around and things got a little crazy.

The tomatoes shot up overnight.
 

The lettuce bolted and grew three feet tall.
 

Beautiful zucchini started growing!

The squash grew a little slower, but it grew nonetheless.

The herbs thrived.

Even a pepper or two made an appearance.

By mid-June, I was able to start harvesting every few days. Everything (minus the lettuce) seemed to be doing well.

Well, maybe except the garlic. Any ideas where I went wrong? It just never seemed to develop into anything more than tiny bulbs.

The veggies and herbs were growing, but the garden needed some work.

I tried to install a fence to keep the critters adorable puppies out, but it wasn’t long enough and they’ve been out of them at Lowe’s ever since. :(
 

Last week I finally got things under control. So now the garden looks like this:

(Please ignore the dog butt. She’s such a lady)

My tomatoes are out. of. control. 

I’m pulling off a handful of cherry tomatoes almost every day.

I’ve only harvested one of the big ones, but it was FANtastic.

Serrano peppers.

Jalepeno plants.  I started with one big one.

And planted four more baby plants a few weeks ago.

Banana peppers.

Baby bell pepper!

Italian parsley.

Basil. The heat (and, I suspect, the crazy overgrown tomatoes)  is keeping them from growing too big, but I’m still getting enough leaves to cook with.

  After one good crop, my cilantro bolted to coriander.

In other tragic news, my zucchini plant has officially met its demise. Boo hoo.

What would destroy such a thriving plant, you say?

These little bastards.

(source)

SQUASH BUGS. My arch nemesis.

I noticed these creepy things early on, but thought they were harmless. Wrong. They burrow into the squash vine and kill the plant from the inside out.

I even resorted to spraying the zucchini with pesticide, and it helped for a little bit but the bugs eventually returned.

I’m afraid my squash plant is about the meet the same fate. 

The leaves are still green, but this is what the roots look like. 

But enough about the negative stuff. Want to see the world’s cutest pooch?

Such a little diva. She totally already poses for the camera.

So now, you’re caught up. Isn’t it hard to believe that in just a few months, the garden went from this

to this

to this.

This heat wave has been brutal, and I’m having to water everyday but it’s so worth it. I’m already planning my fall and winter crops!

Hope you have a great weekend!