Going Loopy Over Loopers!!!

Happy May Everyone! I can't believe it's May already....

I've been negligent in posting updates about my garden. Most of you who give me feedback tell me you can't wait to hear about the gardening progress. Even though I've been babbling on about everything else under the sun, I HAVE been working in the garden every single day. Now that my garden has grown from one bed to three it does take a lot more work. At this point I have to water every other day and it takes about an hour or so. I don't mind that part though ~ in fact, it's quite fun. The interesting part this year has been my ongoing battle with the cabbage loopers. I only have one red cabbage plant and two broccoli plants. I decided to experiment before planting any more. Good thing! First off the plants are HUGE. And even though they've been in the ground for six weeks, there is not one head in sight. The cabbage leaves are as large as my head. Humongous. The more important part though is that I do have cabbage loopers. My approach so far has been to manually remove them from the plants. I don't want to spray (even organic spray) and I will avoid it at all costs. Lucky for me, I have a secret weapon. Her name is Sophie. She and I usually spend about 15-20 minutes a day searching for loopers, removing them and then disposing of them (although Sophie doesn't know about that part!). Sophie has gotten over her silly little temporary fear of bugs. In fact she asks me to "go look for worms" every day. She has an uncanny ability to spot ones that I simply look right over. Loopers are AMAZING little creatures. They are the EXACT same color as the stems on the plants. Sometimes they are nearly impossible to see. Sophie has superpower eyesight....she hones in on one and has it off before I can even lift my head. Yesterday we found a large one and I observed it for a while before yanking it off the plant. I was amazed at how fast it was eating a hole into my beautiful cabbage leaf. I definitely see why they are one of the most problematic pests for veggie growers. They can do serious damage fast. Yesterday I pulled off two worms that were covered in a silky string which means I caught them in early pupating stages. It's all so fascinating. I love that my daughter is getting some HANDS ON biology lessons at age three. And me too!!! Although I won't mention how old I have become.

SO, as of May 3rd, our garden has the below plants:

Veggies:
Beans, Scarlet Runner ~ started from seed
Broccoli
Cabbage, Red
Cucumber, Pickling
Lettuce (I don't enjoy growing lettuce and won't do so again next year)
Radishes, Early Scarlet with White Tip ~ started from seed
Red Pepper
Spring Onions
Tomatoes, Better Boy, Cherokee Purple, Sungold and Yellow Pear
Zucchini

Fruit:
Cantaloupe

Herbs:
Basil, Red Rubin and Sweet
Bee Balm
Chamomile
Chives
Lavender
Oregano
Rosemary
Spearmint

Flowers:
Ivy Geraniums
Loads of Petunias
Shasta Daisies ~ started from seed
Wildflower Mix ~ started from seed

It's quite rainy today so I'll take some pictures soon and post them.