I had to take an unplanned one-week hiatus last week as everyone in our house got sick. As a result, we’re playing a bit of catch-up this week, but at least enjoying some cooler weather!...
August Photo Shoot
Keeping on
The heat wave broke gradually over the course of this week. Although we’re still having typical hot summer weather, at least the humidity is down slightly and it’s been getting cooler at night. An additional help were a series of overnight rains, easing the need to water in the garden despite the heat. One thing that I have always loved about farming and gardening is the cyclical yet changing nature of the work. Just when you start to get really sick of a certain task, the seasons have begun to switch and it’s on to the next thing. I always am so excited for the first harvest of greens in the spring, but by...
Hot hot hot
We’re in the midst of a true summer heat wave, the kind where stepping outside feels like getting hit in the face with a wall of humidity. And the fact that it’s remaining quite warm and humid even at night means there’s really no relief. In the garden, this kind of weather has a few effects. First of all, the summer crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc.) are ripening at lightning speed. Even the only remaining cucumber plant is managing to put out a nice cuke every other day! As a result, the kitchen has stayed busy, with pickled beets, canned tomato sauce, frozen cilantro, and several batches of oven-dried cherry tomatoes all...
Bacterial wilt
Earlier this year, I talked a bit about cucumber beetles. You’ll find these little black-and-yellow striped or spotted bugs on plants in the cucurbit family like cucumbers and squash. While damage from the beetles to the leaves and fruit of these plants is in itself not that problematic, as the summer progresses these insects’ bites can transmit a season-ending disease for some cucurbits. If you’re a gardener, bacterial wilt is likely something you have seen before or may even be experiencing in your garden right now. This disease is transmitted from plant to plant when cucumber beetles bite and the bacteria can even overwinter in the beetles’ guts. Besides cucumber plants, bacterial wilt also...
Crazy days of summer
As every gardener knows, summer gets crazy! From mid-July through late August, it seems that everything is happening at once. The weeds are growing like mad and seem to reach the same size and intensity just days after the beds were cleared of them. At the same time that the summer harvest has ramped up to anxiety-provoking levels, the fall rounds of root crops and leafy greens need to be planted. And, to add to the craziness, all of that summer harvest has to be put to good use, either for immediate eating or through preserving for winter. It’s enough to make me wonder how women on homestead farms in...
A week away
Caleb and I took a short break this week, heading down to D.C. to visit my parents. Mike stayed home, so was able to take care of the garden, although with a week of successive heavy rain and thunderstorms, keeping things watered wasn’t much of an issue! At this point in the season, gardens become somewhat like pets, unable to be left alone for long without someone to take care of them. Most summer crops require harvesting multiple times a week to enable the plant to continue producing successfully, as opposed to concentrating its energy on going to seed. In terms of how often to harvest, here are the general guidelines I follow for...
Flea beetles
Flea beetles are one of those challenging pests that can quickly wreak havoc on crops and are also very difficult to eradicate once present. These tiny insects with their shiny black exoskeleton will jump away as soon as you get nearby, hence the name flea beetle. They go after many crops, but seem to particularly love arugula, the leaves of young eggplant, and the greens on turnips. The tiny holes they create in crops’ leaves are unsightly and can also diminish the plant’s ability to undergo photosynthesis, thereby decreasing growth and overall health. Once flea beetles have arrived, it can be quite challenging to get rid of them. When I was growing...
Tilling, Tilled
The garden is tilled up at last and, as soon as we get the fencing in, we’ll be ready to go! We had originally planned to till last weekend, but with the surprising April snow we received, the ground was just too wet. When tilling with machinery or even by hand, it’s important not to work on wet soil, as, among other issues, the compaction already caused by feet and tires is exacerbated and turning wet soil can cause large clods to form, making a less hospitable soil environment for microbes and plants. Today, the soil moisture was perfect and, in little more than an hour, our 900 square-foot plot was turned from grassy...