Your plants generally look healthy in the photos and bugs are a normal part of gardening. They only become a concern when the damage they do is severe - yours isn't - of when there are lots of them. Your melon leaf in the first picture shows some signs of very early Downey Mildew (the yellow spots). Otherwise I wouldn't worry about the problems you have described. Splits in stems aren't caused by bugs but by inconsistent soil moisture levels. Just leave them alone and they will usually scab over. The stem base damage in your last pic is due to slugs or snails and there are organic controls for them but it doesn't seem to be hurting the plant. New gardeners too often over-react and that can lead you to doing more harm than good so developing some patience and tolerance for less than perfection goes a long way toward successful gardening. :) Dave

Thanks Kimmsr, for that dense and concise post. I wish I could be more concise. [g] Very good advice. Even after gardening organically for 30+ years, I appreciate the reminder of growing plants that attract beneficials. You can never have too many. I'd like to encourage the OP that it is a journey and a very rewarding one to go chemical free. When I started gardening I was fascinated to discover that there was a whole ecology in my backyard. And while I make the effort to identify pests when I see them, often I just accept that there will always be more that I don't know than I know. I try to leave the garden to work out the balance itself because they know what they are doing better than I do. I try not to interfere unless the damage is major and even then, I search for a non toxic solution. On the other hand, I do try to see what my role is and work at that. Long ago, I took to heart the often repeated advice, to improve the soil with organic matter. The more I have worked at that the more I have seen my garden evolve in a positive direction. I also pay attention to growing clean and keeping up with the weeds, mulching, taking care of any disease issues quickly and growing varieties that are resistant to disease. I am focused on adding plant material that attracts beneficial insects and when that works out, it makes me very happy to see that. I'm always looking to add more and more. This year, I have more parsley and dill for the small parasitic wasps that take care of a lot of pests. I add alyssum for those small predators. Lots of long blooming perennials around the vegetable garden for the bees. I keep trying to sequence the bloom so there is always something to feed the beneficial insects. I've seen aphids on plants disappear in a week after ladybugs had a feast on them. I still get leaf miners on my columbine, but I cut all the foliage back to the ground after bloom and they grow a fresh batch of pristine, leaf miner free foliage. The leaf miner leaves go in the trash. I still get small amounts of Oriental Beetles which I knock into soapy water to dispose of them. Same with Red Lily Beetles and used the same technique two seasons in a row when I was overrun with earwigs. So it's learning as you go how to manage your garden in a different way. You won't get that in one season, it takes time. I haven't used any chemicals beyond an occasional home made spray made up of 1 drop of soap, garlic & red pepper. And in 30 years I can count on one hand the number of times I've used that. Later today, I'll take a photo of one of my vegetable beds that is looking pretty good at the moment and post it here. Interestingly, I was forced to purchase organic soil for raised beds when we increased the size of the vegetable garden in the spring. I was curious to see how the beds that had the soil from our old vegetable beds grew in comparison to beds with the new soil. There were two large beds of our soil and three large beds of new soil. Every year in our old beds the peppers were wonderful. Full, bushy plants with a very good amount of peppers. This year I planted peppers in the new soil and the peppers are pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. I don't think there's anything wrong with the soil. It is organic soil that had 10% organic compost added to it and other organic amendments. It does seem to have a higher clay content then mine. The water is puddling on the top of the beds when it rains. But I can stand over the beds with the soil from my old beds and spray the hose full force with the nozzle set to shower and the water just drains right down even standing there for 15 minutes. So I am about to pull those peppers. They are not going to produce much if anything and I don't want to have the same problem next year, so I'm going to add more compost and sow a cover crop, let it grow until the end of the season and turn it in come Fall. It won't be perfect next season either, but I'm on the road to improving it and at some point it will be as good as what I had in my old beds. Am I disappointed that I'm not going to have peppers this year? Sure. Peppers are one of our favorite crops. But I know it's a temporary setback and an investment in next season's garden to work it out this way now. I spent a lot of time reading books. First, the book by Ruth Stout on the no work garden. Later, Eliot Coleman's books on organic gardening. I'm sure there are a ton more books to read, but I spent a lot of time on GW in the Organic Gardening forum, many years ago when there were a lot of very dedicated organic gardeners happy to answer questions. I'm happy that I did, it's worked out very well for me. Good luck!

Rain, I am sitting here trying to imagine you in a black pointed hat chanting some kind of rhym that will give your potient more power. Unfortunately I have to fence in the garden now. They have gotten into my peppers and just gutted a couple of them. I am going to try the chicken wire and one of those big plastic owls first. But they are in the process of digging up my front lawn and I am getting really pissed. Especially since I live in one of those housing tracts that has an association. They tell me I have to repair the grass soon or I will get a fine. Yep those cute little floppy eared bunny rabbits. Just doing what nature taught them to do. Well, Iam going to do what my larger brain mass has taught me to do. If the pellet rifle does not get them then I will use something that does. And I am not into live traps. I'll just dispose of the evidence so that any PETA nut jobs don't give me hard time. Money is tight enough as it is, I don't need those so called cute little sweet bunnies terring up my yard - ESPECIALLY MY VEGGIE GARDEN!!! You get my drift? tom Tom

If the paint isn't drying on the door. I think you may have to remove it at least in the problem areas. I think I'd get a bunch of old rags, and wipe off as much of the paint as you can with paint remover or something like that, to remove as much of the problem paint as possible before continuing. I'm sure the guys at the paint store could recommend something for this. After you remove what you can. Make sure the surface cures before you continue. You might even want to do a good light sanding over the surface, but it may not be necessary if you are planning to prime. There are several other things that might help, but this is what I'd do, if it were me, because I think it would be simplest. One more thing. After you try to remove the non-adhering paint, you might want to wipe the whole thing down with alcohol, to clean any residue off. Good luck.