Heat and Bugs and No Rain, OH MY!

Heat / drought stressed garden - June 2011

What a spring 2011 has delivered!  As I write this at 4PM, it is 103° and it is not even summer yet.  OH MY, indeed.

With sufficient watering (don't ask about the water bill), the garden is still alive.  Production has slowed but, remarkably, some of the heirloom tomatoes (Cherokee Purple and Homestead) are still blooming and setting new fruit even in 100°+ days.

Carolina anole (Anolis carolinensis)

All manner of crawling and flying pests have descended on the garden.  Birds and bugs abound.   Nets have been placed on the tomatoes but they still manage to peck holes in some and I pick off as many bugs as I have the patience to find.  The grasshoppers, however, I have no defense for. The grasshoppers are currently still small but it's a race:  the heat, drought or grasshoppers.
The anoles have not abandoned the garden and help keep the bugs down, at least the small bugs.  I am not sure why this one was still brown as they do change to bright green.  Could the heat slow down that mechanism, as well?

Eggplant

Things still producing at this time:

• tomatoes
• jalapenos
• cucumbers
• eggplant
• squash (yellow and zucchini)
• an occasional green bean

Lots of fresh salsa made here this year.
Enjoying lemon cucumbers and fresh tomatoes.   Searching for another recipe for squash and eggplant.

The garden only gets my attention in the mornings before about 10AM.  After that hour, the heat has driven me inside to the artificially cool house to work on such productive tasks as writing this blog.

When does fall arrive?

Sunflower