Garden Helpers

I am so glad I planted marigolds around the tomatoes this year. They worked to keep away the tomato hornworm. Though I did see signs of that pest on my eggplants once I think the birds must have eaten them. The marigolds I planted were very tall and fell over into the pathways. I think I will try a shorter variety next year and hope they work as well.

The other helper is my compost bin. I filled it even fuller than this photo shows when I was done yesterday. In fact the zucchini plants had to be dragged to my perennial garden bin and stuffed in there. I like that I'm making compost that will go right back into my beds.

I found this garden helper as I removed the tomato plants. He was eating something when I first spied him. He was content to sit and watch me remove all the plants around him then hopped off.

This garden pest is being joined by other stink bugs, but the invasive species variety. They are all over my screened porch both inside and out. I think I saw evidence of their damage on some of my tomatoes and peppers. Unfortunately they don't seem bothered by the marigolds and the toad doesn't seem to eat them.

"Pearl of China"

This new book caught my eye at the library last week. It's a fictional account of Pearl S. Buck's life told from the perspective of a Chinese friend. The friend is fictional but the essential story about Pearl Buck is fairly accurate. It's also a sweeping overview of the changes that China experienced in the 20th century.

Look for "Pearl of China" by Anchee Min.

September Harvest Monday

The theme of harvests this week was tomatoes, beans, zucchini, eggplant and peppers. The tomatoes are needing to be sauced and the beans are needing to be eaten. The rest have long since been used for meals.

It's time for the eggplant to be pulled from the garden and composted. I think the tomatoes will have the same fate. There are a few small zucchinis out there which may be added to dinner this week before those plants are compost.

For the fall I have beets and snowpeas growing, but the spinach is a no show! I'll have to plant garlic soon, too.

See other harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.

"The Hemmingses of Monticello" by Annette Gordon Reed

Sometimes you just have to skim read and that's what I did with this book. I started out with good intent to read it all fully, but my interest was in Sally Hemmings, Thomas Jefferson's slave "wife". The author's interest was in the entire family that Sally was from and that was interesting up to a point. There were innumerable tangents that I just had to skip over when I realized that the length of the book was entirely due to all the divergence and historical contexts. Don't get me wrong, I think the author did an amazing job of research considering the little information that is available on this family. She was a masterful detective in fact surmising from the lack of information what must have been the situation and circumstances affecting Sally and other Hemmingses.

If you are a student of history and particularly interested in the people that played a part in Thomas Jefferson's life, I recommend this book to you.