New England, August 2015

NHG.....Do you mean cell packs?

I picked tomatoes and I'm sure what must be the last of the sugar snap peas.  The vines are mostly brown today.  I'll be cutting them back this week.
Lovely day here in the 70s with nites in the 50s lately.  We're expecting about an inch of rain tomorrow so I'm not watering today.  I'll leave it to Mother Nature.

That's it - cell pack - thanks QB.

Looking forward to rain tomorrow!

Pony packs. Don't know how that name came into existence.

Guys - are you starting to get the end-of-the-season garden blues? I am.

No! Don't turn yet! I've barely even started! Get back here, you sun!

Yeah, I was thinking this morning that I'm more than half way done here.  The fall crops are seeded and I'm watering them in every day, but that will be the last planting. One row of sugar snap peas have sprouted.

Gotta feed the squash again soon & spray them with milk after this rumored rain today, which we're still waiting on.  The radar shows green over the Cape but apparently the rain isn't reaching the ground yet.  After picking more beans, greens & maters, I wet the MM and mulches in the gardens this morning so any rain will soak in instead of rolling off.

QB, my parsnips look so healthy.  Is it OK to pull one now or should I wait longer?

Wait...what's that???  It's RAINING!  

My portable greenhouse garden shelving unit on the deck has worked well this year. For $18 or $20 or however much it was, it's totally worth it.

In the spring, my seedlings thrived in it. Now the racks, without the plastic sheathing, are where my garlic and onions are drying, in a non-sunny location. And now that it's raining, I just put the plastic casing back over it and zippered it up and when it stops raining I'll take the plastic back off.

The only thing was it melted my cell packs this summer when I stored them in there to protect them from wind and rain. I really need a garden shed.

CC - what did that mystery squash ever turn out to be?

CapeC.....Wait til after a couple frosts before you pick parsnips so they can sweeten up. 
We're having our rain today and the hummers are feeding it in as it showers.

Here's one enjoying some sugar water.

Here's one above flying in on her side.
They aren't afraid of me any longer.  They buzz around me doing acrobatics now when I go outdoors.  They enjoy hugely the Monarda, as much as the bees do I'm sure.

These Monarda are very tall, from 5-6 feet in height.

Beautiful flowers QB. I pass a house that has similar looking flowers, I'm not sure if they're exactly the same thing, but they're paired with orange tiger lilies, and the combination of colors is really stunning.

Edit: Oh! That's the bee balm. Well, I can't let a year go by without commenting on the bee balm. LOL.

I indoor seeded and then transplanted some bee balm but it doesn't look like it took too well. I'll try again next year.

NHGardener wrote:
CC - what did that mystery squash ever turn out to be?

It might be a spaghetti squash, but the bottom half is yellow and seems to have stopped growing and the top half is more green and keeps growing.  This photo is a week old so it doesn't who the vast weirdness of the different sizes yet:
Also, I think the SVB got it but I don't see an entry hole or frass, just loss of color in the lower stem and leaves.

OK QB, I'll hold off on the parsnip pulling.  Frost seems pretty far off.  They may be gigantic by then.

Do your bee balms get PM?

You created a new vegetable! Woohoo!

Looks like some of those packets were up to no good, eh?

CapeC.......Parsnips are known for being very deep, long crops growing over a couple feet often so don't worry about size.
No, my Bee Balm (Monarda) never gets PM.  They are so healthy that even when I have my Grson pulls lots of them out in early spring, more multiply and fill in the spaces.  The bees and hummers just love it.

I think I'm getting that same yellowing disease on a Brandywine that I got last year on 3 of my plants: tomato-pith-necrosis.  

http://uconnladybug.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/tomato-pith-necrosis/#comments

This years affected plant is in a different square but in the same box as one of last years, opposite side actually. This photo is of last years plant but this years brandywine is starting to go yellow from the bottom & the leaves look just like these:

Guess I'll go hunt and see if they found a cure or means of prevention yet.  I hope the brandywine is the only one this year.  

With tomatoes, it's always something, it seems. If they miss a disease or bug infestation or herbicide zapping from the neighbor's place one year, they'll get one or several problems next year.

I thought this, from that article, particularly good advice: "and space, prune and stake tomato plants to promote good airflow around them, reducing humidity."

I notice that, unfortunately, the scientist suggests methods of prevention but none is made of cure.

What I'm researching now is if I need to replace the MM in that box, or just not grow maters there from now on.  I need to find out how long, if at all, it takes for the necrosis bacterium to die off.  This box is 1 of 3 sunniest boxes.  If I have to build more boxes for sun, they'll be out in the driveway.

It's a weird disease as it affects random plants.  Last years 3 affected plants were in 3 different boxes and the maters right next to them were unaffected.

Here's my poor Brandywine:
Not a great photo but she's already developing the beautiful yellow leaves and is paler overall than her brother right next to her. She has lots of airflow being on the end like that. I was hoping to join the ranks of the Gigantic Tomato clan with this one fruit but it looks like I'll be picking it before it's finished.

CC, are you sure that the plant has that necrosis you linked to?  The article said that the yellowing starts at the top newer growth but your yellow is in the bottom leaves.  Maybe you've got some other cootie?  Not that that's any consolation, mind, but there may yet be some hope...

I know what you mean, Molly...I read that top yellowing thing, too.  But this is how it happened last year and when I did exploratory surgery on the affected plants, the stems were hollow.  The first couple plant stems had the white fibers inside, as I'd pulled early, and the last one had the brown fibers.  Plus it hit random plants, not neighboring plants, just like it says in the research I'm reading.  So all is the same as necrosis except where it starts.  Altho, I did read one article that said it normally hits the top but can hit the bottom of the stem.  I guess it's just not as common, which seems weird since it's soil borne.  Another article said not to pull, except in nurseries & greenhouses, as it will stir up the bacterium which may affect neighboring plants.  

If you come across something else it could be, please let me know.  Meanwhile I'll enjoy the pretty yellow as long as possible, then cut at ground level, and hope it doesn't hit anywhere else.

We got 2.5" of rain Tue!!!    I sprayed milk/water on the squashes this morning as it's PM time again.

Here's an itty bitty broccoli that I think will break into flower any second:
Those nice leaves will be heading to the NutriBullet once it flowers.

Dunja zuke:
Will they make it in time???


Here's that silly mystery squash that is probably spaghetti with a pollination issue:

Peaches and pears are nearing harvest time but check this out:


Fortunately they're not all like that but do you folks ever have fruit like that?  What's going on?

Lyndeeloo, where the heck are you and your beautiful garden???

CapeCoddess wrote:What I'm researching now is if I need to replace the MM in that box, or just not grow maters there from now on.  I need to find out how long, if at all, it takes for the necrosis bacterium to die off.

I wonder if that box might be a good candidate for one of those mustards that puts out short-lived but really powerful anti-biologics into the soil. Territorial Seeds was a distributor for one supposedly especially powerful type. We had a thread on that last year that was pretty interesting.

CC, at least you're getting fruit from your trees! That's great!

That's really interesting about the mustard, Marc. That's a good idea too - if not the mustard, or plus the mustard, maybe a green manure in there? Like oats that then freezes and dies in winter, then you mulch it in.

Marc Iverson wrote:

CapeCoddess wrote:What I'm researching now is if I need to replace the MM in that box, or just not grow maters there from now on.  I need to find out how long, if at all, it takes for the necrosis bacterium to die off.

I wonder if that box might be a good candidate for one of those mustards that puts out short-lived but really powerful anti-biologics into the soil.  Territorial Seeds was a distributor for one supposedly especially powerful type.  We had a thread on that last year that was pretty interesting.  

I was wondering about that also, Marc, and found this:
http://www.territorialseed.com/product/Mighty-Mustard-Pacific-Gold-Cover-Crop-Seed
But I wasn't sure if it would also kill off the good bacteria...?

Then I wondered if the mustard spinach I already have would do the same thing.  Worth a try.

Looks like I may be losing a Super Beefsteak next.  It's at the opposite end of the row from the Brandywine.  If I have to pull them, I'll plant the mustard seeds right away and hope for the best.

Yesterdays breakfast & lunch smoothie harvest:

That particular mustard is not available to be shipped to Oregon.

Hey, I got the very first Bee Sting in my life today, or maybe a hornet or yellow jacket did the deed.  I was refilling the hummer feeder and brushed my arm against my chest and something stung me which must have been making a pass between me and my arm.  I brushed it away so fast never got a good look.
I'm thinking yellow jacket or hornet since they often come to the hummer feeders for a drink and I was changing a feeder at the time.

When I saw the tiny red dot, I knew I'd been stung by something.  Went indoors, washed the area, added Bactine and then made a paste with baking soda and water to cover it. 
That's the home remedy folks, should you get stung yourself.
Baking Soda and Water paste.
Its been over an hour now and the pain only lasted several minutes and the swelling was very small.
I'm one of the lucky ones that is not allergic to bee stings evidently.  I never knew having never been stung before.

Ouch QB! I'll bet you're right, it may have been a wasp as they are more aggressive than honeybees. Good thing you're not allergic!

I'm noticing my honeybees all over every water supply available right now, in the heat and lack of rain. I fill up my "bee waterers" every evening, they're drinking so much right now.

Oh, that looks nasty, QB! Glad it's not bothering you now. Thanks for the info on the bkg soda/water paste. I use a slice of onion. Works great.

During lunch break today I planted more sugar snap peas to fill in the gaps, mustard spinach and Monstrueux de Viroflay spinach for fall.

CapeC....In the photo that white stuff is all baking soda paste.  The bite is buried in there somewhere, very tiny, very little swelling.  Not bad at all.

quiltbea wrote:
When I saw the tiny red dot, I knew I'd been stung by something.  Went indoors, washed the area, added Bactine and then made a paste with baking soda and water to cover it. 
That's the home remedy folks, should you get stung yourself.
Baking Soda and Water paste.
Its been over an hour now and the pain only lasted several minutes and the swelling was very small.
I'm one of the lucky ones that is not allergic to bee stings evidently.  I never knew having never been stung before.

only about 3% of people in the USA have an actually allergy to venomous insects.

A tiny red dot leads me to believe it was probably a yellow jacket. Do not be alarmed if the site swells over the next 24 hours. Because it was a wasp, and they are carrion eaters,  keep an eye on the sting site for possible infection.