Weekly Gardening Outlook (Rain!!!)

This will be a continuing series where we look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

There's rain in that barrel!

Someone out there has been working on their rain dance technique!  We haven't had rain in 6 weeks and have seen temperatures over 100 degrees during that time.  Last night a solitary thunderstorm cell dropped the wet stuff on us for 20 minutes.  Not enough to do much more than knock the dust down, but with the weatherpersons calling for a 40-50% chance of rain each of the next 3 days, we are hopeful for more.  Our rain barrel gathered about 15 gallons during that shower.

Spaghetti Squash / Squash Vine Borer Update:

Alas, we hardly knew ye.  The barrage of insect activity noted last week did the squash vines in.  They made it almost 8 weeks.  Next season, we will more vigilant and ready with BT for the borers and pyrethrin/neem oil for everything else.  If that doesn't work... the farmer's market is open 3 days a week.  Wish us luck!

Things to be on the lookout for:

Young strawberry plants for next season

Continuing with the theme, keep tabs on soil moisture.  As hot and dry as it has been, these late summer crops are already stressed.  Forget about them for a few days and you could lose them, missing out on the late season harvest.  Contrasted in the picture above are young daughter strawberry plants thriving in this dry spell surrounded by leaves from a nearby sycamore tree.  Those leaves are there because the tree is experiencing drought stress and is prematurely dropping its leaves. Our water bill has crept into three digits for the first time ever, but most of our crops are doing okay.  Don't be afraid to get your fingers dirty.  A finger in the dirt is the best way to estimate soil moisture.  A crust on the soil surface is okay, but try to keep the soil a few inches down as damp as a well wrung out sponge.

Weather outlook:
-80s all week.  Nighttime lows into the low 50s late in the week.  Fall is in the air!  A good chance of rain Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Peppers

-Chard 

-Tomatoes
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs

-Apples

Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

     Wilting spaghetti squash vine


The heat and lack of rain continue to be the big story.  Cooler nights arrive this week.  With this drop in overnight temperatures will come increased garden production and harvest.  Be ready to eat or put up the produce.  Until then, keep things well-watered and think about learning to do a proper rain dance.

Spaghetti Squash / Squash Vine Borer Update:

We stopped by to check on the spaghetti squash vines and the pest insects have found them.  When we say found, we mean savaged.  Squash vine borer?  Check.  Squash bugs?  Check.  Bacterial wilt carrying cucumber beetles?  Striped AND Spotted.  Check.  Aphids?  Check.  We went on a squash bug, cucumber beetle, aphid, squash vine borer killing spree.  Our shorts, hands, arms, and even cheeks were splatted with insects guts.  We must have killed over 150 squash bugs alone and our thumbs and forefingers are still stained yellow from their innards.  It was bad.  So bad that we are stepping up to pyrethrin spray.  Pyrethrin is a natural compound extracted from chrysanthemums and is approved for use in organic gardens.  Beware that pyrethrum and permethrin are not approved for organic gardens.  We will be mixing neem oil and pyrethrin into one spray.  The pyrethrin provides immediate kill and the neem provides some residual protection.  This can be bought as a premix under the trade name NeemII.  We will keep you updated.

Things to be on the lookout for:

     Adult squash vine borer (SVB) moth

Apparently these are still active.  This picture was taken late last week and the spaghetti squash vines are showing signs of SVB activity.  Sigh...

     Squash bug nymphs on spaghetti squash vine

     Frass (aka bug poop) on a watermelon

This is a sure sign of insect activity.  If found, take a closer look.  Hint:  Look above the deposits.  See the leaffooted bugs?

     Leaffooted bug nymph on a pepper plant

     Spotted cucumber beetle on a spaghetti squash vine

     Two striped cucumber beetles breeding

     Aphids and ants on a spaghetti squash vine

If your plants are inexplicably covered in ants, take a closer look.  Some ants, such as these odoriferous house ants (aka sugar ants), will "farm" aphids.  Aphids suck juices from your plants and produce a sugary substance called honeydew from their anuses.  The ants eat this and in exchange, protect the aphids.  Aphids are not very mobile and a sharp stream of water will blast them off of the plants and out of your hair.

Weather outlook:
-Mid 80s to low 90s all week, with a very slight chance of rain
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Peppers

-Chard 

-Tomatoes
-Cucumbers
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs

-Apples

Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

It has been so hot and dry that even the sun loving cucumbers are moving into the shade!  Amazingly, they were able to span the two foot gap between the top of our eight foot tall trellis and the branch of a neighboring silver maple.  We will leave them alone for now as they aren't hurting anything.

Spaghetti Squash / Squash Vine Borer Update:

The vines grew about a foot in the last week.  They are thriving in this hot weather.  The package says they take 100 days from seed to harvest.  We are giving them about 107 days unless we have an early frost.  Actual days to maturity is variable depending on growing conditions (temperature, sun exposure, moisture, etc.).  We feel good about getting a harvest from these late planted vines.  We'll continue to keep you updated.

Things to be on the lookout for:

Leafhoppers come in a variety of colors and are usually very brightly colored as seen here on a sweet potato vine.  Adults are about 3/8" long and jump away with a strong, quick motion when disturbed.  They suck juice from leaves and can cause leaf spots and wilting.  Of more concern is their ability to transmit viral diseases.  We've always had a few around the garden without a problem, but they can build up to point where they need to be treated for.  If they do, handpicking or vacuuming is difficult due to their quickness.  Use insecticidal soap or diatomaceous earth, but as always treat late in the day and do not get it on flowers to avoid killing bees. 

Weather outlook:
-Low 90s all week, with a very slight chance of rain
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Peppers

-Watermelons

-Chard 

-Tomatoes
-Cucumbers
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs

Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

    Fresh from our garden salsa ingredients, ready to be mixed

We are now in the dog days of summer.  The weathermen are calling for temperatures in the upper 90s all week.  Keep a close eye on your soil moisture and water as necessary.  Water deeply when the soil is dry 3" from the surface.  

Spaghetti Squash / Squash Vine Borer Update:

Planted in a customer's garden on July 1st, these spaghetti squash vines are now about 3 feet long and remain untouched by the squash vine borer.  The late planting date was done to avoid the egg laying period for this dreaded pest and that has been a success.  Now the question remains, will the vines have enough time to produce fruit before the first killing frost hits in the middle of October.  We'll keep you updated.

Things to be on the lookout for:

HEAT.  The garden isn't producing at it's peak right now due to this excessive heat and that is normal.  Like us gardeners, most of our plantings are just trying to make it to the cooler days and nights ahead.  There isn't much to do other than wait it out and keep the plants from drying out too much.  There will be another flush of produce when the days drop back into the 80s.

Weather outlook:
-Mid to upper 90s all week, with a very slight chance of rain
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Peppers

-Watermelons

-Chard 

-Tomatoes (the heat is curtailing production, but it will bounce back)
-Cucumbers
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs

Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

    Newly planted spaghetti squash vine emerging


Our spaghetti squash have been slaughtered by the squash vine borer (1 vine left).  Ever the optimists, we have replanted.  We should have just enough time to get a crop in before the first frost of the year.  It's our thought that this planting will be too late in the season for the squash vine borers to invade.  We'll keep you updated.  

Things to be on the lookout for:

    Adult cucumber beetle

If you have cucumbers, melons, or squash, be on the lookout for these small yellow beetles.  They can be spotted as shown above or striped as seen here.  The adults can damage leaves and fruits, while the larvae can damage the plant's roots.  These aren't really a huge problem except in very young plants or if you let the adult population get very high.  The real problem with these beetles is that they transmit a disease called bacterial wilt.  We have had every cucumber vine (8 in total) wiped out at a customer's garden this year due to this disease.  We just replanted.    

     Newly planted cucumbers emerging

So what can be done about it?  Once infected with the bacteria, nothing can be done for the vine.  The best strategy is so reduce the cucumber beetle population.  A regular coating of diatomaceous earth on the young seedlings will keep the beetles at bay.  Once the seedlings get up a little, our old standby neem oil will discourage feeding and reduce the population of cucumber beetles.  It has the added benefit of reducing any problems with mildew.

Weather outlook:
-Mid 80's early in the week; warming to low 90's late in the week
-Chance of rain today and tomorrow
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Green beans

-Peppers

-Watermelons

-Chard and kale

-Onions
-Tomatoes
-Cucumbers (MANY cucumbers!)
-Kohlrabi (almost all gone)
-Squash and zucchini
-Squash blossoms
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs

Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

      First watermelon of the year

I hope you all had a great 4th of July holiday!  We harvested our first watermelon of the season this weekend.  It was very sweet, but still needed a few days on the vine.

      Salvaged spaghetti squash from dying vines

About 70% of our spaghetti vines succumbed to the ravages of the squash vine borer (SVB) despite our best efforts at cutting the buggers out of the vines.  We harvested 4 squash from the dying vines, but they may or may not turn out to be mature enough to eat.  It appears that the remaining vines are going to pull through.  The adult SVB moths are nearing the end of their mating cycle (i.e. egg laying).  Our plan B is to replant the destroyed vines now with the idea that they should escape the SVB and still have enough time to produce for us before our first killing frost arrives in mid-October.  That's the plan; we will keep you posted.

Things to be on the lookout for:

We are still finding and smashing squash bug eggs and nymphs here and there.  Check your squash leaves for eggs once a week.

      Mexican bean beetle nymph


We found an adult Mexican bean beetle and several of its nymphs on watermelon vines, squash plants, and sweet potato leaves.  We didn't get a picture of the adult because it was mistaken for a lady beetle, which is a very beneficial insect for the garden.  The Mexican bean beetles are in fact in the same family as the lady beetle.  They are larger than a typical lady beetle, orangish brown, with black spots.  Images of the adults can be seen here.  The nymph (pictured above) is small at only a half inch long, yellow with black spikes protruding from the body.  They defoliate garden plants relatively quickly, so visiting your garden daily is imperative.  Hand picking nymphs has kept us from experiencing damage from them this year.  If you get a heavy infestation, neem oil is effective against them.

Weather outlook:
-Low to upper 80's
-Chance of rain every day
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Watermelons
-Chard and kale
-Spaghetti squash (much too early)
-Onions
-Hearing reports of red tomato harvests (ours are STILL green)
-Green tomatoes
-Cucumbers (MANY cucumbers!)
-Kohlrabi (almost all gone)
-Squash and zucchini
-Squash blossoms
-Celeriac leaves, basil, mint, and other herbs
-Radishes

What's coming soon:
-Red tomatoes
-Peppers

Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

The lettuce is done for the summer, all of it having bolted due to the heat.  It's impressive that it lasted this long considering the heat we've had.  We will definitely be growing this lettuce mix again this fall.  Until then, our salads will consist of chard and kale.  The heat that we are experiencing has also temporarily halted strawberry production.

                                    

Things to be on the lookout for:

      Wilted vine in the foreground

Summer's little nasties are really starting to pop their ugly heads up now.  The newest arrival is the squash vine borer (SVB).  The first sign was one vine was noticeably wilting during the midday heat yesterday.  Upon closer inspection,  a small pile of sawdust-like frass (poop) was found near the base of a vine along with a 2" section turning brown.  The adult SVB lays its eggs on the leafstalk.  When they hatch out the small caterpillar burrows into the stem and grows rather large (1" to 1" 1/2" long) inside the stem.  The damage will kill everything on the vine past the caterpillar.

These guys will also attack other squashes and cucumbers, but they really seem to prefer the spaghetti squash.  This a shame because we LOVE spaghetti squash.  Here's how to treat the problem if this happens to you:  Go out at night with a strong flashlight.  Hold the light behind the stem where it is discolored and the caterpillar will appear as a dark spot in the stem.  Using a very sharp knife (be careful!) slice halfway into the stem lengthwise to open it up.  Cutting as little as possible and being very gentle, open the stem up and remove the caterpillar.  I've seen two caterpillars in the same stem, so use your flashlight to check thoroughly.  Now heap damp well finished compost or peat moss over the base of the stem and wound.  Keep it damp for a couple of weeks and more times than not, the vine will put down new roots and will start to produce fruit again.

How can this be prevented?  Placing mint cuttings near the base of the vines everyday is said to deter the adult SVB.  DO NOT plant mint here as it is very invasive and will take over.  Coating the base of the vines in diatomaceous earth is another option.  Sticky traps can work, but will also catch beneficial insects.

Perhaps the best option is a second crop of squash planted July 15th after the SVB adult has quit flying.  There is still time in the growing season for the vines to mature barring an early frost.

Weather outlook:
-Hot and dry, in the mid 90's
-No chance of rain
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:
-Green tomatoes

-Cucumbers
-Kohlrabi
-Broccoli
-Squash and zucchini
-Squash blossoms
-Celeriac leaves
-Basil, mint, and other herbs
-Radishes

What's coming soon:
-Red tomatoes
-Peppers

Weekly Gardening Outlook

This will be a continuing series. Each Monday we will look ahead at the coming week in gardening for the Northwest Arkansas area.

Sorry for the intermittent posting. We just returned last night from vacation and wifi was, shall we say... spotty.

What a difference a week makes! We returned to full grown cucumbers, 10 foot long and flowering pole bean vines, baby watermelons, spaghetti squash running wild, tomato plants twice as tall, and Bermuda grass... ahh the Bermuda grass. It is a truly obnoxious weed. The only problem that we really had with the garden while we were gone is that most of the broccoli (pictured above) flowered. We got a little bit, but it was a shame most of it went for naught.

young spaghetti squash  

young watermelon

Things to be on the lookout for:

Japanese beetles have arrived. They are on our apple trees, but have not eaten any plants in our beds. It seems the onions are doing their job.

The Japanese beetle's defense mechanism when disturbed is to let go of the plant and fall into the grass. We use that to our advantage by keeping a jar of soapy water in the garden and when we see the beetles, we hold the jar under them. Then we brush a hand over them and they fall right in and die. They tend to cluster up, so it doesn't take much time and if done every day will keep them from causing serious damage.

We advise not putting those pheromone traps (the kind with the bag) in your garden because they will actually attract beetles to your garden. If you have a large piece of property, place these traps in remote areas away from your garden.

Weather outlook:
-Warm, lower 90's
-Chance of rain Wednesday; dry later in the week
-Ten day forecast

What's being harvested:

-Cucumbers

-Kohlrabi
-Broccoli
-Squash and zucchini
-Squash blossoms
-Celeriac leaves
-Basil, mint, and other herbs
-Radishes
-Strawberries

What's coming soon:
-Green tomatoes
-Peppers

Trellising, Caging, and Staking

One of the biggest advantages of the raised bed design that we use is the ability to grow a lot of food in a relatively small space.  So how can we grow space hogs like watermelons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, spaghetti squash, cucumbers, and the like with such a small ground footprint?  As I am sure you have guessed, the answer is we support them and grow them vertically into the air.

Cattle Panels:

The most useful trellis material that we have found are 16' x 50" cattle panels.  They are strong and flexible, have holes large enough to put your hands through for harvesting and guiding the vines, and at $15 each are CHEAP for the value they bring to the garden.  They can be bought at your local Tractor Supply, Lowes, etc.  With a pair of bolt cutters they can be cut into custom sizes and shapes in minutes.  If you don't have bolt cutters, ask the people where you buy them from and they will probably cut them for you.


In the picture above you can see three trellises.  The rainbow shaped trellis on the left will support the spaghetti squash that you see in the wooden bed.  If you have the space to do it, a curved design works better than a strictly vertical trellis as it gives the vine more solar exposure and more support for heavy fruits.  If the vine is well supported by the trellis, it will usually be strong enough to support even heavy fruits.  If the fruits do become too heavy, they can be supported with a sling made from breathable fabric such as old pantyhose.  


Coming from a cinder block bed on the right of the picture, watermelon vines (personal sized variety) will grow up this arched trellis which connects to the spaghetti squash trellis.  Spaghetti squash and watermelon vines grow particularly long (15-20 feet!!!) so full length 16' panels were used.  

Between the two wooden beds we created an arbor by bending a full length panel to fit.  Green beans (pole beans) are planted in each bed and will climb up both sides of the arch.  These vines and fruit weigh very little and just the stiffness of the bent panel will support them.


Due to space constraints in our garden area, our cucumbers are growing vertically on a half a cattle panel (8' tall) secured to two 8' tall t posts.  

Green beans ready to grow up the trellis

Connecting the panels:

The spaghetti squash trellis is connected to the wooden bed with fencing staples at the bottom and at the top it is connected to the top of two t posts with electric fence wire.  The watermelon trellis is up against the cinder block bed at the bottom and is secured to a t post with the electric fencing wire to keep it in place.  At the top it it connected to the spaghetti squash trellis with electric fencing wire.  While we are on the subject, electric fencing wire is marvelous stuff to have around the garden and home.  It doesn't rust and is useful for a ton of things.


Tomato Cages:

The soil in our raised beds is so loose and friable that taller plants need support or they can fall over.  Tomato cages aren't just for tomatoes.  These cages completely surround the plants and provide good support for crops such as eggplants and peppers.  There are many styles available, but we prefer the conical, premade type because they stack inside one another for easy storage through the winter.  Hint: wire the cages together at the top with electric fencing wire to provide more stability.  Many people have good luck with welded wire fencing rolled and wired together to form a cylinder.  One method that we are thinking about experimenting with next year is the Florida weave.  If anyone has any experience with this, let us know in the comments section.


Staking:


Almost anything can be used as a stake. Bamboo, premade plastic covered stakes, and wooden stakes are common.  Put the stake in before planting to avoid damaging the plant's root system.  As the plant grows tie it LOOSELY with a soft material to the stake.  Strips of old pantyhose work great for this.  Ensure that the stake is tall enough for the plant's final height and that it is in the ground deep enough to avoid toppling over during a wind storm.