apple_pathways | Weed Warrior!

I rent a garden plot with my mother at a local community garden. It's in full swing now: the tomatoes are ripening, the squash is taking over neighboring plots, and the weeds are THRIVING! (Well, no more; I spent a good hour yanking them up. For a picture of the results of my effort...

Weeding provides an interesting workout, and I'm definitely using muscles I wouldn't otherwise. Today, the back of my knees were sore. THE BACK OF MY KNEES! So, here's to buff knees, I guess.

I'm really happy with how well everything is growing, especially my pumpkins and watermelons, which I had been warned against planting. (It seems they don't do terrifically well at the garden, and others have a lot of trouble with them.) However, there are the predictable stuggles against bugs and disease: there are Japanese Beetles eating my basil (they're welcome to have a nibble; I have more than enough!) and my squashes are plagued by Fusarium wilt (VERY difficult to get rid of) and Powdery Mildew.

I'm trying my best to go as organic as possible or, failing that, to have the smallest environmental impact possible, but some of these are issues I've never dealt with before, since I've never gardened on this scale before, so I'm doing a lot of experimenting. I bought a copper-based fungicide spray today to deal with the mildew. The bottle says it's for "organic production", and it's a brand I've used before, but I was under the impression that copper is not considered an organic solution, so I'll have to do some more research.

Anyway, on to the pictures; I am really so proud of our efforts!