Oh my Helen! I'm glad it wasn't a copperhead. It amazes me how much scarier a snake is if you don't see it until the last second like that. I would've screamed too.

I haven't posted any pictures of my baby frogs this year. I have tadpoles in my stocktank which are turning into little frogs. There were four on my zucchini when I was looking for squash bugs. The squash bugs are bigger than the frogs. I also saw a stiped snake and a big spider in my one remaining squash plant and thought to myself Oh good helpers. Then I realized the snake was there to eat my frog babies. I moved the frogs to flowers. What a struggle to be organic.

Helen,it is a struggle to just garden, period.

I stepped on a snake going to the mail box several years ago....barefooted. That cured me of going barefooted outside ever.

So far, I have no squash bugs....I did find one harlequin shaped one that I killed. I check the planted every morning. Of course, I am cheating; I use Sevin dust.

I buy the red bottle of Sevin that connects to the hose - so easy to use, but I only use it to kill cicadas that attract copperheads. That is on grass under the elm tree where they always come up. I haven't used any sprays so far this season on anything I eat. I have nice big tomatoes rotting because of worm holes and squash bugs killing a cucumber. I saw zucchini for sale in Wal-Mart yesterday and thought there is no way they grew that without spray. I am about to use something.

The only way professional growers could raise anything is with pesticides. At least with my way, I know what and when and only use it when I see something on the plants.

I don't spray tomatoes anymore and haven't for about three years. Once in a while I find horn worms and just pick them off or cut them with the pruners. No spray for disease has every worked for me with tomatoes. I don't do anything to sweet corn and the worms have not been a real
problem..so far.

I am finding more Japanese Beetles each day. Here is what they did with a VA creeper climbing the house....almost overnight. I do a sweep of the yard and garden daily.

I have that too on Virginia Creeper that is covering my honeysuckle Goldflame . I want it out of there so I didn't mind except that it is ugly. I need to pull that Virginia Creeper out anyway also they are on a pepper vine which takes over so that is good too. Not so good on rugosa rose petals.

I have a wild grape vine trying to eat the back corner of my house that the Japanese Beetles have been going after. I wish they would kill it because I haven't been successful so far. They only make it look bad.