It seems I cannot leave town or all heck breaks loose. Over the weekend, I went to Milwaukee to see some friends and returned to find that the deer had broken into the garden again. One of the stakes was knocked over, as was the Patchcrow (in case you were wondering why the t-shirt is now super filthy). They bit off the tops of some okra plants once again and nibbled on a couple of the tomato plants. They especially seem to like the cherry tomatoes. 

Also today, I discovered a few more squash bugs and now whiteflies too around the cucumber plants, but the plants seem to be doing well regardless. I sprayed more soapy water on the bugs and will check them out tomorrow.

This is overall a frustrating time for me pest wise: also while I was gone, my houseplants became infested with gnats so the boyfriend put them outside. I looked up some remedies and found one that suggested cloves, so I mixed water and ground cloves and sprayed the plants with the mixture. It seems to have worked, but I haven't brought them back inside yet. However, we still have gnats flying around the house even though the plants are gone and I cleaned up and removed potential attractions, such as the raisins (which were red grapes a couple days ago) under the chair and the half-full glass of stale Mountain Dew. I'm at a loss. I just want bugs to leave me alone. 

One thing is for certain: next year, I'm going to plant okra in the corners of my garden--outside the fence. I'll give the deer what they want and maybe they'll leave the rest of my plants alone.

Can you solve my problems? Do you have suggestions? Tell me in the comments!