june garden harvests & squash bugs

these are the days when we spend more time outdoors than indoors. in the late evenings & until dark you'll find us watering, pruning, weeding & harvesting in the garden. we're pulling up garlic & replacing it with sweet potatoes. you'll find us harvesting the bulb onions & seeding watermelons. 

we have also been filling our baskets to the brim with fresh food from the garden. right now we're harvesting the first of our tomatoes, green beans & cucumbers. i am creatively adding basil & onion to every dish we prepare. this week i spent less than $20 at the grocery store. i am always so thankful for the way our garden provides for us throughout the year. 

this week we are especially paying attention to our yellow squash & zucchini plants. it seems as though the squash bugs have paid a visit to our little garden & scattered their eggs throughout. 

are you familiar with squash bugs? squash bugs & aphids are among our worst garden pests here in the south. in the blink of an eye, these two will cause serious damage & disease. 

below is a photo of what squash bug eggs look like:

to maintain control over squash bugs in your garden, look underneath every leaf of your plants. if you find a cluster of squash bug eggs, squish every single one of them. they will make a popping nose when fully squished. there are plenty of ways to naturally kill squash bugs once they hatch, but the very best preventative measure is to kill them before they've hatched.

what are you harvesting in your garden? do you have any natural tips for dealing with pests in the garden? please share!

- natalie