Fall Crops

I always think I'm going to plant a fall crop and enjoy gardening and fresh food until the first freeze.  So far, I'm 0 for 3 in years that I've done this.  By this time of the year, I'm a little tired of keeping up with what I've already got.

I'm so tired of okra. It always starts out as one of my most-looked-forward-to garden vegetables, and by this time, I don't even want to eat any more of it, much less pick it.  This year's crop has just about done all it's going to.  The plants that were in full sun are starting to fall over since they were so crowded this year that the stalks are thin. At least I think that's why.  It could just be this particular variety (Burgundy).  With the large, heavy pods that I haven't been picking, the stalks are unable to stand up to the winds and rain.  But since they've been thinning out a bit, the lemon grass has been getting more sun and has picked up.

At any rate, my lima beans are setting fruit and looking good.

Tomatoes are still plentiful if we don't get an early frost.  I was thinking the other day that I might consider covering a couple of the plants if we do.

Recently, I cleaned up my big compost pile and harvested some volunteer tomatoes.

I've been getting a few half-way decent fruits off those plants.

I also harvested a nice haul of tomato hornworms in my garden proper on the one tomato plant that's somewhat shaded.  Apparently that was a perfect spot for them.  They weren't even confining themselves to the foliage.  They were going right after the green fruits, too.

Stripped leaves: a sure sign of tomato hornworm presence.

I found this many yesterday - on just the one plant - and another three on it this morning.  I really must pay closer attention!  I didn't collect even this many on all of the other four plants put together.  The only difference that I know of is that the others were in a sunnier part of the garden.

The ones with the black stripe next to the white stripe are, I believe, tobacco hornworms, but both kinds attack tomato plants.  And tobacco plants, I assume.

Speaking of insects, I found a lady beetle-type larva on one of my flower pots.  Since this guy has no red coloration at all, I'm not sure what specific type of beetle it will molt into, but it will be in the lady beetle family of beneficial insects.  There are only a couple of types of lady beetles that are plant eaters, and their larvae are fat and spiny.  The adults are usually yellow with black spots.  I've never actually seen one.

I'm used to seeing lady beetle larvae that have more red on them.  This one seems mostly black and white, and I don't know what specific variety that indicates.  Most of the ones I've seen in the past are red where this one is white.  But, there are lots and lots of color variations in lady beetles.  Just don't be confused with the cucumber beetle - a somewhat elongated yellow or greenish beetle with black spots.   They have longer antennae, and the helpful lady beetles are more rounded.  Think Volkswagon beetle.

Apparently, acording to Insect Identification - Beetles of Missouri, there are squash lady beetles in the state that feed on plants in the squash, bean and pea families.  The identification information says they're slightly larger than regular lady beetles and are yellow with black spots on both the wings and thorax (or pronotum - that little shield-like piece covering the thorax, which is between the body and the head), whereas the beneficial guys have spots only on their wing covers.  Click here for a picture of the squash lady beetle.  I'm thinking that an easy rule-of-thumb to know which ones to leave alone and which to kill is that if it's yellow, you can kill it.  (This makes me think of the yellow/red/black snake stripe ID rhyme:  Red and black - friend of Jack; red and yellow - kill the fellow.  Meaning, if the red stripe is next to the yellow stripe, it's poisonous.)

We have lots and lots of the big red-orange Asian lady beetles around here nowadays.  They'll be coming inside before winter gets here.  By the droves.  I vaccuum the ones that have the bad luck to think they can hang out anywhere but the windowsills.  Those I just leave alone.  They are a nuisance to some people, but they actually do much more good than harm, feeding on aphids and scale insects.  I wonder if they'll evolve the ability to stay outside in the winter.  Or maybe the winter will soon be warm enough they won't freeze if they stay out.

(For those of you who are interested in insects, and particularly in identifying those that are beneficial in your garden, I've added a couple of permanent links in the right-hand side bar of the blog.)

Leaving insects now...

My newly planted lettuces are coming right along.

The beets...not so much.

The Pink Enchantment roses are none the worse for the wear after the early Japanese beetle infestation when I sprayed Deadbug and ruined the leaves back in June.

Somebody is feeding on Julia Child, but it's not noticeable until she starts to lose her dark butter color, and then the dead spots look like pink sprinkle decorations.

My friend and neighbor Monna gave me some of her freshly dug potatoes last week.  I can't bring myself to cook this guy.

Happy Fall on the way!  Til next time.