smash! I mean, squash!

(Hulk! Smash! Poor Hulk and Smash, RIP. I hope they are in hermit-crab heaven, crawling through rocks and eating lettuce and never losing any claws.)

Pretty squash blossoms apparently grow pretty yellow squash:


But they also mean my first (possibly) major gardening challenge, which is not pretty:
That, I believe, is damage from my now-mortal enemy, the uncreatively named squash bug. They are grey and white and made of pure evil that wants to eat through my gigantic squash leaves. The only organic way to kill them, apparently, is by squashing (ha ha) them and picking off their little bastard eggs. I did that, twice, and knock on wood, they don't seem to have dramatically increased in number since the first time I saw them. But I'm on to you now, squash bugs. I have your squashy buggy number.

The very first baby yellow peppers:
They are not looking particularly yellow yet, are they. But they are awfully cute.

The transplanted basil seedlings are doing nicely:
I now have basil at three different stages, and the biggest plants (the ones from seedlings) are wanting to flower. I have been pinching the new growth off mercilessly and made my first round of pesto, which was not entirely successful, and I am not entirely sure why.

Some new cats in town:
The grape tomatoes have made their first appearance. They grow all clustered together and spaced really haphazardly, as you can see.

That is quite unlike their compatriots, the cherries, who seem to have a passion for orderly spacing:
They have grown, no?

And finally, the big guys make some progress:
Those are the Jetsetters, I think, although the Keepsakes and the Green Zebras all have some fruit as well... probably about 20 small tomatoes in all, not counting the grape and cherries.

I didn't take a picture, but the late-planted tomato seedling from my neighbor, which I posit is sungold tomatoes, also has several little guys on it, despite the fact that I think I stunted its growth by keeping it in a too-small pot for too long. The full-size mystery plants from my neighbor continue to be more gigantic yet less productive than the others, although I think that J. and I did find one tiny fruit on one of those plants as well during yesterday's weeding extravaganza. My parents are coming to visit this weekend and I am going to show them the garden, so it has to be all presentable-like.

My secret wish is to have a cherry tomato or two ready to pick when we go out there on Saturday, although I think that is not to be. Gardeners to the south who have already eaten some of their tomatoes: Is the reddening process slow or quick? They lighten gradually and then turn red, right?