March 31, 2016

Good morning, yes the garden is just about fully planted.. Once the sweet potato sets arrive the middle of April, I will be. There will be a few beds that are fallow, but these are for succession plantings or to be solarized. Last year I had planned to do some solarizing, but the dry sunny heat was delayed into July and by that time I had gotten over it. I plan to do some this year. It would nice to compare solarizing nematode control to the use of chemigating with Azaguard.

Azaguard uses the hormones that are extracted from cold pressed neem oil when clarified hydrophobic neem oil is manufactured.. I am using this to inject into my drip system because it does not have the oily film that is associated with cold pressed neem oil. Cold pressed neem oil would clog my drip system.

This will be very interesting.

Last year I did some chemigating in some of my more severely infected beds and did not see the severe detrimental effects of the nematodes until water was being withheld to ripen late season toms. This lack of visible nematode evidence during the growing season could have been due to the drip system providing deep regular water. Time will tell when this springs plants are removed in the fall and the roots can be examined. With the minimal amount that I did use Azaguard last year, I was quite surprised with the positive results that I got. I am anticipating to see what following the recommended applications will provide. It would be wonderful if the results are better than solarizing. Solarizing, at best conditions the top 6 to 8 inches of the soil horizon. Chemigation could potentially treat the whole root zone since it would be delivered during a water cycle. The solarizing process requires a trench to be dug around my 45 foot X 4.5 foot beds. It is a job to say the least. The bed needs to be as flat as possible so that the film is in contact with the soil. Then the bed needs to be deep watered and clear film stretched over the bed and the edges buried in the trench. Chemigating is a lot less exhausting.

I will always have root knot nematodes but it would be nice if their presence were to be just a little less so. Lucky for me my soil is a clay / loam instead of sand. The finer soil particles does inhibit their movement even though my soil holds water better than sand. I guess it is the larger voids between the sand particles that helps the nematodes with their mobility. Even so we are talking inches of travel each year unless they hitchhike on the back of shoes, tools, fowl.... or are flushed out after a heavy rain. So with any luck I can move these puppies into more of a footnote instead of a page long exclamation.

There are so many veggies that are “just about” . I anticipate that I will harvest chard, kale, spinach (the heat is taking a toll), lettuce, carrots, green onions, and snow peas. Also I have some sun chokes and some butternuts.

The anticipation for snow peas has been building for a couple of weeks now. With the warmer weather the harvest window will be a short one. Sadly when we had the real cold overnights a few weeks back, the first pea blossoms were frozen and it has taken a bit for them to regain this lost ground.

On another note there are the first green tomatoes enlarging, along with bean blossoms, and the summer squash should starting blooming any day.

It is that time of year where I may need to put duplicates in the bags so that orders can be filled. This should be short lived. Mother Nature does have the last word though.

March 28, 2016

avalanche column

March 10, 2016

 

Pill bugs are seldom a problem, but when they are they can be devastating.

These guys are digesters of compost and as long as there is moisture and compost they are pretty happy. This keeps them away from seedlings.

They are built like little armadillos and are not affected by much. Unlike many other bugs they can live up to 2 years. In northern latitudes they have 2 to 3 broods a year consisting of 30 to 40 young (I suspect in the south these numbers are only a start).This can make for some huge populations. And they are not a problem as long as there is moisture and compost.

Due to the dryness and a rather mild winter this year, they have remained active all winter, especially under my fabric. This year is shaping up to be like it was in 2011 which was a dry year. Just because it is dry does not make these guys go away. When they have no compost they turn to plants. Here lies the problem with pill bugs.

I really have not found anything that distracts them and because they are well armored they are impervious to most organic sprays.

They like freshly germinated seeds and I have had them girdle 4 inch tall beans. The beans then break off at ground level. Other seedlings are munched off as they emerge leaving no trace.

Probably my best defense is to prepare a bed and let it really dry out for many days with the hopes that these guys move to wetter areas of the garden. If I do a seed bed for transplants I will sow the seeds and then cover it with fabric. The edge is buried so they cannot get underneath to the germinating seed.  With beans I hope they get up in size so that the pill bugs are not a problem.

Traps give the impression that the gardener is doing something to combat them. A couple of these traps are: lay a board on the ground by the bed and during the day lift the board to dispatch them. The other is to bury a jar up to its rim with an inch of water that yeast has been added to. I have had pint jars get close to filled up and not feel like the pill bugs are being controlled. As I mentioned they are long lived and can have huge populations. Who hasn’t lifted a board to see the ground covered with them?

Usually what happens is that we get some moisture and these guys go back to doing what they do so well; digesting compost.

Questions? I can be contacted at markdirtfarmer@gmail.com. Or more garden notes at redwagonfarm.blogsot.com 

March 24, 2016

Good morning, Last year I let my garlic grow scapes to maturity. Scapes look like they would be flower heads on gGoodarlic but in reality are bulbets that contain many little garlic cloves. Most of these cloves are less than a 1/16 of an inch. Pretty small. It takes two years from planting these tiny cloves to get mature bulbs. Before I sell any of my garlic I always hold out next years crop. These usually are the cream of the crop. Literature that I have read sites that over the course of time these “saved “ seed become less vigorous. It was suggested to either purchase new seed garlic bulbs or raise fresh seed garlic bulbs from scapes.

One year I did plant some of these bulbets in the garden with zero luck. This year I have started a bunch in the house in flats. Seeing how tiny these young garlic's are and how they look just like weed grass, that year I may have inadvertently pulled them as weeds. I am in the process of potting these tiny plants on with hopes of growing them into rounds. These are single clove garlic's that can be 1/2 inch to an inch in diameter. These rounds will then be planted for mature garlic bulbs. All of the bulbs from this crop will be used for the following years crop. So there is at least 2 more years to see how vigorous this new”seed garlic” will be.

There is the possibility that this garlic may also be more adapted to our part of the world. Who knows?

Why do this? One reason is: I have never done this and just seems like a neat thing to try. Worst case scenario is the tried and true “been there got that “T” shirt. Another reason is that seed garlic is fairly expensive upwards of 19 or 20 dollars a pound. This little experiment surely will make me appreciate this value.

On another note, a friend recently forwarded a very interesting vegetable list. The list is for a wide variety of vegges that are resistant to various garden pests, along the line of fungus, virus and the like.

The neat thing is there are OP seed included in this list although the majority are hybrids. Here is the link. http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/Tables/YellSquashTable.html This link takes you to the yellow summer squash list but other veggies are located at the bottom.

I have found that around the middle of August when the nights begin to cool and the humidity is still high, powdery mildew raises its ugly head on the summer squash. Using the above mentioned list I found some mildew resistant zukes and crooknecks. High Mowing Seed has developed both of these squash as OP's to combat this pest. It will be interesting to see how affective these varieties are at resisting powdery mildew. I had already started my squash bed when I became the benefactor of this list. But the succession to this planting will be from High Mowing Seeds. And since they are OP, I will see if this trait can be improved. The trick is to wait until the mildew starts to develop then flag the plants that start to show the signs last then work with saving seed from these plants. Gotta love genetics.

Yes I am seeing okra emerging. Hopefully next week I can plant the remaining beds.

This week I anticipate harvesting chard, kale, spinach, and lettuce. I still have sun chokes and butternut squash too.

March 21, 2016

avalanche column

March 3, 2016

Root Knot Nematodes (RKN) is one of the most destructive pests of crops on the planet. They ever so slowly strangle a plant by keeping the roots from taking up water and nutrients. In worst case infections the roots are one huge gal that has no resemblance to roots. The plant dies.

It has been several years now that I have had the “pleasure” of their presence in my garden.

These guys are tiny and you need some form of magnification to see them, oh but their handy work is so easy to see. Even in mild infections. The roots look like they have little Mardi Gra beads up and down the root. Quite intriguing until you realize that you have RKN.

When I first became a recipient of these “jewels”, I thought my garden was doomed. In some cases the garden is less productive but for now we have learned to co-exist. This really is an uneasy truce.  Once you have RKN you always will have RKN!!!

In order to live with RKN your garden practices must change.

I suspect I may have gotten RKN from contaminated compostable material that had some root balls with dirt attached.

Ah yes, what to do? Always clean implements in the bed that you have just worked. Washing with a hose will do. Always add compost to your beds. Compost has pathogens that are not kind to RKN. Continually rotate crops, never plant the same crop in the same spot year after year. If only part of a bed is infected always work for the clean parts to the contaminated. A roto-tiller is not compatible with RKN control. This is why I use a shovel. Plant known nemicide or RKN crops such as albion rye, or Idaho gold mustard. Starve the RKN by leaving the bed unplanted and weed free. Frequent cultivating can expose RKN and eggs to the surface where they will die. Use nemicides such as cold pressed neem oil and azaguard. Solarizing beds which is the most effective treatment.

Solariziing is a technique where the top 6 inches of soil is heated to 146 degrees. The soil is sterilized and this also kills a lot of soil pathogens. I find that these solarized beds tend to be very productive after this process. This may be due to the rapid recolonization with beneficial microbes.

I have noticed that the RKN populations in these beds are very slow to “recover”. This may be due to the implementation of many controls. This is the organic approach to gardening; garden vectors are attached and controlled with many different approaches. The biggest component is to always work toward greater soil fertility so that plants can outgrow any attach.

Good luck and happy gardening!!! Questions? I can be contacted at markdirtfarmer@gmail.com. Or more garden notes at redwagonfarm.blogsot.com 

March 17, 2016

Good morning, Yes last week when I saw the rain chances being predicted in the 50 percentile and greater I was thinking “yea right”. Then looking at the satellite imagery last week, some one was getting dumped on. It just wasn't us here in Alpine. We did get a tenth of an inch out of it. Which is better than nothing. It sure did make absolutely wonderful chicken spa dirt. That lemons to lemonade thingy.

It does look like the warming trend will continue with a brief cool down over this coming weekend (maybe rain chances too!). Ever so curious to see if any of my germinated okra decides to lift up their little heads. Time will tell. It will also be interesting to see if it is just too cool for it to grow. There are limits as to how cool or warm a germinated seed will grow. I think if I see it start to emerge and grow with vigor, I will plant the other two beds. One other heat loving crop is cucumbers. Saved a lot of seeds last year so I have room to experiment. I am so curious to see how early fabric will help me get a jump start on the season. It would be real cool to have a July garden in April? May? Most likely June. Greens are good but I am dieing for a juicy ripe tomato with a side of a fresh NuMex Big Jim green chili's. Patience! All seems to be going well just need some time.

Last fall my brain must have taken a walk and I left my Monzano chili to get frosted. Tried to resurrect it all to no avail. I have started some more plants and hope to have some to harvest this fall. These have got to be one of the best chili's I have ever eaten. The fruits even look like little apples and have a definite fruitiness to their flavor. Need to try and keep my mind on a short leash. Yea right! They would make nice house plants but they do have the potential to get real tall (10+ feet). I do suspect with root and top pruning they can be kept shorter. I have had zero luck with them in the ground. They absolutely dislike afternoon sun and prefer morning and evening sun. The location that I have found that they thrive is under our mulberry tree. This is also where a flock of house sparrows dwell. It seems the sparrows particularly like the blossoms which also prevents fruit. I have discussed this with the cat and all she gives me is a dead bug look. My past netting attempts have not worked very well. Just need to keep trying, these chili's are worth the effort. They are unique in many ways. They tolerate near freezing temps (they grow in the Andes), flowers are purple with yellow flower parts, the leaves are fuzzy, the seeds are black and it will not cross with any other chili. They have been known to become tree sized in their 10 year lifespan. Where they grow to this size they can have over a thousand pounds of chili's. I really doubt that it will do this for me but I would be happy with 20 pounds of fruit in a year.

Recently there was a roadrunner in the garden when sparrow killer? (the cat )took great interest in the bird. I have seen this bird waiting in ambush at the chicken feeders to snag a sparrow or two (keeps coming back so must have some success). Anyway I was amazed at how tame this bird was. I got up to arms length away from it when it got up into MY pet garden cholla. All it did was it's alarm rattle at me but was not in any hurry to get away. I never have been that close to a living Piasano before. This was pretty cool. I worry for my garden horny toads with this bird around. Last year I had at least 4 or 5 within the garden. The garden / orchard enclosure is about a half acre with harvester ant nests roughly every 60 feet. I have gotten nailed by them but for the most part we coexist, the ants and I. Such is life in the garden.

Looking under the covers the first toms are starting to have blooms. And yes I am seeing the okra beginning to emerge. Butternuts are emerging too. Some flowers are starting to develop on the squash. In years past if the temps are on the cool side < 60 there are more male flowers than females. Temps must be good because I am seeing both. The peas are not quite ready yet. There are lots of peas but all are on the small side. The sweetest and tastiest are full sized and filled with peas. I suspect that when they do start it will be a short season. I am already seeing turnips, kale and beets beginning to bolt. Very strange spring. I remain hopeful that the next crops to be harvested will start as the overwintered crops begin to fade. Oh that succession thingy.

This week I will harvest chard, kale, spinach, beets, turnips and some lettuce. There still are sun chokes and butternuts.

March 14, 2016

avalanche column

February 25, 2026

Tomato pin worms are usually only a problem in greenhouses in northern latitudes but they can also be a serious pest in the south.

These are the larvae of small moths. Eggs are laid on the tomato foliage where they hatch and burrow into the leaf, very similarly like leaf miners. I have on numerous occasions split these “mined” leaves to find very small caterpillars inside. The largest caterpillars found are 1/32nd of an inch (about ¼ the height of the capital letters of this text). As they continue growing some will burrow into the side of the fruit. A slight indentation centered on a small dot is the only outward appearance that they are present in the fruit.  They then burrow into the ground to pupate and start this all over again. Several generations can mature each year. The egg to adult cycle is 28 days.

The first year I had them, they destroyed my late harvest of tomatoes. To the untrained eye the plants looked like they were old and in a state of decline. This is deceiving, older plants decline from older foliage towards younger.  Pinworms work in reverse. Since they are killing the growing points the plants soon expire.

Fully intact row covers that extend to the ground are the best defense. This can be a problem because these are a pest you see in late summer when fabric can start to become a little bit ratty.   It is best to replace the fabric as soon as holes develop. This was a clue to me the first year I had these “guests” all the covered plants looked wonderfully healthy, whereas the uncovered ones were unhealthy looking.

If you do find you have these guys, a seven day spray cycle is needed for 28 days to make sure all generations are controlled. Since these are moths Bt. works very well on them. Because insects can build up immunity to Bt., a rotation with cold pressed neem oil is suggested.

By all means once you do start the spray schedule; cover your toms with new fabric to prevent any new infestation.

Once you do discover you have these pests it is hard to eradicate them because they will infest any of our wild Solanaceae plants.

Questions? I can be contacted at markdirtfarmer@gmail.com. Or more garden notes at redwagonfarm.blogsot.com 

March 10, 2016

Good morning, This week I will be listing chard, kale and spinach. We all so have eggs for $5.00 per doz.

Recently after transplanting my bulb onion plants I found I was shy about 15 feet of bed worth of plants. I suspect I either under seeded or had a lot more mortality than what I thought. For a while I thought I would plant green onions to the rest o f the bed. Ruled this out because I am hoping to try and do a perennial of bed green onions where I cut and then let tops regrow. I am curious as to how long I can do that? For ever or do they just bite it. No idea! Some things you just got to try because growing and selling whole plants for green onions, I just can not meet demand. The cut and re grow might do it.

Anyway back to that incomplete bed. I decided to give sweet onion a go, so I put an order in for plants from Dixondale farms and the sweets are on the way. I have been reluctant to grow them for no other reason than they are very short keepers. Less than three months. To combat this short storage, I will start harvesting them when the bulbs have sized up to a good size. Another one of my reluctance's for growing sweet onion is the size they can achieve which can be up to 5 pounds. This size is nice if you are going to make French onion soup. Not every week. So harvesting them at a pound or less will be my goal.

It does remind me of a time when I was looking for a butternut squash for market sales. I like Heirlooms and so I tried one. Sadly the the squash description was not very complete. I found that the average size of these puppies was over 10 pounds. Just not a good size for market. But I must say it was one of the best tasting butternuts I have ever grown. Since this selection I try to see if a size at harvest is mentioned. This is how I ended up with Ponca butternuts. Most are 1 pound but the upper end is 3 or 4 which is a perfect size for a dinner party or dinner guests.

The other onions that I grow are Texas grano and burgundy red. Both of these max out at a pound, are a bit pungent but are decent keepers. The granos are 3 to 4 months and the burgundy is up to 6.

I have a few hot sauces I make that do call for sweet onions, it will be interesting to see if sweet onions make these hot sauces have a different flavor. The curiosity of it all.

On another note in regards to sprouted seeds growing in cooler soil than ungerminated seed, I am trying to germinate okra seed. For some reason it wants to go moldy before it germinates. I am thinking that I may need to really place the seed in a very warm spot so that they germinate very quickly in order to out pace the mold. Although I do see some of the okra seed starting to germinate. Another method I am trying is to treat them like growing veggie sprouts. This where a jar with a screened lid is used. The seeds are rinsed twice daily until they start to germinate. I am curious to see how cool of soil they will grow in. Besides I am sure there are a lot of okra fans that would love to have some fresh okra instead of pickled. If it does turn cooler this may be all for not.

I do need to be careful on being too early. Last year when I planted my first sweet sets in April, there was an unusually long cool damp spring that lasted into May and June. This adversely affected the first 2 beds. Although these beds did have nematodes in them the uninfected tubers never really sized up like the two beds I started latter (July and August). Of the three plant times the July date really out performed the other two. So my plans are to do one bed in April. Take cuttings from this bed and plant the remaining 3 beds by July. Besides this spring DOES NOT even come close to being like last year.

I am banking on the unseasonable warmth will continue. Ah yes rolling with the punches.

This week I anticipate harvesting chard, kale, spinach, lettuce, beets, turnips. There still is an abundance of butternuts.

Soon to be expectations, I have pea set and hope to be harvesting peas soon. My Asian greens and Chinese cabbage are coming along, maybe within a month? I am seeing the vestiges of blooms on the summer squash, most likely be harvesting in April along with beans. Spring planting is getting close to being completed. I so hope Mother Nature does not through any curve balls. Couldn't do this without fabric!!!

March 7, 2016

avalanche column

February 18, 2016

Cucumber beetles and squash bugs can wreak havoc to all of the cucurbit family (squash, melons, cucumber…). Exclusion works very well to protect cucurbits from these pests. A gardener could leave the covers on for the full term of these plants, but in order to have fruit that gardener would need to pollinate the flowers. Previous columns have discussed this. The covers protect the plants until they start to bloom. At this time the plants are of a good healthy size and can fend off these pests attach’s. Some years are worse than others. Most years it is only one or the other, seldom both.

Signs to look for: squash bugs will give a wind burned look to leaves. I find that they prefer summer squash. Eggs sometimes are laid on the surface but more likely under the leaf and by the junction where the leaf meets the stem. Over wintered adults arrive first followed by nymphs. A gardener with only a few plants may have success with hand control, but they are quite stinky. A good way to see how big of a population you have is to spray the foliage with water and they will come to the top of the plants.

Cucumber beetles come in two “flavors”, striped and spotted. Spotted beetles will feed on more than the cucurbit family whereas striped will only feed on cucurbits. Usually by the time you see beetle damage the populations have grown quite profuse. All life stages of these beetles are harmful to plants except the eggs. While the adults eat the leaves the grubs are eating the roots. This root chewing can infect the cucurbits with viruses. And infected plants need to be removed IMEDIATELY (deformed leaves and fruit). Hand control is not very productive, in fact quite futile.

Both of these critters can be VERY HARD to control.

I have mentioned that I am a reluctant sprayer but with these two pests, I jump to the spray bottle fairly quickly. Last year cucumber beetles just about destroyed my cucumbers and okra until I found an organic spray that worked on them. A pyrethrum spray worked very well on them. With two sprayings 7 days apart, control was achieved. Unlike with cold pressed neem, bugs can build up a resistance to this spray so a second alternative spray is needed to inhibit this from happening. I found for some reason cold pressed neem oil was ineffective on cucumber beetles. Cold pressed neem oil works miracles on squash bugs though. Three sprayings 7 days apart will bring them under control.

It is CRITACLE that all dead garden foliage be removed from the garden at the end of the season. Cucumber and squash bugs will over winter there.  I have piled some rocks in the garden and on a cold day in the winter removed the piles to expose the squash bugs and follow the directions that their name instructs!!!!

Questions? I can be contacted at markdirtfarmer@gmail.com. Or more garden notes at redwagonfarm.blogspot.com

March 3, 2016

Good morning, First I would like to say WE have eggs. The girls have finally kicked into gear. We have both regular eggs and bantam eggs. Regular are $5.00 per dozen and the bantam are $3.00 per dozen or $5.00 for a dozen and a half.

Yes spring planting is progressing. This is much earlier than what I have started in years past. Normally I only have toms planted by the middle of February. This year there are summer squash and beans too. I must say we had a chilly morning this past week (21 degrees). Anxious, yes! but observing the temperature under 2 layers of agribon 19, I felt relieved. It had gotten down to 30 degrees for only a very brief time at sunrise. The tom, beans and squash beds are covered with 2 layers of 19 along with two layers of 70. Yess!

The soil is warming and the fabric is doing just as it was designed to do.

Looking forward with the weather forecasts there are 70 and 80 degree days ahead.

Yes, one of the nice things of saving seed, you can push the seasons and not have an expense other than your time. I have been using fabric many years now and have consistently tried to find its limitations. The stuff is strictly an insulator for cold or heat. It will maintain what ever condition is under the fabric. This was very evident with all the snow and ice last winter.

I had planted some seed potatoes the first of November and figured they would sprout when they were ready. Normally by the middle of November the soil is chilling down but this didn't happen until Christmas. Welllll these puppies sprouted on me. In an effort to get them through the winter and into spring I covered them with 2 layers of 70. When we started getting snow and ice, there soon was no soil warmth down to depth that the ice water had penetrated. So leaving the fabric on prevented the soil from warming. A reverse in purpose. Later I thought that maybe if I had put down some greenhouse film over the potatoes and the fabric over the film, the chill penetration from the melting ice and snow may not have happened. Maybe next time.

To the untrained eye my early planting might look like I am taking some real big risks.

Since moving to Alpine from central Oregon (where they really do have winter), I have noticed (for the most part) winters are mild but are interrupted with periodic short term cold spells. The cold spells last 2 to 3 days and then it is mild again. The rest of the time is partly sunny to sunny. Soil warmth at 6 inches normally does not go below 45 degrees. This I have found to be true for the dead of winter time. This is from December through February 15. Some years this winter time frame is a little “fuzzy” on either end of these months. Once the middle of February has a arrived, the warmer periods are more frequent and have a longer duration. The cold spells become less frequent but can still have a duration of 2 to 3 days. These are the days you need to watch for. It is the fabric that protects against these cold snaps. The fabric harvests this soil warmth from the warm days and protects the plants during these ever briefer cold spells.

I have found that there is no problem with leaving the heavy fabric on for the duration of any freezing event since it is usually only 2 to 3 days. I can remember leaving things covered when I worked for the Texas Forest Service. I would cover the evening before a cold front and leave it on for the duration. The plants were not worse for wear when the covers were removed.

It was working around this “away from home” time that helped me develop this whole scheme. I will say that I have had my share of black tomato seedlings before this was all worked out.

My catastrophic disasters seem to be a thing of the past. That is as long as I do not get too brazen and do something real stupid. This could all change if Mother Nature were to throw a curve ball that is not predicted. Now that I no longer work “ away” anymore, I can use on sight observations along with weather forecasts to do this “jump start” of the gardening season. What joy it is to see someones facial expression when you tell them in the middle of February that “I planted tomatoes this week”. The looks are priceless and I know I am not taking that big of a risk, that is as long as I do not do something stupid. And yes I have accepted that all of my early planting can very easily be cleared back to square one, but I am OK with this.

Innovation is achieved by learning from failures.