Good
morning, this garden year should go a lot easier. I say this because
I will not be needing to do the long water days standing at the end
of a hose from 2 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon. I will
rejoice not having to do that anymore.
I
am in the process of adding an injector to the drip system. The main
purpose is so I can run vinegar through the lines to prevent calcium
build up in the drip tape. The second is so I can inject neem
products into the root zones to see if I can combat my root knot
nematodes from another angle. I am not delusional that I can
eradicate them but it would be nice to keep them to a manageable
level.
It
seems that last year they were more of a problem with my sweets than
the wire worms were. Even with the RKN, I was still able to get a
pretty good harvest. I think that says more about sweet potatoes than
anything; they are a very productive crop even with adversity!
This
injector will also be able to control cucumber beetle larvae.
Cucumber beetles are unique in the bug world because the only life
faze of cucumber beetles that is not harmful to plants is the egg
stage. Cucumber beetles and larvae are known to introduce pathogens
into plants when they feed on them. This then leads to the plants
demise. Exclusion is not an option with the cucurbits because they
need insects to pollinate them. So unlike self fertile veggies and
greens that can be covered all the time, the cucurbits need to be
exposed.
Unlike
leaf hoppers that are the vector for Western Curling Disease, where
their host plants are native vegetation, cucumber beetles hosts are
vegetables. Soooo in theory they should be controllable.
Wow!
The Earth Day Celebration was a happening event. What a great turn
out of vendors and patrons alike. It has made all the difference in
the world since moving the event fro Kokernott lodge to Murphy
Street. The prior location was a good one but Murphy Street is so
much more accessible. I so much look forward to next year.
Please
mark your Calendars YT Ranch grass fed beef will be back the 30th
of May.
Looking
forward with the weather forecasts it does appear that we will by
Friday start getting highs in the 80's and overnight lows in the 50's
so maybe my summer veggies will begin to mature.. This is the push
that the garden needs to complete the winter to summer veggies. I see
the spinach and peas in a slow motion crash, and the summer veggies
are just hanging out and in no rush to mature. I continue to harvest
immature unpollinated summer squash because there are NO male
flowers yet. Maybe next week?
Mondays
cold front will not help with this ripening. Tuesday night I felt
would be the night that it might freeze. It was a challenge but I did
manage to get the garden well tucked in and then after diner the
fruit trees were covered. Tuesday night was not a sound sleep and I
got up at 2 AM the thermometer was at 38 and dead calm. By 5 AM the
temperature was 33. Just before sunrise the mercury dipped to 32 and
then rose to 32.5. A splitting hairs thingy. When I went out in the
garden there was a hard frost on all of the fabric along with the
covers on the trees. It appears the only freeze damage was the leaves
that were touching the fabric. Other than that all is fine. This
sine curve weather is playing havoc with the laddies. Egg production
seems to ebb and flow from week to week. I sooooooo hope this is the
last hissy fit.
Veggie
orders may take some creativity to fill this week. Thank you for your
patience!!!
Last but not least Is a note from Isabel Whitebread who is raising money for the Alpine Community Garden
I have the information for the online fundraiser we are conducting to help Alpine Community garden.
We are raising money to complete a shade structure for the gardeners, get our hands on natural weed suppressants like heavy gravel, add a picnic table, etc. All of the extra info is on the donation webpage.
I encourage anyone to contribute what they ca to this wonderful asset to the Alpine Community mark
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