October 05, 2019
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 and unaffected by whiteflies, is three feet tall with smooth leaves and straight pea pods that are twice as large as the infected row. I had no idea that whiteflies could be so destructive..
I've always pretty much ignored them, but not anymore. Both my boys use Neem oil to kill garden pests, and it's time for me to upgrade my arsenal. Us old gardeners can get behind the times in garden aids because we tend to do the same things that worked in the past. We only learn to try new things when we're faced with a new problem..
October 06, 2019
We haven't had fresh corn on the cob in ages. It's just not ripening. The cold nights and cool days have kept the kernals from turning yellow. The ears are pollinated because the kernals are swollen with milk, but they won't ripen. I didn't know that temperature was so critical at this stage of maturity. The cold nights have included multiple frosts that continue to take their toll..
All the spaghetti squash leaves have been burnt and most of the zucchini ones too. Harvesting the spaghetti squash will require a wheelbarrow. It's time to pull up a tomato plant and hang it somewhere where it won't freeze. You can get tomatoes to ripen for a month indoors. I actually think I got red tomatoes on Christmas one year, but I might be mistaken..
October 07, 2019
I harvested spaghetti squash yesterday and got 45 from a mound with three plants on it. It took two wheelbarrow trips up to the house. We grampa gardeners should have learned by now not to pick up and push a heavy load, so that we can save our backs for more fun things to do. The Butternut squash is on the back deck drying. I lined them up with all the stems facing the house and when you look out the window it looks like boobs..
I also found a soft garlic bulb in my seed garlic box and threw it out. I got another one from the pantry to replace it and realized planting time for them is less than a month away. By then the garden will be dormant and I'll enjoy having something to do other than picking Brussels sprouts..
