I figured out what has been attacking my beans lately. The edge of the leaves looked liked they had little half moon munches out of them. No trace of eggs or anything and just on the beans on the yard side of the beds were hurting. The culprit is way cuter and much easier to forgive then a caterpillar. though, Ivy has been pulling herself up on the edge of the raised bed, reaching over and nipping holes in the edges of the leaves with her little fingers. I caught her red (green?) handed by Damian’s bed the other day.

Other then a few lost beans and some actual pest damage to my kale, the garden is in full swing. The tomatoes are ripening, the zucchini is producing steadily, the corn’s tassels are developing and the pumpkins and winter squash are blooming. All the Autumn crops are all up and running, carrots, peas, radishes and late beans.

Other then ripping out my daffodils (I moved some recently to the bench area, I think he is trying to copy what I did…) Damian is becoming quite the little garden helper. He can identify all the plants I want to keep in the back corner herb and flower bed and knows anything else gets pulled out (though he asks first.) He has also helps me put down leaf mulch and now has a harvest duty too. He picks the mint for our herbal iced tea. Sturdy plants are good for young children and mint has got to be one of the sturdiest there is. Daffodils are resilient too for the record.

My Black Krim tomatoes are heavy with fruit but still ripening, but I have harvested a few Italians and Beam’s Yellow Pears. The Italians are so dense, hardly any seeds, and packed full of flavor. This little one weighed almost 10 ounces. The variety does seem susceptible to blossom end rot, but only one of my two plants had it badly. I changed my watering habits and sprinkled crushed eggshells under it and it seems to have fixed the problem for the most part. The Beam’s Yellow Pear plants are loaded down with fruit and just starting to ripen, we have only harvested two or three so far. I like them but I wish they were a little sweeter, maybe that will change as more ripen though.

Shannon gave me several raspberries plants this Spring and I didn’t expect to get any fruit of them this year, but I noticed while watering the other day that they were covered with flowers and fruit. However either the ravens or Damian keeps getting them just as they ripen, so no measurable harvest there. I won’t worry about bird (child?) netting until next year though. The Brown-Eyed Susans Shannon gave me are also blooming. They look stunning beside the hot pink echinacea my Grandma sent me. I need to look them up though, are they annuals, biannuals or perennials? Should I let them self-sow or collect the seed? I definitely want to keep them in the garden, the bees and I adore them, but I don’t want them everywhere.

I want to thank everyone who gave me advice for the bench garden area. I am leaning towards an Arctic Beauty Kiwi. Spring Hill Nursery sells both male and female plants and they are hardy to zone 3. Only the males have variegated leaves but I like the idea of having both (the female along the sunny back fence by the corner garden) because then I could get fruit, which are apparently delicious.