Welcome to Day 22 of my 30 Day Challenge: How to Start a Vegetable Garden.

It's been a few days since I've published an article on my 30 Day Challenge. There has been very little activity in the garden aside from watering, weeding, and some tender loving care.

However, I have come across a few surprises in the last week that I wanted to share with my fellow challenge participants.

ANTS!

Since the professional tree removal team has not yet removed our rather tall tree that is shading my raised bed, I decided it was time to move all of my containers into a more sunny area. Upon moving one of my containers of carrots, I found a large infestation of ants!

Oh, how I wish I had my camera to take a picture of this for you all. I'd say there were between 50 and 100 ants that were living under this pot that was resting on a wooden pallet. But what surprised me most was the white "larva" that these ants were rapidly transporting.

After many Google images and articles, I learned that these were in fact eggs and I had just disturbed a new colony! Some ant spray and ant traps later, and the situation is improved. However, I still see more ants that I'd like around my raised bed so I think I need to lay more traps.

POTATO FLEA BEETLES!

A few days later, I was exploring my garden and noticed small holes in a few of the leaves of my potato plants. Another Google image and article search, and I learned I have a very small infestation of potato flea beetles!

As you can see from my picture, the damage is minor and based on everything that I have read, the beetles will not cause much damage to either the plant or the tubers. The only time there is cause for concern is if the infestation is large and causing major damage to the plant (causing it to die) or if the beetles are attacking a rather young seedling that is not strong enough to fight off the bugs.

Should the larva attack the tubers, you might find some surface damage to the skin of the potatoes (looks like small lines that do not run deep). Occasionally, the larva may burrow into the tuber. But, most of the time damage is on the surface of the tuber and does not affect the crop.

Since my beetles are few and far between and my potato plants are growing strong, I'm not worried that the beetles will damage my crop. However, I have researched the proper chemicals to use to treat them and plan to go to the local garden center to read more about my options should infestation become a problem.

To be honest, I am more worried about the potato flea beetles infesting my tomato plants (which they like to do) than their affect on my potato plants. I believe the potatoes and tomatoes are planted far enough apart to not be a problem, but I'm going to keep an eye on the tomatoes just in case.

30 Day Challenge

Another week where I learned a lot about my garden and the tiny little things that inhabit it.

In addition to caring for my garden and starting a new project: researching and seeding sweet potatoes, I have been picking and preserving strawberries this week. You'll see lots of information on both of these from me soon, so stay tuned.

Our gardens should provide us with plenty of fruits and vegetables for canning this year and I plan to provide my followers with as much information as possible so they too can preserve their harvest for the winter.

Follow along on my gardening and canning journey. And please keep me updated on your gardens - I enjoy hearing about them and learning from you all!