Garden Friday: Ladybugs!

in Garden

Ladybug

I am terrified of heights and most things that have more than 2 legs.

And I have a 2 year old girl who is obsessed with all things bugs and lizards. WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE BUGS AND LIZARDS?!

So gross. I’d happily take an obsession of pepto-pink princess stuff over bugs and lizards.

But I will concede that ladybugs are… not as gross? They don’t bite or incessantly buzz around your ears. They might even be a good inhabitant for the garden. I’ll reserve judgement.

Cherry Tomatoes

Our garden is moving right along this year! We’ve started getting cherry tomatoes by the dozen, a couple of times a week, and a pound of strawberries every week or so. We’ve (knock on wood) managed to mostly keep the squirrels and birds out of the garden this year – a war I failed to even win a single battle in last year – by adding bird and squirrel feeders as well as access to fresh water. So far, they seem to prefer that to my tomatoes and strawberries.

So far.

Purple beans

Blueberries are ripening by the dozen a day and our little fig tree is full of figs. We’re getting a pound of green beans a week and the San Marzano tomato plant we added at the last minute is now as tall as I am and probably has 100 tomatoes on it.

Blueberries and San Marzano Tomatoes

100 tomatoes. I can’t wait to have that problem 🙂

The peach crop is going to be disappointing again this year and half of our dwarf citrus trees seem to be in distress… bad with the good, I suppose!

Tomatillos and heirlooms

How are your gardens coming along?

10 comments… add one
  • I love seeing your garden updates, I’m so envious that you already have so much food to harvest! We got all of our planting done last weekend and now are just waiting (and watering!). We have pickling cucumbers, regular cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, green beans, tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, strawberries, and blueberries, as well as some herbs. I’d love to see a post from you (or maybe you already have one and I missed it?) on your entire garden – everything you have planted, how you set it up, etc.

  • You know, the only thing that bugs me about ladybugs is that they fly by my head and into the lights making me think they’re a bee … thus causing me to freak the heck out lol. I love ladybugs otherwise though. 🙂

  • I love your garden.

  • Tanya

    I am extremely jealous of the abundant harvest already! Where are you, I am thinking of a move to a longer growing season!

  • Nikki

    What kind of squirrel feeders do you have and where did you get them? I have tomatoes in my garden, but I am currently fighting off the squirrels left and right. I have had to pick the tomatoes super early, and that is if the squirrels haven’t gotten to them first! 🙁 Any suggestions on how to distract them would be appreciated!

    Thanks and lovely blog!

    • Nikki – we put out a sweet corn “cob” for the squirrels. It screws into a tree (or in our case, a power line pole) and the compressed sweet corn flour cob goes on that. We also have two bright red plastic pet food bowls that I picked up at Target. I keep one filled with clean water, and the other I fill up 2x a week with a squirrel/bird food mix. I also have a bird feeder that I just let sit on the patio at the farthest point away from the garden and fill it 1-2x a week with bird seeds. The squirrels eat the cob, the food from the bowl, and sometimes they knock over the bird feeder and go after that, too. But they’ve been staying away from the garden. I’ll get the occasional peck hole/eaten strawberry but it was nothing like the destruction they did last spring.

  • Everything looks great. Didn’t you just put some of the citrus in the ground? I’m sure they’ll bounce back. I’m about to move mine off the Flordia room to the backyard. Amazing how much they bush up with a month or so of outside time!

  • Jennifer

    I love ladybugs! I bought them one year for my garden, and they did an excellent job of combating the aphids. I was actually sad when they flew away after their job was done. My garden is going well. I recently used jalapenos from the garden, and I was super excited. I have a few tomatoes growing, and the rosemary is healthy and happy.

  • Debra Kapellakis

    Yes, ladybugs are good for your garden. It is a lovely garden you have there.

  • I’m suffering from some serious garden envy right now. The only thing I had coming up right now were five tomato plants- right up until Daughter decided to help me out by “weeding” our garden. I guess she didn’t realize that fence is supposed to keep out rabbits and children.

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