Author: Bob Bauer

The good thing about all these freezing nights is that they have killed the aphid on the Brussels sprouts. It’s clean pickings now. The whiteflies are still alive, and the aphid on the corn have survived. The leaf miners on the chard did not freeze, and the aphid on them are still moving. I’m beginning to understand why some people […]

Last night had a frost and a hard freeze. It nailed everything. All the tomato leaves are burned and all the corn too. The eggplant and peppers are burned, and half the leaves on the grapevines surrounding the garden are toast. My summer garden is officially over for the year, I hope your’s isn’t. The crows that have flown over […]

The sun sets behind the mountain at 6:00 pm now, and the garden goes dismal. It’s amazing to me how significant sunlight is to the beauty of what we behold. The bright light is cheering to our emotional mood, and brings more joy than it has a right to. The colors move me to appreciation in depths that elude me. […]

I got to pick a bowl of peas yesterday. It was about half as much as what would be expected from two 6′ rows, but one of the rows was so stunted by whiteflies that it is only a foot tall. It has short, curly, distorted leaves and misshapen pods. The other row, on the other side of the garden […]

I got to put fresh straw around a few of my melon mounds yesterday. It sure brightened up the garden. I hadn’t noticed it was getting a bit dreary because as the cleanup continues more light gets in. The bright straw will reflect light up onto the bottom of the leaves in the summer, increasing their photosynthesis. It will keep […]

I’m slowly getting the garden walkways hula hoed. I like the look of dirt pathways and may not mulch them. I’ve always covered them in shavings, straw or leaves so that I won’t get muddy shoes while walking on them, but I’ve got rubber boots now so it doesn’t matter. My wife picked up a pair of “chore” boots made […]

The Asters are starting to flower. What a late bloomer. There is less than a month left before first frost and they are just getting started on pollination. Now I know why they are so covered with insects in October. There aren’t any other flowers around. It makes me want to plant more to help our indigenous pollinators through the […]