A garden friend

A pregnant wolf spider

I'm in Love

Look what my husband is making me:

I am super excited.  I love the rustic look of it.  I'm going to move my slate tiles to create a path underneath it and I've got some creeping thyme started to grow in between the cracks of the slate.  Now the hard part is deciding what to grow up it!  Grapes?  Clematis?  Roses?  Wisteria??  Too many choices!

Hairy Vetch

Hairy Vetch is a plant that I have growing in my garden right now:

It's a plant used to enrich the soil during my 'off-season'.  It, along with the crimson clover and peas mixed in with it, helps fix nitrogen in the soil, prevents erosion of the soil, keeps weeds out, prevents nutrients from being washed away, and when it is tilled into the soil it provides organic matter.  

I just like saying it out loud. :)

I'm Stubborn

I'm stubborn.  Anyone who knows me well knows this.  Often it serves me well.  But sometimes I wonder if sometimes it would be better to just move on.

Take, for instance, my experience with battling the squash borer bugs.

After years of losing plant after plant to this horrible bug, *see here* I can't stop growing them.  I love squash.  I love zucchini, pumpkin, cucumbers.  So the thought of not growing those is unfathomable.  A garden without cucurbitas is not worth cultivating.

So, I am preparing for another year of battle.  This year I am contemplating row covers.  Expensive they are.  Worth it?  We shall see...

Does anyone have experience with row covers and borer bugs?  I'd love to hear about it.