Chipmunk Repellant

It is beautiful right now in the garden, even with all of our planting mistakes (err... lessons learned), and the animals are enjoying it as much as we are! We recently watched a little chipmunk run off with a little green tomato in its mouth and when we went to investigate, sure enough it was one of ours. We know this because we only had 3. Now we have one. The same day I went to the garden and walked in and surprised a rabbit! So I researched rodent repellant and found a very handy tip for making a garlic spray.

Gardener to Gardener Almanac & Pest-Control Primer: A Month-By-Month Guide and Journal for Planning, Planting, and Tending Your Organic Gardenis full of practical tips from other gardeners. We are trying the garlic mash, an idea shared by Frank Daley of Menomonie WI. We will crush an entire head of garlic, put the mashed up garlic in a jug, fill it with water, and let it sit in the sun for several days to ferment. Then we will strain the potent liquid, put it in a spray bottle, and spray it around the perimeter of the garden in the evenings. He says to use it several nights in a row.

The garden has inspired a lot of cooking, and now that Zac is two months old (and 11 1/2 lbs and 24 inches long) he is taking longer naps, which means I can spend time cooking again.

Cucumber - I took the cucumbers which a friend gave us and used them in a Cucumber, Dill, and Orzo Salad.

Oregano - We used the fresh oregano from our garden in Creamy Tomato Soup. The amount of time it takes to cook, 45 minutes, is perfect for Roasting Garlic, which we spread on pieces of baguette.

Basil - We have used the fresh basil in our garden for a couple of things! Pasta Shells with No-Cook Tomato Sauce (a favorite in our house), Italian Tomato-and-Bread Salad, and, of course, Fresh Basil Pesto. In fact, we had spaghetti squash today for lunch with some pesto on top and the leftover tomato soup on the side.

These hot summer days have also inspired Brewed Sun Tea, which will go well with our fresh mint!

As we watch our garden, we can't help but marvel at the perfect pumpkin which hangs suspended from our fence. It is absolutely gorgeous, and 100% volunteer. In fact, the entire squash extravaganza which you see pictured below is 100% volunteer, consisting of a spaghetti squash and a pumpkin plant which both came up unexpectedly in the compost pile. And the perfect book to explain the idea of volunteer plants which take over your yard??? Too Many Pumpkins