September 17, 2015

Good morning, this is an interesting reprint from the year after the 2011 drought

9/27/2012

Good morning, It is hard to believe that another year is swiftly coming to an end. What a ride this year has been. Hands down it has been my most productive. I can visually see this just by looking at the cases of can goods that Deb and I have put by. Not to mention the weekly harvests and trying to get it all in the frig to cool. It was a welcomed change from last year, which by the way had been my most productive year up until this year. I think that the timing of the rains was perfect. I do not think that we will hit the historical yearly precipitation average but 13 inches has been just a little bit of heaven.

I am glad that I got my summer veggies in by the middle of March because the “angry season “ seemed to start early by the middle of April. It was a welcome shot in the arm that we got the big rain in May. I am not sure that I could have handled two and a half solid months of blistering heat, especially after all of last year.

With the heat of June I did loose some tom blossoms but not a whole fruit set like last year. I had adapted my watering techniques to better suit the veggies. Watering or the lack there of was one of the big lessons that I learned from last year.

With the rains of July, the greening of the hillsides was not too far behind. What a wonderful relief. After a year of brown and looking at all the huge burn areas almost made one think “will it always be like this?”. The rains not only provided the means for the wonderful greening but was the key ingredient for a huge insect hatch. This year was over the top. This is my thoughts as to why. 2010 was a moist year, this is what made for a good insect crop and they left their legacy as eggs. Last year there was no rain but the insects were protected in their egg cases ( I suspect like weed seed they can remain viable until conditions become conducive for hatching, maybe years). I think the drought reduced the beneficial insect population. When the rains came the ball court was theirs and boy did they play. I managed to keep my head above water until the squash bug population exploded. It is rare that you have a bug name that directs you what to do with them. All the squashing did not seem to control them, although I think it was quite therapeutic. I do not think they will be as bad next year but I will have to revise my control procedures toward them. I am formulating plans. There will be a sequel on squash bug control in the future.

After the demise of my cucurbits at the mouths of squash bugs, the summer veggies began to slow. This was merely coincidence, the cause was cool nights. The fall and winter veggies are liking the cooler nights and are responding accordingly. I am still hoping that the transition will be smooth.

As this year winds down, I find it is time to start planning for next years garden December is not to far off and it will be time to start my chile and tom seedlings for February transplant to the cold frame. Ah what a wonderful circle.

The new chard bed is doing quite fine but I seem to be battling aphids in the new kale bed. I do not know if I am giving too much or not enough attention but I am leaning towards to much. Some times just letting things be is all that needs to be done. I think that this is a reflection of how I have been at war with bugs all summer and that maybe I need to sit back, breath deep, reseed, and reset my focus. Worst case scenario is there will not be a lot of kale for awhile longer. Shucks, gosh darn geewilikers!

How funny the more things change the more they stay the same!! 2015 has been a very buggy year too.

With last weeks”cooling” (I use that word loosely), I managed to get a good portion of my fall sowing done. I am seeing emergence and the percentages are looking favorable. I will have a better idea once they start developing the first leaves. I seeded heavy so that I can transplant if there are holes in the plantings. I am still a bit apprehensive about the parsnip and spinach sowing. Both of these veggies do not like hot weather to germinate. If the parsnips don't take there will not be parsnips this year. They are a long crop that NEEDS to be harvested before growth resumes in the spring. Regrowth causes them to turn woody. Most parsnip seeding instructions have them being sown in the spring and then harvested in the fall. Cool to cold weather is what makes them sweet. We do not get much of a real cool down until the middle of November and last year the cool down did not happen until Christmas. BOY did it when it did!!! My concern of sowing in the spring is that these would be huge roots (several pounds) and would not be merchantable due to their size. So I opt for gourmet baby parsnips. As for the spinach, I can reseed once the day time highs start to be in the mid to lower 80's. It is pushing it right now but sure would like to start harvesting in October. Time will tell.

This has been a very odd year and I would not to expect anything different with the fall. Long range forecasts has our winter this year to be De Ja Vue all over again. I hope for snow and not ice, or at least that is my vote!

And one last note. The Alpine Farmers Market now has Tee shirts for sale. The Logo is the chalk drawing done by Deirdre Hanlon-Jones of Lo & Behold Photography. They are $15 dollars plus sales tax. There is a nice selection of sizes. Proceeds will go for market improvements like a very nice sized tree, more canopies , or tables.

 

By the by, You thought it felt a bit warm lately NOAA has this September as the second warmest since 1930!