Friday, August 06, 2010

Dog days of summer

Did you happen to hear that July, 2010 was officially the hottest month on record for Las Vegas? There was a story about it in the local paper, but trust me - all you have to do is drive around the city and you'll see the effects of the heat.

Now normally, I'm all about living in the desert; it never bothers me. But when it starts affecting my garden - well, now it's getting personal.

The girls were up to the task of accessing the damage.


All of the spaghetti squash vines are turning brown

and everything is covered with these odd silver-colored beetles. (Anyone know what they are?)


Even the Safer Soap didn't help.


It just made them climb up the side of the building, enormously creeping me out. Every single plant on that side of the yard was infested, so I ended up taking everything out.

A very sad (and early) end to that area of the garden.



But there are a few bright spots left - like the nectarine tree, sagging with fruit.


And the cherry tomatoes.



After tearing out the plants, I decided to bake the last of the squash. I'd been working out in the 110˚ temps, which apparently affected my memory and brain function. I forgot to pierce the skins,


which caused them to explode in the oven.


It is a little embarrassing when you have to call ADT and ask them to tell the fire department to ignore my smoke alarm.

Sorry to see most of the garden disappear, but honestly, I'm looking forward to the end of summer. It's been a long few months, and I'm ready for a change.



1 comment:

Jeff said...

The bugs on your squash look like squash bugs to me. Not sure what the control for those might be since I haven't had those in my garden.