Tasks:
Weeded around trunks of tomatoes
Trained pole beans and side-bed cucumbers
Mulched rain garden, native plot, and lasagna bed with straw
Move windows from in between garages and made garden generally more presentable
Built cucumber structure with bamboo
Meticulously hand-weeded the three raised beds (since we cannot cultivate)
Cultivated and watered daily zones when needed
Applied BT to brassicas
Applied sulfur to fruit trees
Pulled, cleaned, and hung garlic
Pruned volunteer cantaloupe
Cleaned up and weeded herb garden
Removed row covers from squash, peppers, eggplant, and okra
Planted from blocks sunflowers, cucumbers, and peppers
Harvested, cleaned, and froze Swiss Chard
Partially finished sign, clear-coated and hung it
Built 3rd greenhouse wall and hung joust runner board
Filled greenhouse floor with gravel
Finished painting plant trays
Removed black rotted brassica leaves and plants
Mowed
Watered HT daily
Notes:
Pepper structure- Since we are out of cages this summer we decided to trellis our peppers. To do so we stuck bamboo stakes in the ground every two plants, with stakes on each end. Then ties a sting to one end stake, weave the sting through the row of peppers and stakes, loop around the far end stake, and then weave back through the row making sure to alternate sides. When you reach the starting stake, tie it off. This should be done every half-foot to foot of growth.
Cucumber structure- We also did not have any more fencing for the cucumbers, but we had near 80 seedlings. We built an A-frame tent structure out of bamboo poles. The structure has three A-frames in a row with pieces of bamboo running lengthwise on each side. These runners are lashed the height of the A frame structure and spaced every foot or so. The cucumbers are then places on each side of the A-frame structure. Once the cucumbers grow large enough to start climbing we will weave string through the large spaces on the structure for the plants to attach to.
Pole bean structure- Vertical fencing structure works much more efficiently than Teepee structure. Teepees take up too much room and do not look nearly as nice as a long fence of tall beans. Even if you only have sticks, lash them together to create a fencing structure.
Onions- We started our onions way too late this year (second week of May). Even though we started them from sets, they may only be big enough to hold for sets next year. Onions can grow in the cold and should be planted much earlier. If you are working form seed, sow the blocks in mid-February.
Problems with seeds-Since we have had problems with beet, carrot, and pepper germination, we decided to try a different method for germination. In a large Tupperware container we laid down alternating layers of paper towels and seeds, making sure to start and end with paper towels. Throughout the process we made sure to wet the towels so they were very damp but not dripping. The traditional method would have us using plastic bags with only one kind of seed per unit, but since we are using three easily distinguishable seeds we thought we would combine the operation.
Over the next few days we’ll keep an eye on the progress and moisture level. Once the seeds germinate (if they germinate) we will just pop them in a tray of seed blocks.
Concerns:
Brassicas- The cauliflower seem like they were experiencing a fungal leave. We pulled the bad leaves and the plants now seem to be doing much better. There are some bad leaves, but at least we have not had to pull any off the plants.
The broccoli on the other hand, experience the same leaf wilting but the stems also rotted at ground level. We pulled eight plants for fear that they would spread the fungus and attract harmful insects.
After some research the fungus looks like this is black rot. This is very common in none resistant varieties, which have: Belstar, Dicicio. It appears to be affecting the former more than the later. Last year be we did not have this problem because we used Arcadia, a resistant variety. We have this variety but had not planned to plant it until the fall.
Fruit trees- The leaves on our apple trees have cedar rust fungus. The fungus produces large orange spots on the leaves, much like chicken pocks. This appears to be a common ailment for all fruit bearing trees of the rose family. Treatment for the fungus is an organic sulfur spray. This is available at FarmKing and takes a one tablespoon dust-one gallon of water ratio. We will apply it every ten days. Other treatments are Potassium bicarbonate (4 tsp- 1 gallon) and Baking soda (though Sodium bicarbonate is bad for the soil).