No I don't want to know about the pop group!

Did you know when you google trying to learn more about Blackeyed Peas all you get is hits on the stupid pop group that performs such timeless classics as My Humps and Boom, Boom, Pow. If I wanted to listen to nonsensical lyrics I'd pay attention when my 3 year old niece starts singing to herself. And at least she has a good excuse why her lyrics don't make since - she's THREE.

okay. rant over....

Aside from my frustration about the difficulty in finding information about the cowpea blackeyed pea it was a fairly good garden day. My brother arrived back home from his visit to my parents last night, and mom and dad loaded him down with stuff they bought from Shelter's grocery. They sent tons of bacon (my husband and brother-in-law practically live on the stuff) and the largest pork loin I've ever seen. The thing is bigger than a Louisville Slugger!

While I was retrieving my goodies from my bro, he gave me a tour of his garden. He's got corn. :(:( I don't even have silks yet, and he's got actual ears of golden goodness on his stalks. In another few days he'll have lots to eat. He picked a couple of ears while I was there, and two had worms in them and another had a bunch of ants in it. Any suggestions on what he can do to keep the bugs at bay?

I picked some green beans (2), a quick pick tomato, two potatoes, and several blackeyed peas. My potatoes are withering up, so as each plant has withered I've been digging up the potatoes. I think I've dug up 5 plants so far. Today as I was diggin up the potato I unearthed an ENORMOUS grub worm. I promptly tossed him to the ground and smashed him with a resounding stomp and twist. I'm wondering now if grubs might be the cause of my wilting potatoe plants, or if it has more to do with the outrageous temperatures we've had the past week and a half. I don't know if I should just go ahead and dig up the whole lot, inspect the box for grubs, and then replant with a summer crop. Any thoughts?

I was surprised to see my ignored okra plant is starting to grow. It got bit by the frost and lost all its leaves. I didn't replant because I was kinda disgusted. Now it seems to be growing a bit. If I get some okra I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Still no silks on my corn. I'm really disappointed. But I did a little research and found that "drought" conditions can delay silk emergence. I let my corn get a little dry last week, so maybe that's why the silks haven't shown up yet. If that's the case I wonder if I should harvest some of the pollen to make sure the silks get pollinated if they do show up.

When I went out to pollinate my Edisto melon blossoms today, I discovered about 4 or 5 more female flowers. yee haw! I also saw that I had some assistance in the pollinating department. A wasp of some sort was quite intrigued by the flowers on my melon plant. He didn't care for my presence, but he kept buzzing over when I'd move away from the melon. He was a bit camera shy, but I did manage to get a decent picture of him.

Well, I think that's enough garden talk for today.

Okra

Today's Quick Pick. This one was bigger than the last one we got.

Ladybug in the corn Woo Hoo!

A little pollination help

Watermelon blossom

Today's harvest

New potatoes

Black Krim

Cherokee Purple