Tobacco Hornworms

     This morning as I was picking some lovely tomatoes from my garden when I spied a green caterpillar-looking creature eating the tender new leaves of a tomato plant.  The critters can be seen in this photo I took. They are in the upper middle to left of the photo.  After consulting my sister (a more experienced gardener than myself), I determined they are tobacco hornworms.  My sister said to remove them and squish them, which I did.  And there were LOTS of them, too.

 
    Tobacco hornworms and their relative, tomato hornworms, can decimate a plant in short order, so I will be checking for more each day for the rest of the season.   To learn more about Tobacco Hornworms, visit this website:

http://growyourtomatoes.com/hornworm.html

The Garden Grows

Everything is growing beautifully, so far.  One of the tomato plants is about to bloom and I think one of the pepper plants may be, as well.  The squash in the bags of soil on the ground are growing like mad!  I will be thinning them this weekend, along with the zucchini and cucumber plants.  

Still have some more to plant this weekend, including herbs.  It's been slow-going here with the drama as of late...human illness, doggie illness, crazy work schedules and other things, too.  

We have seen some squash bugs already and some little caterpillar chewing on one tomato plant.  I think some insecticidal soap may be in order for the caterpillar.  I will talk to my gardening consultant...my sister...she knows everything about growing veggies!