My garden in southwest Missouri is still free of bad bugs!

As we get ever so close to the first of June, the traditional start of the bug season, I have some good news to report!

Japanese beetles = 0

Tomato cutworms = 0

Flea beetles = 0

Leaf miners = 0

Aphids = 0

Tomato hornworms = 0

This is the first season where my small planting of leaf lettuce, tomatoes and peppers have remained relatively unscathed from any form of attack. Usually there have been problems by now – Note the following May 20^th, 2013 log entry:

11:14 AM – The temperature was 70.7°F. Winds were calm and the sky was overcast. I grilled four chicken drumsticks this date. I also cooked a hamburger for lunch. I also published a post about comparing burgers.

I planted out 2 Park Whopper tomatoes of the original four into RB2. All 4 are infested with flea beetles that have left a shotgun pattern of holes in their leaves.

This year, all the plants have been free of these tiny critters as well as larger animal critters that seem to like to dig and uproot plants! So, so far so good! However, June will be coming around and when it does I can expect to see a few of the bad bugs make an appearance!

Four to go! Four vegetables and herbs for the small garden!

Part of what I find to be the most fun about a small vegetable garden are the surprises one gets when they find veggies that are ready to eat in the late spring an dearly summer.

Egyptian onions – the top setting onions are one of the earliest plants you'll see growing in the

spring! You can harvest some of the green side shoots early on while waiting for the shallot sized onion at the base of the plant in the fall. When the stalks turn brown you can eat, store or transplant the small onion sets for another harvest the following year! If you have friends that also have gardens and they have there already growing, just see if you can borrow some sets from them for free!

Hot peppers – I generally make it a point to plant three varieties that will be mild, spicy and really hot by harvest time in late summer. This year I planted BananaRama peppers from Burpee, Portugal Hots and a few very hot Habanero's from local greenhouses. These peppers are all destined to be used in chili recipes and beef stir fry. This will be the first time I grown the Portugal Hots and I'll plan to do a report on them at season end!

Basil and Oregano – Here are two, must have, herbs if you like any tomato-based recipes like spaghetti or

chili. The basil is sown from seed while the Oregano was purchased as starts! The leaves of both can be collected and then dried for use all year round! For that reason, I grow a good number of these plants! A nice thing about these plants if the fact that bugs will often leave them alone and you can plant them in any odd nooks or crannies you might have as a fill in that is also quite attractive!

Steam those babies!

After years of boiling the heck out of my garden harvests, I discovered the joys of steaming! The cause of my new found knowledge occurred when I purchased a simple vegetable steamer a few years ago and then took the time to research steamed versus boil versus raw! The one method that gives your body the biggest bang for the buck is by steaming in many cases. Your body still gets all the fiber and nutrients while the steaming process makes digestion a breeze! So, if you don't have one of these appliances in your kitchen, please consider getting one!  There are many nifty models out there these days and most are under $40.

May garden notes!

Straight Eight cucumber

It's now mid May and my raised bed areas, many of which are now in my front yard for ease of access, are beginning to show some results! Even after we got a milt frost this morning when I arose! Most notable are the cucumber plants I bought a few weeks ago as starts and which are now showing fruit. I also have some tiny peppers of a variety I think are of a California Wonder variety. Many of my tomato plants also now have blooms on them also. The weather, here in southwest Missouri has been agreeable with temperatures running at or near normal for the season. Rainfall, which had been lacking has also picked up and we may even finish the month close to the normal amount of four inches!

Big Bertha variety pepper

At some point, in the near future, I'm hoping to begin harvesting some leaf lettuce, onions, cucumbers and maybe even a cherry tomato or two. Then, by late June, I fully expect that the main season tomatoes and pepper plants will begin to yield a bountiful harvest. This year is already far ahead of the poor results I had in 2013.

Stats for Forsyth MO as of 5/15/14 - Average Hi 78F Low 51 | Avg 64.1F| Rainfall 2.96"