Hang your (slowly rotating plastic) head in shame. Continue reading Post #G21-040: A male problem.
Category: Garden
Posts about gardening and related topics, such as canning and maybe other aspects of food preservation.
Post #G21-039: Biblical garden update
Luke 13:6-9
I have two fig trees, planted maybe a dozen years ago. One is barren. The other now bears a nice crop of figs. The contrast looks like this: Continue reading Post #G21-039: Biblical garden update
Post #G21-038: Vine ripened tomatoes and some updates
Squash vine borer is still in the area. I am seeing fewer than I saw last year, but I’m still seeing them more-or-less daily. Continue reading Post #G21-038: Vine ripened tomatoes and some updates
Post #G21-037: Where are the Japanese beetles?
Edit: Perhaps Nature has a sense of irony. I went out to look at my garden just after noon today, only to find both Japanese beetles and a squash vine borer. So, as it turns out, I was just half-a-day early with this. And the stated range of dates for first emergence of Japanese beetles in Virginia is too narrow. Today, here, the Japanese beetles showed up on June 26.
Original post follows. I’m off to the hardware store for some beetle trap lures.
Sometimes problems are notable by their absence. Today’s question is, where are the Japanese beetles this year? Continue reading Post #G21-037: Where are the Japanese beetles?
Post #G21-036: Name that disease!
It’s rare to find a plant disease to your garden that can’t be identified with diligent internet search. This year, however, I have managed to achieve that.
The disease currently killing my summer squash started off as a dark-brown smear on some of the older leaves. That’s the center of the picture, below. It also produces a mottled brown discoloration of the leaves.
Whatever it is, once established, it seems to respect the leaf veins to some extent. To the left, it appears to be staying away from the major leaf veins. To the right, it actually outlines the minor leaf veins in brown. Continue reading Post #G21-036: Name that disease!
Post #G21-034: Lint roller, inspection mirror, toothbrush, and other gardening tools
This post is compendium of a few tricks that I’m applying in the garden this year, mostly picked up off the internet, and then a few notes on the state of my garden. Continue reading Post #G21-034: Lint roller, inspection mirror, toothbrush, and other gardening tools
Post #G21-033: 1000 growing degree days and the squash vine borer
She’s back.
I would love to think of gardening as something that’s done by the calendar. Plant your peas (and potatoes) on St. Patrick’s Day. Don’t plant tomatoes before Mother’s Day. Mind your mayflies and your June-bugs. Continue reading Post #G21-033: 1000 growing degree days and the squash vine borer
Post #G21-032: Cucumber beetles, bee-proof sticky traps, neem oil.
This post follows on a series of posts regarding cucumber beetles. You can read the background in Post #G21-027.
(Source for photo: University of Kentucky).
This year, I have a plan of sorts for dealing with cucumber beetles. Continue reading Post #G21-032: Cucumber beetles, bee-proof sticky traps, neem oil.
Post #G21-031: An obvious marketing opportunity, missed.
I’m growing patty-pan squash for the first time this year. In doing my research, I got all kinds of information about germination times, time to maturity, disease resistance, and so on.
What nobody bothered to tell me is how darned cute the fruit are. At least, for this variety. Based on what I’ve seen pictured, I was all set to harvest fruit that looked like some sort of alien starfish. But mine are turning out to be cute little yellow pumpkins. Seriously, I was expecting ugly, and I got this instead.
Post #G21-030: Bee-proof sticky traps, and potential solutions to a cucumber beetle problem
This is a followup to Post #G21-029, where I made some bee-proof cages for yellow sticky traps. By surrounding a sticky trap with 1/8″ mesh hardware cloth, I hoped to catch cucumber beetles and not catch bees, butterflies, or other beneficial insects. Continue reading Post #G21-030: Bee-proof sticky traps, and potential solutions to a cucumber beetle problem