New England ~ May 2014

NHG, you know who is the cabbage butterfly! They are all over my gardens right now.  and what I meant by 6 plants per onion is that if you look down on one potato onion you'll see the plants are divided in two separate bunches.. You can count them and then you'll know how many onions you'll end up with from one onion.   Maybe yours haven't reached that stage yet and you can't see them.? I'll take a picture later and post it so you can see what I mean.

thanks, Marc! It seems to be a good spring this year! Now if I would only slow down and have patience and not plant everything so early...  

I have a feeling I may be able to finish off that dang asparagus bed this weekend. Crossing my fingers anyway.

okay, time to catch up on Mr Selfridge. Everyone at work is so far ahead of me that they can't talk about it when I'm around. Lol

OH!  I'm pretty sure amongst all the worms out there I have pears!  some look like they may be damaged but some are not damaged...yet.  looks like I'm going to be on worm Patrol squishing worms 2 or 3 times a day for a while. I kinda like it ....its soothing...

NHGardener wrote:
Next year I'm planting lettuce under the pepper plants. I read about that today.

Not a bad idea. Pepper supposedly likes the humidity created by having other plants nearby. I planted oregano next to my peppers last year for that purpose.

I bet many lettuces would get bitter anyway. I've had a bunch of different types get bitter on me even though they weren't bolting and I was watering every day. The afternoon heat and even just the few hours of afternoon direct sun they got were probably too much for them. But I might try that with Marvel of Four Seasons this year. I have high hopes for its ability to produce well without going bitter or bolting this summer. Or at least for the first part of it. Can't hurt to try, and lettuce seeds are cheap.

I'm going to try planting lettuce for the summer in deep shade under my arborvitae hedge.  I'll be using black Simpson, romaine and maybe some Grand Rapids.

OK, here are some photos of the potato onions. Each group of onion plants/daughters? is from 1 onion. While I was out there taking photos I actually found one with 8 daughters!



here's one of the little baby pears amongst the worm eaten foliage

and a furry little peach

AND, my dead Fig Tree has a sprout... of what I don't know yet. I guess it aint so dead! 

Yes, daughters.

camprn wrote:NHG, you can still do that this year.

Oh! You're right! Huh.

CC wrote:OH!  I'm pretty sure amongst all the worms out there I have pears!

Wait. You mean caterpillars crawling on your pear trees? Or do you mean you have actual pears with worms in them? I planted two pear whips that are just leafing now but I'm noticing that the leaves are getting munched. I check them several times a day, and this evening I squished two little green inchworms on them. Plus I scraped a small slug off one - it was crawling up the skinny tree! I also noticed FLIES on my new trees. Why would flies love tiny non-fruiting fruit trees?

Edit: Just saw your photo, CC. Yup, those look like my pear leaves! I also see ants crawling on them. I mean, these things must be insect magnets. I don't near have any tiny little pears on mine tho, all the branches were pruned off so it was just one straight stick when I got them. I'm lucky to have leaves. Which is why I don't like the leaves being attacked by so many opportunists.

By the way, the fact that they have insects is probably a good thing because I think the trees grown with nicotinoid(?) treatment, which are harmful for bees as they pollinate the blossoms, are more insect-resistant. Give me the insects, I don't want the pesticides. I'm wondering if the peach trees I got from Lowes are treated with nico's, I don't know. Which is why I like to buy from Fedco or other organic producers.

edit edit: aha. I see the daughters now. I'll have to look tomorrow and see if mine are multiplying like that.

NHGardener wrote:

CC wrote:OH!  I'm pretty sure amongst all the worms out there I have pears!

Wait. You mean caterpillars crawling on your pear trees? Or do you mean you have actual pears with worms in them? I planted two pear whips that are just leafing now but I'm noticing that the leaves are getting munched. I check them several times a day, and this evening I squished two little green inchworms on them. Plus I scraped a small slug off one - it was crawling up the skinny tree! I also noticed FLIES on my new trees. Why would flies love tiny non-fruiting fruit trees?

Oh dear, time to head back to the Extension service.

http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/resource000585_rep607.pdf

http://www.gardenguides.com/107280-troubleshoot-pear-tree-disease-leaves.html

http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/resource000503_rep525.pdf

camprn wrote:Oh dear, time to head back to the Extension service.

Well, I'm not big on spraying. That's why I figure I'll go run my hands over the leaves and the trunks a few times a day, to discourage anything that might be trying to pester them. By repeatedly knocking them off or squishing them when possible, I hope to deter them.

The apple tiny trees aren't having these problems, must be particularly the pears, unless they were blighted with something when I got them... hope not.

Sure is raining out there right now!

Its been rainy and drizzly days for the last few so little work can be accomplished outdoors.  Still, even tho this is my day of rest (Sun), I had to take advantage of sunny spells in between.  I transplanted some of my tomatoes and peppers today until the raindrops started once again.  I really need to get those in so this week, between rains, I'll manage them.
I picked some more asparagus.  They are doing well.

In the flower garden the peonies are forming round heads, the 3 lilac bushes have flowers or buds opening and the Iris are forming buds, too.  The 2 bleeding hearts, one white and one pink, are in full flush and gorgeous.  I just wish I could take pics and post them but haven't enuf knowledge of this new Win8.1 computer to do so yet.  My DDIL has been too busy to help me lately.  I'm crossing my fingers that I learn soon.

I hope everyone is having a great Holiday weekend and that some of you are having sunny weather.  Ours was supposed to be nice from reports a week ago, but as usual, those reports change daily.  Now its rain again tomorrow.

That still hasn't stopped the 1.6 million visitors/tourists coming into Maine this long weekend.  They're counting at the checkpoints and its going to be full force.  With our lake, Sebago Lake, the 2nd largest in the state, we have lots of them here.  The lake is just a mile down the road from my house.

My son also has a camp on the lake in the next town only a ten minute ride from the house.  They're all there this weekend.  Me, I'm dogsitting and gardening when I can.

Enjoy everyone.

I found this nifty stuff at HD a couple of weeks ago and finally got around to using it today. I thought it might work to stop the cabbage moth and it was on clearance. $11.00 a roll. It was labeled as bird netting on the outside, but when I opened the package it says cicada netting. It's even better than I thought.  
The netting spaces are just under 1/4 inch. 
[size=31][/size]
[size=32]The maple trees seeds and oak tree chains started falling today and they make such a mess of the gardens. I spend a lot of time weeding maple seedlings out of everything. So I decided today to install the netting. [/size]

[size=32]It was really easy to use and if it holds up for the season I'll be very happy. It will keep out birds, moths and maybe discourage the squirrels. When the tomatoes and peppers flower I can take it off those beds to let the bees in. Tomorrow I will work on covering the other 2 gardens. Happy Memorial Day weekend to all! [/size]

Great stuff, lyndeeloo -- so wide! Long I can find, but wide is tough. What you did with it looks beautiful.

Ooh, 1 mile from Sebago Lake QB, must be beautiful.

Lyndeeloo, looks like great stuff, and very pretty on your boxes!

I love growing things, but I am no artist. Probably best that I have no camera right now.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. It will be cloudy tomorrow, but warm, like a greenhouse! I'll bet the garden will love that. All those little roots sending new shoots down into the soil...

Lyndeeloo, What a great find.

NICE, Lyndeeloo!

Cool stuff! I am on the lookout for any cool stuff I can find locally on clearance. My SFG is completely made of cheap/free/scrounged/damaged/scavenged articles and supplies. I will be on the search for this stuff!!!

GG

lyndeelou.....Lookin' good.

lyndeeloo wrote:I thought it might work to stop the cabbage moth and it was on clearance. $11.00 a roll. It was labeled as bird netting on the outside, but when I opened the package it says cicada netting. It's even better than I thought.  
The netting spaces are just under 1/4 inch. 

What a great score!  I'll be curious to know if 1/4 inch stops that bad girl.  I think it may because a couple years ago I used wide weave burlap for shade not knowing about the moth, and didn't meet up with her.

Let us know if it works & if it lasts more than one year.  What's it made of?  Is it plastic?

CC

Well, I don't know if I should give up on my spinach and tatsoi.  Neither one of them seem to be doing much out there.  Maybe it's the lack cloudy weather we have been having.

On another matter, I am so aggravated.  I want to put out my basil but I see it will be 43 Wednesday night so I guess I can't.  This lack of warmth is really getting me   .  When do you all put out your herbs?

Put out herbs? I got 2 beautiful basil plants this weekend at the grocery store (grown by local nursery) - half price ($1.50 each) I guess because they were huge. I repotted them into bigger pots and I'm just keeping them that way, on the deck. I brought them in tonight because it might rain.

My spinach is so-so. I just indoor seeded some more spinach that I hope to transplant out there when it grows. Aha, I see it says soil should not be warmer than 70F for germination, plus transplanting spinach is difficult. Well, we'll see.

I direct seeded my spinach and tatsoi about three weeks ago.  So far there is very little to show for it.  NHG, do you have your basil outdoors already?  I read that the night temperatures can't dip below 50 or the basil will show it's unhappiness.

I didn't have success with my direct seeded spinach last year, so this year I covered it with row cover and it did sprout, only many sprouts seem to have disappeared after I took the row cover off, I blame culprits. I have some spinach leaves picked, but would like a huge bag of them, so I'm not giving up. Spinach is so good for you, and it freezes.

I just got the basil yesterday, so no, I haven't left it outside yet. Glad to hear about the 50 threshhold, but that's also why I like to leave the herbs (okay, basil is my first foray into herbs) in pots. Plus, maybe they'll grow a little longer indoors in the fall if I bring them in.

Pesto!!!!

Thanks all for the nice comments on the netting. So far so good those nasty moths just bounce off it. Did have a big old bumble bee find her way under it though. I raced over to let her out and she just ignored me. She explored everything in the garden and then slipped back out under the net at the bottom. She was huge so she could just muscle her way in and out. LOL.


Goosegirl, I love the clearance rack and feel no embarrassment in asking about reduced prices on damaged items. I figure I am saving it from being thrown out. If dumpster diving and tree belt salvaging was an Olympic sport I'd be on the U.S. team.

CapeCoddess, it's made of a clear plastic and really seems to be keeping everything out. Well except Miss Bumble. I need to close the gaps along the sides of the beds to keep her out.

Lyndeeloo - Guess what. Bumblebees nest in the ground. That bee's nest may be under your netting.

There is no good reason to keep a bee out or away from your growing vegetables, they are a beneficial insect...

camprn wrote:There is no good reason to keep a bee out or away from your growing vegetables, they are a beneficial insect...

Wasn't trying to keep them away. Just trying to keep her from getting stuck under the netting. Guess I shouldn't be concerned about that because she's been getting in and out all morning.   


I'll have to keep an eye out to see if the nest is in the garden. Don't want to disturb their homes. 


I actually have planted many flowers and leave the clover in the lawn to attract the bees.