oh-my-garden and other cool things

So much can happen in a few days. I have no idea what happened. I have no idea what happened. There are squash! Baby green tomatoes! the nasturtium flowered! There are plenty of zinnias flowering. The sunflowers have buds. And -- oh my gosh -- the beans have begun to trellis themselves!

Don't believe me? Let me show you.

So check it out. These little things are Zephyr zucchini. They are yellow with a green tip -- super cute. P says that they'll be ready in maybe two days. She thinks that two days might be too long! I can't believe that they've come in so fast. 

And our little bell pepper? We have a few of them growing. I don't know when they'll be ready, but they're creeping up! 

Whoo! They are soooo big and they are starting to bush. The zinnia will provide great cutting flowers. 

Look at these peas. Like, really, really look at these peas. The tendrils. Stare. Harder. I'll give you a hint: there are sunflowers behind them. 

Ok, I'll tell you. The peas began to trellis up the sunflowers. I meant for this to happen, so yesterday I went through with some string to try to tie the peas to the sunflowers, you know, kind of stick them together. Well, they weren't big enough. I left them alone. 

BUT THEY DID IT THEMSELVES!!! They started trellising themselves! So what does this mean? Do peas go straight for a trellis system?  Do they grow three inches in one day? I am just baffled by these dang peas. I have no idea. 

These radishes are growing right under the tomatoes. They are getting enough sun, but probably not for too much longer, just because the leaves of the tomatoes are growing so fast. So I'll have to harvest all of the radishes that are ready. They are so spicy. Probably spicier than any other radish I've ever had. They should probably be roasted. 

Does anyone know what to do with the greens? Radish greens should be so good. Maybe sautéed. They are kind of peppery with little hairs on the leaves. I was thinking about putting them on a sandwich or steaming them down. I'm seriously open for suggestions. The greens are beautiful. 

But close your eyes. Here is a super awesome surprise. 

Crinkly cucumbers! And -- guess what?! -- they're going through a trellis system. 

I put this trellis system in yesterday. It goes up so the cucumbers will always face the sun and so I can get underneath it. I am planning on growing something under it, maybe greens or carrots or something. Maybe those super spicy radishes. Anyway, I was really surprised to see that the cucumbers were going through the trellis system already. It's like they were made to go up it. 

So what's up with the tin foil? Yeah, it's bright and annoying. But it's an experiment.

Here is what I'm doing elementary style:

     Characteristics: Cucumber beetles and squash bugs like to eat my pretty garden goodies. Plenty of pesticides exist, but I don't think they are good. 

     Hypothesis: Preventing beetles and bugs by presenting them with things they don't like will deter them. 

     Predictions: Cucumber beetles and squash bugs will stay away when there is light presented to them. 

     Experiment: Because their homes are under the leaves, if light reflects off of tin foil the beetles or bugs will try to find a different place to destroy. 

I've also heard things about castile soap diluted with water and sprayed on the underside of the leaves. I am not going to try this idea for one reason: I don't want to deter beneficial insects. P's landlord should be getting honey bees it soon, for example. He is going to put them in our yard. What if they don't like castile soap?

What do you guys think about garden experiments? Is there anything thing that you'd like to try but can't?