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.

Herb Butters

(Note- For some reason Blogger is not editing correctly, I am unable to change/control paragraph spacing. My apologies!) Herb butters are a great way to put those left-over herbs to use. This past week I did two batches, one with basil and the other with parsley. The butters can add fresh flavor to pasta, vegetables, meats, or bread. Here are the recipes:

GARLIC BASIL BUTTER

1/2 C chopped, fresh basil; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1/4 lb. butter, softened; salt and pepper to taste.

Beat ingredients together in a small bowl, wrap into a cylinder and chill. Makes about one half cup. Recipe courtesy of The Complete Book of Sauces.

GARLIC & PARSLEY BUTTER

1-1/2 bunches parsley, stems removed
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 pound butter, diced into small cubes, cold

Place the parsley, garlic, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal chopping blade and pulse until evenly minced and well blended.
Add the cubed butter to the parsley-garlic mixture. Process, scraping down the sides as needed, until the butter is softened and mixture is well blended. The butter should be light green in color.
The butter may be placed into a ramekin, or shaped into a log and rolled in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready for use. Makes 2 cups. The butter can be held for at least a week in the refrigerator, or frozen for several weeks. recipe courtesy of the CIA.

I used some of the parsley butter to make mashed potatoes with Yukon Golds from the garden. The kids wouldn't eat them because of the green, but that just left more for us adults! I put the butters into freezer bags and press them flat. Then all I need to do is pull a bag from the freezer and break off what ever amount I need for my recipe.

My Green Friend and Foliar Spray

My friend Linna was on Emeril Green recently as a gardening expert. She is truly passionate about the subject, and in fact, she was the one who turned me on to Square Foot Gardening about 6 years ago. She convinced me that I could in fact go buy some soil, containers, and seeds and grow veggies on my deck! That first attempt at gardening had more failures than successes but it didn't matter, I was bit by the gardening bug.

So here she is, her TV debut:http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/emeril-green-2-indoor-gardening-tips-from-the-expert.html

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I went to Brix Bounty Farm yesterday evening for a talk about Foliar Spraying. It was very informative and I really enjoyed going for a walk through the fields to see some of Derek's battles with the soil. (Late Blight has made it's way to his farm as well, though just recently from the looks of it.) Here is some of what I took away from the experience:

• The purpose of foliar spray is to stimulate or nudge the roots to put out exudates (or acids). The exudate help various exchanges take place and break down the minerals and other matter in the soil making it easier for the roots to take it in. This does not require fertilizer or nutrients, it can be done with water mixed with sugar or a small amount of vinegar.
• The best time to spray is when the stomata on the undersides of the leaf are open (under clouds or fog, early AM and later in the evening).
• Recommended frequency: one time per week is ideal, but every two weeks is also sufficient.
• Humic Acid can be added for "chelation". Chelation has to do with ions and is quite complicated, but in short it helps make substances more available to plants and stabilizes soils.
• Organic Molasses provides sugar for the microbes.
• Ocean water can be used in diluted quantities to provide trace elements. (I now have a new use for my aquarium water after a water change!)
• Fresh grass clippings can be added to water to steep for about 10 days, then added to foliar as a Nitrogen source.
• The finer the mist the better= pump or back pack sprayers best.
• Lancaster Agriculture is a good resource for bulk natural and organic gardening products that can be hard to find elsewhere. He uses this company for things like organic molasses and mentioned there is a greater market for their products in PA from the Amish. They have a great reference on Soil Nutrients on their site.

Basically I am not spraying frequently enough. Past references had talked about spraying every couple of months or at certain stages, such as transplant, bud or fruit set etc...so I will be increasing my frequnecy along with adding some molasses to the mix. (In my opinion the best part about the molasses is its ability to cut down the yucky fish smell!!)

NOOOO!!

Something ate my grape's leaves, stripped three-quarters of the vine clean. Must be rabbits. Or mice. This plant has been in it's nursery pot inside my garden waiting to be planted for waaay too long and it was untouched. Yesterday we FINALLY built the trellis and planted the darn thing......the horror!

That was of coarse the longest vine, the one I was planning on keeping and turning into the main stem come next year. @!*#@ * rodents. Guess I should have tied it up last night instead of propping it off the ground with a pot.

Second Sowing

This weekend the peas were ripped out and some root vegetables were sown. The peas were still producing rather well but I have some succession sowings that are ready to be harvested so that made the decision easier. I picked up two new carrot varieties, Burpee's Short n' Sweet and Petite n' Sweet; both are recommended for growing in small spaces and heavy soils. I also sowed some Golden Beets. I went through all of my Chioggia seeds with out getting one beet, hopefully I will have better luck this time around.

I pulled another carrot today out of curiosity and was very happy to see that it was perfectly straight (I thought to take a picture after I had eaten a few bites).

We also built the grape trellis, but more on that later. This gorgeous creature was hanging around while I was ripping out the peas.

Potato Blight and The Great Gatsby

For eight years we have been spoiled by going to a yearly dinner at the Rosecliff Mansion in Newport RI. Many people are familiar with the ballroom since it was used to film scenes for the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby, The Betsy, High Society, True Lies, and Amistad. The structure and grounds are so grand, and truly amazing...this year I finally brought my camera along to capture a few photos:

The faces of these ceiling medallions (top right) have always creeped me out a little, they surround the perimeter of the ballroom so you are always being 'watched'.

One of the many beautiful statues of the grounds.

Another.

A rarely taken photo of husband and wife (one out of eight years isn't bad right? LOL)!


***

On to the nasties. Still not sure if this is late blight.

Late Blight Worries

I have been faithfully checking my garden daily for signs of late blight. Every spot makes me question it's origin. Today I found a few potato leaves that are making me nervous. I have been spraying a fungicide weekly as recommended but with almost daily rain fall it is just being washed away.

This site has been the best I have seen for photo IDs of late blight symptoms. I will go and compare my removed leaves to the photos, wish me luck!

The Carrot Files; Foliar Feed Day

The Carrot Files

There are mysteries that cannot be solved...

Date: 07/16/2009
Location: An undisclosed garden in Southeastern Massachusetts.

An extremely malformed carrot was pulled from what seemed to be loose, rubble free earth.

This case remains unsolved.

***

Did a foliar feed today with a fish & seaweed emulsion and Azomite. It has been a couple of months since the last one. I also did a compost tea shot for my nightshades that seem to be struggling a bit yesterday, and today I will do the asparagus bed. I have been using a non-aerated compost tea, just a days soak in the sunshine and into the soil it goes.

I ordered the Azomite powder through the NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) Bulk Order. It is something I had never heard of or seen locally, but I thought my new soil could benefit from some amending.

Azomite, powder (0-0-2.5, 5% Ca) Named for its A-to-Z of Minerals
including Trace Elements; contains over 67 minerals beneficial to plants and
animals. CR has grown better tomatoes since he started using Azomite and likes
it for corn and melons too. Now a standard supplement in garlic beds. Broadcast
at 300-600# an acre, approximately 1-2#/100 sq ft. Use in potting soil and
compost. Also recommended as a foliar feed; allow the heavier portion to settle
before adding to the sprayer. As a liquid fertilizer add 1 tsp/gal. Mined in
Utah, put through a 200 mesh screen. OMRI

Potato Problem Solved

The thing I love about gardening is that there is always more to learn. I have learned that my potatoes are probably just dying off naturally. They are an early variety and went in the ground around Easter, so this makes sense right? I have also learned that potatoes don't always flower. That explains a lot!

Interestingly enough if they do flower, the color of the petals indicates the color of the skin. White flowers mean white skin potatoes and colored flowers mean pinkish skins. It is common for Verticillium to be easily confused with the culms (stalks) dying back naturally. Potatoes will stop forming once soil temps reach 80 degrees and grow best in 60-70 degree F soils.

Lastly, Yukon Golds are known for their poor yields so finding lots of tiny taters mixed in with the big boys isn't that unusual.

The Garden Buzz

This busy bee was keeping me company as I did my garden walk through. It took many tries, but I finally caught a shot of it on the flower.


Some bumblebee fun facts: Did you know that male bumblebees have a tell tale fuzzy yellow mustache? (I didn't until now) The sex of this one will remain a mystery along with it's ability to sting. It is true that male bumblebees can not sting, they have 'boy bits' instead! The females however have the ability to sting repeatedly (no barbs) so take caution when looking for that mustache!

Bees go out foraging and mark the flowers they have visited with a scent. It seems as though bumbles will continually visit the same flowers, and at the same time avoid those that have been recently visited by other bees. The one I photographed had 'a full pollen basket', so it must have been nearing the end of it's foraging trip. Gotta love bees!

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That's the cucurbit bed. My little guy was gushing over how "soft and adorable" the flowers were, LOL. It turns out my cukes are a cold tolerant variety which explains their happiness compared with all others in the same family. I have also been very happy with the minimal vine length and spread. These are the Northern Pickling variety from Johnny's:

"A high-yielding, early variety for salads and pickling.
Medium green fruits bear early, and set heavily on short, space-saving vines. Fertilize well and pick frequently at a small size to maintain good color and fruit shape.Developed in Maine."

I had read somewhere to put foil at the base of your winter squash to deter the Squash Vine Borers. Anybody else ever tried this?

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Outie:

Innie:

(A result of the cold I believe.)