Watering hoses are NOT ALLOWED at the garden!

Apparently word is not getting out to many users of the garden by email, and folks do not seem to understand that we have a very limited supply of water. Since June 15 we have had only 0.15 inches of rain – our rainwater tanks will empty quickly when people are hosing down their plots with little regard for the drought or the needs of other gardeners. We have already run out of water once and it will probably happen again.

Use a watering can and apply no more than you need. Mulch will also help reduce soil evaporation and thereby cut down on your need to water frequently.

Here is a picture of a “hornworm” that we found yesterday munching on our potato plants (Jodie Frey found one last week on one of her tomatoes). Hornworms feed on plants of the nightshade family (tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant), and are the larvae of several large sphinx moth species, aka hawk moths.

Thankfully, still no sign of late blight that we can find – see front page story in the Morning Call today – it sounds truly devastating

3-inch caterpillar of the Carolina Sphinx (a "hornworm")

Hi all, returned to our garden patch after a week at the beach – wow, how things change! We are about to be inundated with cucumbers, beans, squash, tomatoes, etc etc. Any of you growing potatoes need to keep an eye out for Colorado potato beetles (Google it for pics) – we found some little ones muching away on ours, which we destroyed by squashing or clipping off the infested parts and bagging them. No sign of the late blight though

Finally, there are a few plots that are about waist-high in weeds – please hack these down before they go to seed – see the terms and conditions of your plot agreement

Dave the Enforcer Brandes