Pesky Pests!

The time has come. I must report on some sad dealings in my garden. I was optimistic and hoped that I would be the lone gardener who did not have to deal with pests and disease on my plants, but lo, it is not so.

We have leafminer activity on my yellow wax beans . . . and on my tomatoes . . . and on my potatoes. My homemade organic insecticidal soap does not seem to be working. Boo!

One morning I went out to water and found that some leaves on one of my zucchini plants had turned completely silver. I have no idea what this is. Anyone have any ideas? I pulled the two leaves off, and the plant looked normal for about four days before another leaf turned silver. They look healthy, otherwise, but I'm worried.

I think I have gray leaf spot on my tomato plants. When I first spotted it, it looked rather mild, like this:

But since I took these pictures, it has gotten worse. Now some of the leaves are turning yellow and curling up. NO NO NO NO! I've got to get some fungicide and hope that I've diagnosed this correctly (with a little help from Courtney).

However, no fungicide is going to keep the animals out of my garden. This morning, I found a green worm boring into one of my green tomatoes, and the one next to it was all eaten out. Gross! Also, the squirrels (birds? opossums?) have discovered my tomatoes. They've eaten or taken really nice bites out of four or five of them now. To add insult to injury, they do it just before they turn red--right before I pick them. DANG. IT. Nathan is building a cage that he will hopefully secure sometime soon to keep them out.

And my gardening woes begin....