Mass Destruction

I have never despised cute furry creatures so much. When the rabbits mowed down all of my beautiful crocuses this year, I let it go. When somebody had a field day in the bean,pea, and melon patches, I let it go. But not this time....this time I am holding a grudge. Here are my discoveries made today out in the garden, the destruction is massive. I feel as though these images should come with a 'WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES TO FOLLOW' sign.

(I know I am being a bit dramatic but in a matter of days I may have had an apple tree and a grape vine destroyed to the point of no return by little teeth. I am desperately hoping this will not be the case.)

OK, first discovery: the Mexican Bean Beetles have arrived.

Secondly: my little vine was further defoliated over the evening. Only a handful of leaves remain. I immediatly wrapped it in row cover and emptied my vacuum canister around the perimeter (dog hair)....I don't know what else to do.

Third discovery: bark stripping (by now I am walking in circles, fuming). Thankfully it is not girdled, but there is a lot of damage here. (Spitzenburg Apple)


Fourth: This is the other tree, thankfully not as severe.
(Liberty Apple)



And the big five: More pest and disease pressure. The Spitzenbug has so many things to fight right now. There is quite a pit of pest damage here, and also some disease which I have yet to pinpoint, a few lesions are visible in this photograph.


The one and only positive discovery- we have cantaloupe blossoms! This is the only vine of any size worth mentioning, and the only one flowering at the moment.

I am so angry with myself for not protecting the tree trunks, but I thought bark eating was a seasonal issue, meaning that as long as they were protected come Fall all would be good. Wrong. I tried an OMRI approved insecticide on the affected tree but it isn't reducing the pest pressure any. I was not yet willing to pull out the 'big guns', but finding the bark damage today has changed that. This evening we will be wrapping the trunks in mesh and spraying some nasty chemicals. I am thinking of having one of us hold up a barrier behind the tree as we spray so as to contain the droplets as much as possible. I will also spray at dusk when fewer beneficials are active. In a day or two I will follow it up with a foliar spray of fish and kelp emulsion and then just keep my fingers crossed that the damage is repairable, and that there will not be more in the future.

Tomato Disease Identification, Garden Update

Upon venturing out to the garden today I found more bad news in what looks to be Early Blight on my Yellow Pear Tomatoes.

I will have to do a bit more research, but upon quick inspection on this site, (which is one of my favorites for tomatoes), I appear to have a match. It would make sense with all this wet weather, I think disease is really starting to set in in many Northeast gardens. I am contemplating a weekly spray to try and combat already existing and future diseases with Serenade Garden Spray. Next year I will be sure to have a copper solution ready as well.

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My strawberries are all over the place. The $30 spent at Johnny's for 2 bunches of plants (Honeoye and Cabot) for the hanging bags is turning out to be a bust. They have been producing lots of fruit, but with all the rain most of them have gotten moldy before they ripen. This problem started later for me than most folks in my area since they are off the ground, but because of the plants immaturity they also set fruit later than established plants. I chose to not pinch off flowers their first year as you typically would since they are hanging; the plants are unable to send off runners therefore the theory is they have a bit more energy to send to the roots and developing fruit.

The plants are not as bushy as those that were planted in the ground in the beginning of June as ground cover (click here), however that batch was picked up locally and were already quite large. They have been sending off runners like crazy and I am having a hard time keeping up with the flower pinching. Even the runners are sending up bunches of pink flowers which I spent quite a bit of time removing this morning. There are a handful of berries that snuck by me and they are starting to turn, I am actually looking forward to trying one these mystery variety berries if the birds don't get to them first.

Lanky Strawberry plants in hanging bags

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I did a bit of harvesting today as well. I desperately need to cut more lettuce but the CSA has been keeping our crisper drawer well stocked with greens, so my garden waits. I had one tomato ready for picking on three different plants, one Big Beef, one Juliet, and one Sungold. What gives? The size of the fruits is noticeably smaller than earlier in the season, another side effect of our weather no doubt (I think I have a case of The Incredible Shrinking Tomatoes!).

Maybe the cool night temperatures are to blame? Mid fifties is a common occurrence lately. Along with the singleton tomatoes is a very lonely strawberry and a trio of cukes. I certainly don't have enough to make pickles so it looks as though they will be destined for the salad plate. Johnny's Seeds does recommend picking these 'Northern Pickling' cukes "frequently at a small size". Hmm, maybe these are already to big?