I harvested my first strawberry and it was g-o-o-d! The cabbage 'WORM' ate all the cabbage plants and now I have to start over. I didn't sprinkle worm powder on the leaves and the worms got fat and happy. I replanted the cabbages and I will be dusting often to beat those worms to my cabbages. I also had to replant the okra plants, I was not aware that okra plants love hot weather and that just because they are available at the nursery doesn't necessarily mean they will survive if planted before their time. I also replanted corn and watermelons from seeds. The corn plants are growing tall and green. I decided to try to grow corn and watermelons from seeds, to see what difference there is in growing from plants rather than seeds. The squash plants, string beans, tomatoes and peppers are in bloom and there are small fruits forming. I harvested my potatoes and there's nothing like a fresh potato-baked- they cook fast. I just took an ordinary white potato, cut it into quarters and dug a hole and put into the ground. When the tops grow tall and start to brown and the ground starts to crack, they are ready to be dug up and eaten.

Now is a good time to visit the nursery to get more plants that are available. I am now starting to plant more container gardening. I just purchased a big bag of gardening soil (get some now while it's on sale). Onion, garlic, peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, mint, and basil are just some of the things you can grow in a container on your porch, side yard, or at the end of the driveway.

Here's one of the ways to keep pesky pests away from your garden- treat them to a little heat. Just mix 1 cup of hot pepper sauce and 2 Tablespoons of baby shampoo in 1 quart of water. Pour the solution into a hand held sprayer bottle; then apply it to any of your troubled plants to the point of run-off. It'll keep the unwanted 'diners' from coming back for more.

Container Booster Mix- When you're planting vegetables in containers, add this miracle food to a half-and-half mixture of good commercial potting soil and compost.

1/2 cup of Epsom salts

1/4 cup of coffee grounds (rinsed clean)

1 tbsp. of instant tea granules

4 eggshells (dried and crushed to powder) per 2 gallon of soil