Removed floating row cover from west "row" of center bed

Went to adjust the row cover from the west "row" of the center bed, and it broke all over.  Couldn't even hold onto it without it breaking apart.  Pretty sure this was the dollar store variety.  So, just removed it.

For now, still have cover over the eastern central bed, and over the three zukes by the kitchen door.

Found three-lined potato beetle larvae eating ground cherry plants

Aha!  On June 10th I had found a three-lined potato beetle adult and some eggs on a nearby leaf. Today, I happened to notice some chewed leaves on a ground cherry plant, looked closer, and sure enough found several larvae eating leaves.  Found them on several of the plants, particularly the southern central one, and some on the north central one and the one by the compost.  Can't remember if I found any on the other two plants.

While looking for them, also found more eggs on the undersides of leaves.

Relocated all larvae/eggs found.

It's definitely this species, as they clearly were carrying their droppings on their back.  I don't think I've ever seen this type of insect before.

The plants look only minimally affected, should hopefully make a full recovery.

First zucchini harvest

First zucchini harvest of the year:  One nice size yellow zucchini as well as a smaller yellow one that was a bit older but whose growth had stopped.  Both on the same plant, the northern of the three by the kitchen door.

Harvested garlic scapes

Harvested most of the scapes today, and made scape pesto with them.

- scapes
- walnuts
- nutritional yeast
- walnuts
- salt, pepper,
- lemon juice

Just getting over a cold so couldn't taste the full flavour.

Squash plants looking much better

I think all of the squash plants may produce.  Even the wimpiest of the butternut plants are coming around.  The jumbo pink banana plants have always looked good and continue to do so.

The two butternuts uncovered at the vertical structure look fantastic, healthy and vigorous.

Squash bug (NOT borer) found on zucchini

Found a squash bug on the yellow zucchini closest to the step, while peeking under the floating row cover.  Didn't see any eggs but didn't check the entire plant.

Found another leek moth caterpillar/worm on garlic

Found one today, but haven't found any in recent days so hopefully the "season" is almost over. 

Ground cherry flower-snipping update

The only ground cherry that's looking great is the one in the big pot (which I hadn't snipped).  Did not snip it today either, will let it be.

The north one in the central area (which I hadn't snipped) looks pathethic.  So, today I snipped off all of the flowers/immature fruit.

The one next to the air conditioner (which I hadn't snipped) looks pathetic.  So, today I snipped off all of the flowers/immature fruit.

The south one in the central area (which I snipped on May 21st) is only just now starting to look like it will grow -- leaves starting to look darker and coming in more fully.

The one next to the compost (which I snipped on May 21st) is also only just now starting to look a little better. 


------> So:  Regarding my snipping experiment:  Overall, it seems that snipping the fruit/flowers helped promote growth, but not very quickly.  And, the potted one is a huge exception -- it looks fantastic, and I hadn't snipped it.

Scapes coming out on most garlics

Scapes have come out of most of the garlics, though not all.  Still preliminary stages.

Some of the scapes I had to dig into to remove worms.

Harvest: Swiss chard well underway

Have been harvesting the swiss chard since a week or two ago.  The fordhook is still the stronger, more prolific of the two varieties, but the Italian version is catching up and producing nicely as well, just the leaves aren't as big.

Amazing how quickly the plants are ready for the next harvest.

- Mongolian Vegetable-Tofu Stir-Fry
- Noodle Soup
- Salad

Transplanted last zucchinis

Put in the last of the vermiculite zucchinis today.  They looked so strong and good, couldn't bear to get rid of them so tucked them here and there.  Might be a lot of zucchini this year.

Also shuffled around the three out-door plants near the compost bin to put the nicest looking one in the best spot, and kept the other two there as backups for now, just in case.  Oddly all of their root systems looked small despite how good two of the three plants looked.

More garlic worms found today and past occasional days

Found several more leek moth worms in the garlic today as well as occasionally during the past several days.  Some plants are still completely unaffected.  Will see if the affected ones will produce.

Leek moth caterpillsars found in garlic!!!

Oh no!  Armed with the knowledge from yesterday's video, I had a closer look this morning.  Sure enough, about 6 or 7 garlics had the telltale signs, and when I looked closely I found a caterpillar in each.  Relocated them.

Last year a similar thing happened, but later in the season when the scapes were longer, and those plants ended up surviving/producing.  So, fingers crossed.

Good video about leek moth (re: garlic)

Have been looking at garlics daily and haven't noticed anything, though I wasn't sure what I was looking for.  Now having seen this handy video, will know what to look for.

https://slideplayer.com/slide/1739028/

... and a moth

... and then found a moth on the living room patio door (outside).  Not sure what kind:  maybe a clover looper moth? 

Insects -- and eggs -- found today:

Insects found in garden today:


three-lined potato beetle, Lema daturaphila -- found on ground cherry leaf (the potted one) -- and then found two or three "piles" of eggs!  two on the same cherry, one on another.

and

squash bug or stink bug (not sure which) -- can't remember where found

Zinnias not doing particularly well

None of my home-sown zinnias are doing particularly well this year.  Most have flowered, and many are on the way to having new blooms, but they still don't look lush and vibrant.  Maybe the cold spring?  Will see how they fare for the rest of the year.

Floating row cover for all central squashes and the older zukes

Decided to put all, not just half, of the central squash under floating row cover.  Got great nice airy FRC from Lee's today.  Used this also over the zukes to replace the too-thick stuff I had bought from the dollar store this year.

Placed plastic sheets onto east half of central bed

Maybe the presence of the grass is part of the reason the central bed plants don't look very vigorous.  So, cut up the empty bags from recent soil/compost purchases and laid them out, using rocks/pots to weigh them down.  Hoping this will help kill the grass.  Will be interesting to compare to the west bed which I didn't have enough plastic for.

Drilled holes and repotted the long planters

Nothing in the long planters has been thriving, all looking stunted.  I'm sure it's because their soil is so wet -- they don't drain properly the way they were made.

So, repotted them all:
- drilled 8 holes into each (except the first, with chards/parsley, which have only 4 holes)
- put the tray back onto the bottom
- put an inch layer of vermiculite
- then layers of new potting soil from Home Hardware, and mushroom compost, and into some I put back some of the (soaking wet!!) soil

Hopefully they'll perk up now.

Central patch looking kind of meh, but oldest zukes looking great

The central patch plants (butternut squash, pink banana squash, and ground cherries) are all looking kind of meh.  The ground cherries are still quite small -- the one in the pot is looking the best.  The butternut are yellowish and haven't grown very much.  The pink bananas look better than the butternut, more growth and less yellow.

In comparison, the butternut in the main bed also look a little yellow but better.

Today I decided to uncover half of the central squash and see if there will be a difference.

The three oldest zukes by the front door are looking great!  Some tiny yellow zukes have appeared.

Started more zukes -- indoors

The zukes I started outdoors a while back -- one of them disappeared.  The other is growing, slowly, not sure if it will make it (no leaves yet).

So, started a final batch, inside in vermiculite, on heated mat.  Only had yellow left, so sowed 6 in the hopes of two plants.

Cold spring!!!

It has been such a cold and damp spring.  Nothing looks particularly happy except the peas and chard which are doing great.

Snipped the basils to encourage bushier growth

The basils are looking lanky/spindly, not to mention with some trying to go to seed, so I googled and learned it's good to snip the main growing branches throughout the growth of the plant, to encourage bushier growth.

So, I did this to almost all of the plants.

However, for the two potted non-purple purple basils, one I snipped, and the other I didn't, as an experiment to see how they each will do.