I just wanted to share the beautiful gift I received from my friend, Janet, today. During a conversation, last week, I mentioned that Japanese beetles were nipping off the flowers on my eggplant, so the flowers were falling to the ground instead of producing fruit. Janet suggested that I apply a soap wash to the plants to deter the hungry little buggers, and it seems to have worked. Today, Janet paid me a visit and brought me a little gift: her first eggplant of the year and a tomato called a Granny Smith which grows to a beautiful shade of green. Thank you for your generosity, Janet!
You can see the damage caused by the Japanese beetles on the leaves of this plant. Since spraying the plant with the soap wash and sprinkling some cayenne papper on the ground around the plant, the insects have fled, and I now have my first eggplant fruit on the stalk! Since I want to avoid using insecticides, I am happy that the soap wash worked!
My Indiana Garden 