September 20, 2019
I picked a bowl of Brussels sprouts yesterday and couldn't believe how few aphid there were. I usually wait until the frost kills the aphid and pick in November, but I had an entire stalk of one inch sized sprouts and didn't want to lose them. Having removed the lower leaves let me watch the sprouts grow larger, so I've been anticipating their harvest for a month. The plants are still covered with whiteflies, even though I've sprayed soapy water on them several times, and I wonder if the whiteflies are keeping the aphid away..
Maybe when I spray the soapy water on the leaves it mists down across the sprouts and eliminates the aphid. The whiteflies on my cruciferous plants are slowly disappearing through repetitive application of the soapwater..
September 21, 2019
Guess what this supposed organic gardener carried down to the garden yesterday? A can of ant and roach spray. A perfect example of "do what I say, not what I do". I had found two "rafts" of squash bugs on one of my zucchini plants and it looked like way too many for simple soapwater to kill. I wanted toxic, and instant death, without them running for cover. The last time I found that many squash bugs in one spot I doused them in gasoline and lit it, but I've matured since then..
Not really. If I had a flame thrower I would have used it. The zucchini hill on the other side of the garden (only 50 feet away) has zero squash bugs, but it's nestled in the strawberry patch that's home to at least five tree frogs. I think the frogs sneak under the zucchini leaves at night and take care of the squash bugs..
September 22, 2019
There are so many hollyhock flowers in the garden that it looks like we are going to have a wedding. Hundreds of pink flowers on tall, lithe stalks are like flower girls loitering about. My clumping through the maze is a bit foreign to it's delicacy, and I'm reminded of the "bear in a China shop" analogy. I didn't remove as many plants as I usually do and I'm glad I didn't. They are an entity all their own, and have become the essence of the garden..
Their random abandon hides the disheveled weedy areas and keeps your focus off areas that need attention. You look up, not down. The garden looks like a Monet painting, full of color and lack of detail. It's a garden great for sitting in, and that's what I enjoy most..
