The Good, the Bad & the Ugly ~ Garden Update

Let's start with the Good, shall we?!

Most everything has sprouted and is rapidly growing!  We've already eaten several zucchini, green peppers and lots of green beans, and the snap peas never even make it to the house...we eat them up on the way in!

These babies were so exciting to see hiding under the vine's leaves...the kids were beside themselves when they picked them!!  One weighed over 3 pounds!!  The other 2lbs9oz

Lots and lots of green beans to be picked.  So thankful to have diligent helpers!

 Now on to the Bad...

Does anyone know what kind of eggs these are??  We have found them all over our zucchini and yellow squash.  I'm assuming they're bad bugs so we intently look for them and squash them!

 And the Ugly...

What is happening to our zucchini?  As much success as we are having with them, we are having this happen!  It's also happening to our yellow squash.  Any thoughts?  

 And more Ugly...

What is rotting our green peppers?  Some are healthy, vibrant and yummy and then we have these all over too.  Is this a bug?  A bacteria?  Too much water?  I have no idea.

We have a farm binder that I created when we moved here to keep track of all yields and all expenses to help track our gains and our losses (or investments).  Everytime we bring something in from the garden we weigh it and record it.  At the end of the season we will add the weights of each individual vegetable up to see how much of our own food we grew and save money on!  

Everything on our homestead has a section in the binder...egg production, hen hatching/deaths, goat milk, bees, meat birds, rabbits, even dogs and cats.  It's a bit tedious in the beginning, but once you get used to pulling out the binder every day, it's now become a habit.  We also have kept ALL receipts for farm/garden/livestock related things to keep track of yearly expenses.  It has been very helpful to see where money is being put, and maybe where we should step back a bit...the bees for instance, are a wonderful addition, and in our opinion a must-have with fruit trees and a garden needing pollinating, but they have been the most expensive addition to our farm yet!  For those of you with homesteads that have several different things going on that need record keeping, I hope this inspires!  It was very easy to create once I knew what information I wanted to record.  I'd be happy to email my blank documents to any of you that want a copy for your own homestead!

I still can't get over the size of this thing!!!