Our Garden: A Horror Story

I have to say that I'm surprised our garden even lasted this long. We don't have a lot of room in our side yard, and since it is a side yard, it only gets a small amount of sunshine each day. But last spring we took the chance... and it was glorious.

Baby plants and watering boots

We planted my favorites: tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, jalepenos, and five different herbs. June even pitched in to help watering it. It became her first chore. She loved it.

Sitting next to the garden, eating Otter Pops to cure the afternoon blues.

The jalepeno plant didn't last long. We got to eat a total of three strawberries, the rest were eaten by ants before we picked them. The herbs were used in various dishes. The cucumbers grew beautifully, and were as crisp and juicy as ever.

Taking a break from the pool to admire the plants.

Then our tomatoes finally came in. I was thrilled. I couldn't wait to add them to salads, sandwiches, bruschetta, and pasta dishes. They were plump and green, and almost ripe.

Showing her our glorious tomatoes.

Then the unthinkable happened: One morning we woke up, and the top half of the plants were gone. We puzzled over this. The next day, William came outside to water them, and noticed a "cute", "little" green caterpillar. But upon closer inspection, that "cute" caterpillar was a Tomato Hornworm, and seemed to have brought friends... or an army? There were hundreds... okay, maybe 20ish, but they were eating and pooping and destroying our beautiful lush tomato plants. What once looked like an appetizing treat, turned into a bloodbath (when William tore out the plants and threw them into our garbage can).

What's left of our garden and the ENEMY.

Next time, we'll be ready... and by "ready" I mean we're not planting tomatoes ever again.

Note: Yes, I realize most of these photos were not really focused on the garden, but on June. Sorrynotsorry?