September 10, 2017
The shade cloth worked great on the cabbage patch. They got through the heat of summer until the wild fire smoke gave us shade. They are heading up nicely and will be harvested shortly. I'm going to see if our salsa lady wants to make sourcraut. She's German you know. The Brussels sprouts have gone through an amazing transformation..
There are no aphid on the sprouts and only half the leaves have aphid. I can't believe that ladybugs and their larvae could clean them up so rapidly. There are no ants protecting the aphid so that helped them, and my soapy water sprays must have helped too. Lots of the sprouts are covered with brown paper wrappers (the outer leaves have have turned brown) and take longer to clean, but there is such an abundance of them that even though they are on the small side, it's a bonanza..
September 11, 2017
The garden is full of color this time of year. Shiny purple eggplant with dark turquoise leaves and lavender flowers. I'd grow it just for looks, not for food. Snapdragons in yellow, gold, orange, pink, and magenta. Some, with all the colors on them, look like the frozen missile bars I used to enjoy as a child. Almost an overloaded of color combinations.Tall light green corn stalks with dark twisty green leaves, tan tassels and brown silks, each one a work of art..
Towering hollyhocks in shades of pink, from white to crimson, swaying in the breezes. Golden poppies, tourquois Brussels sprouts, yellow straw, brown mulch, tan pathways, dark green tall bushy asparagus ferns, cranberry beet stems with purple and green leaves. One of my chairs in the shade faces this entire scene. When I squint my eyes it looks like a painting by Monet, although squinting your eyes at any nature scene can look like a Monet. Maybe he had bad vision..
September 12, 2017
There are 30,000 different species of soil dwelling organisms in every tablespoonful of your garden soil. You would think you could see it moving. It's called a food web because every organism eats some other, and in turn gets eaten by yet another. There is no peaceful mother earth to passively habitate. It's like a war zone, or a video game. Another big number I came across while researching white flies is that there are 5,000 species of them..
Who would have thought? I can't imagine the patience of comparing a white fly to 4,999 others to discover the new species. I seem to have about 5,000 of them on my large Brussels sprouts. They are replacing the aphid. The bottom leaves are falling off, exposing the sprouts to more air circulation, and making it easier for me to pick. The sprouts are small but plentiful so it just keeps getting better..
