In heaven there will be no spider mites

I have been really busy with the garden so not too much time to blog. Unfortunately it is not good news. Despite by best try the spider mites have taken over the garden and the whole thing needs to be pulled out over the next few weeks. The sad thing is I never got that many peppers.
It has just been a bad year but considering how hot and dry it is, it might be better to let the ground rest and replant for a fall garden. I have the seed from one company and now am waiting to order the next batch and start planting again in a week or two for an August planting date. So I won't have to water much in July. Hopefully that will save a little bit of time and water.

On another note I am contemplating raising a couple of chickens for eggs. Just two for now. Any more and I think I would be having to sell eggs at Farmer's market so for now, which I am not planing right now. We will start with two but I will probably build the coop/tractor (aka movable) to house up to four, just in case.

Another feature is I want it to be movable (chicken tractor) and small enough to fit on my garden beds so it gives more space/ground as an option when I finish harvesting a bed.

Before you ask, yes I checked city regulations. I am allowed up to 10 chickens but they can't be free range. So the tractor is probably the best option. I can move them around the yard if I want to.

Another option is to have 2 laying hens and then also raise some meat chickens a couple of times a year. With the chicken restriction I could do 8 meat chickens at a time so that isn't too bad as far as numbers. Again it would be a seperate chicken tractor, probably made with PVC pile. I just have to decide. Meat chickens are a bit more messy so I have to decide if that is something I want to deal with. But it would be nice to have some chicken meat that has not been bathed or injected with chicken broth/sodium.

Guess that is the update for now!

Lastest garden pic

Here is the latest pic, not the greatest pic since it is a little cloudy and you really don't get the size dimension as much but it is big. Everything is going well, except if I could only get rid of the aphids on the peppers and eggplant I would be happy. Well, also get rid of the spider mites that are going after the tomatoes as well.

Look, I am a farmer!

Well, I was at Farmer's Market this past Saturday and here is my booth! I actually had a lot of vegetables. I picked a few earlier than normal just because I am out of town this week. There was various zuchinni, eggplant, carrots, radishes, lettuce, cucmbers, dill, rosemary, basil (cut and plants) onions, garlic, cherry tomatoes and zuchinni flowers.
I only had a couple of zuchinni left when it was all done. A good day!

More garden pics

Here is the latest garden pics, the squash is really starting to take over everything. But just in one bed. The other bed it is still fairly small. I think it is just the varieties and I will have to take note of which ones get big. The tomatoes are also starting to get bigger and the corn is starting to think about growing. I know the water is the biggest problem. We have not gotten any measurable amount of rain (maybe a trace) since I planted. It is all city water or some rain water (my 4 - 55 gal drums are all empty now.) And to top it off it is very windy, constantly. I am hoping soon we can get some rain. The only problem is we really need the rain while it was cool. Rain plus heat = perfect situtation for powdery mildew and other diseases.

The heat is also making the aphids multipy like crazy and I can keep up with spraying a homeade soap spray so I have enlisted some help by buying some ladybugs and hoping they don't get blown away and stick around to keep up with the aphid population. Plus the no rain/wind/heat is great for spider mites as well. The ladybugs are supposed to eat them as well. We will see. It is so hot I can't even spray Neem Oil or the other organic oils in fear it will burn the plants.

All I know is I am dreading my water bill this month. :(

Lates pic

Actually these pictures are from a couple days ago but things are growing well. The squash is starting to flower and I have baby cucumers and tomatoes everywhere. The spider mites and aphids are still giving me problems and with the heat and wind is making it difficult to control. But each year/season gives it's own unique challenges.

From the first pic you can see my porch with the other plants as well. The potatoes are in the large blue buckets and there are some herbs and lettuce in the other containers. The green bags have strawberries (try 2) and the other pots are peppers, or basil and even a few sunflowers. Yes, there is a topsy turvy as well. I figured it was on sale last year so I would try it this year. So far I am not very impressed. In the background along the house you can also see one of the four rain barrels that I have set up to collect water from the gutters.

Farmers Market and garden update

Well, I have been selling produce again at Farmers Market. I have had lettuce, radishes and some onions. I hope this next week will be the rest of the lettuce (not much left due to the unusual heat). There are baby tomatoes on a lot of the plants and flowers on the eggplant and some peppers. Basil is growing slowly and the zinnas are starting to flower. I have alot of planting scheduled for this evening. The squash is starting to get larger and the cucumbers are almost long enough to tie to their trellis. The garlic is suffering a bit in the heat, but not much control over that. (I might have to get the shade cloth out again. Also the corn is about 1-2 inches tall. Everything was fertilized last night and I am watching the weather to see if I can spray an organic pesticide (basically a dormant oil) on my tomatoes, peppers and peas since there are aphids and mites bothering them. I don't want a full blown infestation on my hands. The jujubee tree is doing well (I need to fertilize) but the peach tree is very sad looking. Alot of the leaves are half brown and I am loosing some fruit due to the lack of rain and heavy wind. Time to start watering. We are 14" below normal for the time of Oct - now. Every time it looks like it might rain it dries up before it gets here. I know everything would really take off if I could just get some non-city water on it, but the rain barrels are virtually empty except the front yard which is for the azealas only. Ordered the drip irrigation/soaker hose today. Hopefully it ships in time to be here for the weekend. I will still have to hand water the deck plants (potatoes included) and container plants, goji berries, etc... but it will save my 30 min an evening watering.

A new update

Well, here is another pic of the garden today. Things are starting to grow and I saw my first baby tomatoes as well. It is very windy and dry and I am hoping that soon we might get some rain.