We tried a noble experiment last week that apparently sounded better on paper than it worked in the execution. Our tomato plants are growing like… well, I guess like tomato plants. They’re huge. Freaking huge. And they’re getting heavy. So Jim rigged up a thing that went across the top of the garden bed, and we figured it made sense to tie the tomatoes up rather than stake them. Well, Jim noticed yesterday morning that the string had managed to cut right through a branch, so it was off to Van Wilgen’s to get more (taller) stakes. I spent a good deal of time last evening re-tying the plants.

While I was working out there, I did notice that a couple of tomatoes do look as though critters (the winged or crawling kind, since four-footers are fenced out) are snacking. It’s time for more Captain Jack’s Deadbug, which I’ll spray this evening after work. I did notice a beetle on one of the plants, and beetles, from what I gather, are not good garden visitors.

The most exciting thing yesterday was the appearance of our first zucchini. It’s not yet the size of my pinky finger, but it looks perfect. This, too, will hopefully live to adulthood and not end up as dinner for some uninvited guest. We are almost certain that we can see tiny baby peppers forming on some of the pepper plants (how many habaneros can we eat?), we’ve been eating Romaine lettuce every single night, and the eggplant is starting to look serious about its business. The potted herbs are mostly healthy — even the basil looks better than it did — and on Thursday I sprinkled some rosemary and some lemon thyme on the potatoes I roasted.

Wish us luck in the bug wars.