GARDEN PREPARATION - NOVEMBER

For backyard gardeners the time spent in the garden amidst the last weeds and failing vegetables is rapidly diminishing, but there are still chores to do.  If you happen to think that you are  caught up outside, here are a few more chores to replenish your low guilt level; or,  you could go back and read the Garden Preparation - October  post to see what you may still need to do...

• Cleaning pots  - If you're really bored, wash and disinfect those stacked pots you put in the garage to get rid of any pests, fungi or bacteria. Fill a tub or utility sink with dish detergent and scrub the inside and outside of the pots.  To disinfect, you can either add vinegar to the detergent water or rinse the pots using a separate bleach solution.  If you  have terracotta  pots and notice a white powdery substance on them, don't worry... it's not biotic.  The stuff is just residue minerals that have leached out from fertilizer or water.

• Asparagus - If you are lucky enough to have room for asparagus in your garden, remember to cut down those dead shoots now.  

• Parsnips and leeks - Like garlic, you should mulch these. Mulching will help the parsnips through the winter, and the mulch will extend your access to fresh leeks into December.

• Bring in those plants - Want fresh herbs? Dig up rosemary, parsley, sage, chives etc. [Hint: you can use the pots that you just cleaned].  If you don't have a sun porch, maybe you can get  away with placing the plants near a south facing window; or, better yet, use your grow lights...

• Remember what you didn't like this year?  Did that plumb tomato  succomb too early to late blight? Did it taste bland? Make a note of it somewhere -- how about on that new 2019 calendar that you just received in the mail from the Friends of the Backyard Composting Society? A better idea maybe is to find one of your (very) old school notebooks and start that garden diary - winter lasts a  long time and your memory doesn't.  You might even decide to start  another gardening blog based on what you happen to remember!

• Spread your compost yet?  Missed October? - Shame. But you now have an opportunity to make amends. If you actually got a soil test done last month, November is now a good month to add any recommended amendments along with your compost.  Remember that it usually takes months for nutrient levels to change... Poisons work faster, but increasing or decreasing pH levels or the amount of magnesium etc. is a slower process.  

Source: Public domain

• Harvests: Jesrusalem archichokes - dig them now.  Kale, kale,  kale - just keep on cutting, cutting, cutting because it just keeps growing, growing,  growing.  I recently did a search on "kale" in the NY Times cooking database and found 294  recipes using kale. So it would appear that there might be just enough recipes to handle your kale's  bounty. Carrots & beets - you should pull them now before the really hard freezes occur. Neither carrots nor beets  handle  cold weather well. Remember to leave a little of their tops (about 1") when you store them.

• Got grow lights?  Start a crop of lettuce in your basement. Use up that leftover potting soil and the remaining seeds in the packet. And, if any of the plants that you dug up and brought indoors are leggy, you can also put them under the lights to become rejuvenated.

Hyposoter ebeninus on cabbage worm.
Source: Birdguides.com

• Leave it in the garden:  In an earlier post I suggested cutting off tomatoes and beans at the soil level to allow their roots to decompose because their roots have brought micronutrients that were deep in the soil closer to the surface.  With respect to beans and peas, the nitrogen fixing bacteria on their roots also will help to increase N levels.  Here's another  idea - leave your unharvested cabbages, broccoli, Brussel sprouts etc. in the garden over the winter.  This will allow the lava of the parasitic wasp, Hyposoter ebeninius, to over winter.  These chaps have a passion for the caterpillars of the white  butterflies that are attracted to Cruciferous veggies.  Not only do the  wasp  lava kill the caterpillars; but in response to the presence of the parasitized caterpillars, the plants actually emit an aroma that makes them less attractive to the "whites."  

And remember...

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than to be crowded 

on a velvet cushion." - Henry David Thoreau

Plant Pathology  

What better way to spend time on a cloudy, greyish October or November day than  reviewing a little  basic plant pathology - well, maybe thinking about  what EPA's latest predicted 7°F  global temperature rise  means for our species competes... Anyway, let's get started.

Bacteria canker. Now present on Long Island.
Photo: Cornell U.

What Indentifies a Sick Plant

There are many  sympthoms that backyard gardeners see; and just to keep us on our toes,  any given symptom can probably also be associtated with multiple  conditions.  Usually the symptons we  see on our plants are  caused by some kind of pathogen - a biological agent that  inteferes with a plant's basic  activities like transpiration, photosynthesis etc. But they can also be caused by environmental (i.e. abiotic) factors such as too much or too little of some type of nutrient, air pollution or just poor growing conditions [heat, cold, lack of sunlight, too little water, too much water etc].

Some of the most common symptoms of   plant diseases include: 

• Abnormal celluar growth - examples include motteled leaf coloration, an over  abundance of root hairs, galls (tissue enlargements on a plant's stems, leaves or roots), malformed petals etc.. 

• Cankers - a plant's response to some type of physical damage. The damage can allow fungal or bacterial infections to enter the plant before healing is completed. A good example of a canker is the smooth rounded bark that a tree grows trying to cover up  damage from a broken branch. 

• Chlorosis - yellow spots on leaves where chlorophyll  has been destroyed by a virus.

• Damping off - a seemingly sudden callapse and death of seedlings and young plants.  High moisture levels trigger various fungal diseases that overwhelm a stressed plant.

• Defoliation (leaf loss) - Innumerical causes: transplanting stress, climatic factors, pests and pathogens.

• Fruit drop - Commonly triggered by environmental conditions, but pests can also cause loss, and sometimes the plant itself maybe just self correcting  from having set too many fruit.

• Necrosis -  dead areas [not little tiny  spots] on leaves, stems etc. Typicaly caused by a bacteria.

Brown discoloration from root rot.
Photo: U Wisconsin Extension.

• Root rot - Commonly associated with house plants that get over loved and over watered.  It can happen out in the garden in very wet weather too. Too much moisture creates the conditions for several different fungi to activate. The plants may appear to wilt, turn yellow or be stunted. If you pull one up, you will probably see that the roots look very, very brown. Just get rid of such plants. Unfortunately, these  fungal spores can stay dormant in soil for a long time waiting for the right environmental conditions to reappear.

Grey mold on strawberry. Photo: OSU

• Fruit rot - Frequently called "molds" these are generally fungal infestations although some are bacterial. A very common one is "grey mold,"  Boytrytis cinerea, that affects many backyard favorites: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers -- 200 plus in all. If you have seen clusters of grapes that appear  grown together and are covered with a brownish web, blame  grey mold.  To make matters worse, grey mold can affect different parts of a plant and appear different on different parts of it. Symptoms also can be different at different stages of plant growth.  

• Stunting  - A lot of environmental factors can affect plant growth, but sometimes  biotic sources, as will be noted below,  are to blame.

• Wilting - Lack of water, of course, is probably the most common cause, but over watering can also lead to wilt as the plant fails to get both moisture and nutrients because the roots are suffocating.   The drowned roots allow phytopthoria, a fungus, to get established; and the plant dies from root rot.   Just remember that there are  other fungal  and bacterial infections that can  also block water from reaching the rest of the plant causing it to wilt.

And now for a quick review of the nasty (but interesting) culprits responsible to creating the sympthoms...

Common Pathological Agents 

Bacterial leaf spot on peppers

• Bacteria - These are simple, single cell organisms without a recognizable nucleus. Bacteria usually  enter a plant by means of a wound, e.g. an insect piercing or stem breakage.  Different types of bacterial infections can cause galls, cankers, wilts  and rots; but a very common indicator of a very common type of a bacterial infection is the appearance of  leaf spots. Bacteial leaf spots first appear as   discoloration in  leaf tissue between a leaf's veins. Affected areas  appear dark and damp when held up to a light; eventually the tissue dies and  might even become smelly. Unlike viruses that enter and take over plant cells, bacteria stay in the tissue area between cells and absorb nutrients needed by the cells.There is also another class of bacteria, the phytoplasmas and spiroplasmas that infect plants.   Originally these were considered to be viruses, but  they are now viewed as bacterial.  Like regular bacteria, they lack a nucleus and, interestingly, they also lack a distinct cell wall. Because the 'plasmas'  and "spiros" congregate in a plant's phloem, they interfere with  nutrient transport throughout the plant.     Managing the risk posed by  bacteria involves selecting resistant plants, spraying for insect carriers, careful watering etc.  

• Fungi - Constituting a kingdom separate from those of animals or plants,  fungi derive their nutrients from other biotic sources and experience most of their [limited] mobility  by just growing in the environment they happen to occupy as well as occasional adventurous dispersals by sporing. Like other biotic entities, fungi have both beneficial and harmful actors; but fungal agents account for about 85% of all plant diseases according to MSU's Extension Service.  Most fungi are cylindrical in shape and grow at their tips by developing hyphae - thread-like structures that  can branch.  Hyphae have great penetrating ability, and it is through them that fungi  exude digestive chemicals whose resulting products are absorbed by the fungi.  For backyard gardeners, powdery mildew  and downy mildew along with rusts on apples and quinces (to say nothing of black spot on roses) might be the most commonly encountered  problems. Anthracnose is the another biggy - triggered by cool wet weather.  It shows up on  trees, shrubs and veggies by stunting young plants and leaves in the spring or spoiling fruit  and spotting leaves in the fall.  On the other hand, homebrewers and bakers are grateful for  the beneficial fungi that cause fermentation  and make bread rise. Control of harmful fungi requires selection of resistant plant varieties along with good gardening practices to remove infected plants or plant parts.  Sulphur can be employed as an effective fungicide; and, as a natural product, it  is permited in organic practices.

Tobacco Mosaic Virus on Tomato.
Source: American Phytopathological Society

• Viruses -  These are insidious, rogue pieces of DNA or RNA with only a surrounding protein coat that  only reproduce by injecting parts of themselves into other cells and using those cells to duplicate themselves. They are usually about l00x smaller than bacteria, and to complete the grim picture there are even viral agents called viroids that are smaller than your standard virus. Viroids lack the protein coat of their bigger cousins, and they seem to only exist on plants. All home gardeners have probably encountered the most common  viral infection, tobacco mosaic virus, that can infect many different plants.  Symptoms are variable -varying with the plant variety,  its age, the growing conditions and the viral strain. Leaves can be yellow, growth can be stunted, fruit can be miscolored -- to name just a few.  Control mainly consists trying to select resistant varieties combined with the removal and destruction of infected plants. In controlled environments such as greenhouses, sometimes contaminated soil is removed, and occasionally  young plants are even innoculated with known weak viral strains to spur natural resistance.  Giving asprin and making the plants go to bed doesn't work; but watering at soil level instead of spraying with a hose can minimize viral  diseases spreading between plants.

Nemotode cysts on potato roots.
Photo: Xiaohong Wang - USDA ARS

• Nematodes - Most backyard gardeners probably don't think about nematodes at all or just think that they mainly cause  root-knot on their cabbages. Nematodes are small to very small round worms; they are not earthworms. Nematodes usually range in size from .1 mm to 2.5 mm, but a few do reach 5 cm.  They exist in all environments. Half of them are parasitic; and as a life form, nematodes probably comprise about half of all the animals on and in the earth and sea! For humans, trichinosis is perhaps the  most familiar disease that is associated with nematodes.   In addition to root-knot, other notably harmful nematodes affect grapes by introducing a deadly virus, while another bad guy is the golden nemotode [Globodera rostochiensis] that affects  solanaceae (tomatoes, potatoes etc).  But, some nematodes are beneficial such as the ones that prey upon cutworms and corn ear worms.  There are various approaches to controlling nematodal damage.   You can plant marigolds, or you can even try steaming your soil. But, there are also a couple of other natural approaches. One involves chitosan, a type of polysaccharide that is derived from the shells of crustacians.   It  enhances both a plant's growth and resistance to infestations; the other  approach involves a friendly fungus, Clonostachys rosea f. rosea, also known as  Gliocladium roseum, that acts as a natural control.  If you really want to get into the detail of G. roseum, start with  this  journal article  by John C. Sutton in Plant Research.

Source: Missouri Botanical Garden

• Parasitic plants - Ever hear of "dodders?" I know about misteltoe; but, I've not experienced, or at least not recognized, dodders  attacking my vegetables - until now. Dodders are native to North America;   and, unfortunately,  they have become one of our really big unwanted exports to the rest of the world.   Field dodder (Cuscuta campestris)  and swamp dodder (Cuscuta gronovil) are two of the common ones you might encounter. They can seriously affect your carrots, tomatoes etc. Backyard gardeners can mostly control them by pulling, but dodders are much more challenging for farmers.  If a dodder finds your tomato, the vine will wrap itself around the stem, drop its leaves and live off of your plant by inserting haustoria (little root-like growths) into the tomatoe's tissue. Dodders are fast growing and  colored between yellow and orange. More detailed information on these beasts can be found on this data sheet from the Invasive Species Compendium of CABI (Center for Agriculgtural and Biosciences International).

That's all for now folks, but some of these fellas are so interesting that we will probably provide more details about a few of them during the upcoming dreary months...

And remember:

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant." - Robert Louis Stevenson

Garden Preparation - October

Oh, October!  Sometime this month most of Rensselaer County probably will experience a killing frost. The historical average is still noted to be around  Oct. 15, but higher elevations can be at least a week earlier and the  areas closer to the Hudson Valley a week or so later.  Late in September,  many of the vegetables in my garden  had sprung into a renewed growth spurt   thanks to  good moisture levels and temperatures in the 70°s.  My peppers, tomatoes and beans are now  racing to bear more fruit in advance of the Mr. Frost's eventual grim reapings; and I am enjoying second plantings of lettuce, carrots and peas.

 But now let's  go  to  garden nagging...

• October is a good time to spread your compost onto the garden.  It will continue decomposing and give you a headstart next spring.  The down side, of course, is that you will need to turn over compost pile now.  You may even need to sift it...  

• Continue garden clean up. Hopefully, you have already removed all the weeds, but there are  probably  vegetable vines and stalks that need to  be removed.  

Napoli tomatoes racing to ripen a final crop.

• Tomatoes -  Keep checking those weather reports.  If the temperatures turn cooler and appear to linger in the low 60°s, pick your  remaining tomatoes. The green ones will ripen off the vine, and it's wise to check them regularly for signs of decay. 

• Kale  - Remember, even  those colorful "ornamental" varieties are  edible. When you get tired of looking at them, don't waste them.  Add them to an omlet.

• Leeks & parsnips - Protect these hardy plants with straw. The leeks will last probably through November or longer. The parsnips will be sweeter and easier to dig in the spring if mulched now.

• Garlic - Hardnecks vs softnecks: You should certainly at least now start contemplating planting cloves for next year.  For the northeast   hardneck varieties are hardier although they do not store as long as soft neck varieties.  If you are interested in garlic  options,  look at this post from thespruce.com about choosing garlic varieties.  Because of our warming climate, I have found that in my urban setting  it is better to wait until early November  to plant next year's garlic.  You do not want the cloves to sprout and grow too much in response to a warm October. Use plenty of mulch now to keep them cool as well as protected from  winter's frigit cold.

Rhubarb. Source: Creative Commons - Public Domain

• Rhubard - Now is the time to divide it. Maybe you can convince a friend that rhubarb is the perfect  ornamental plant to fill that  empty space in their yard.  In the Middle Ages rhubarb was  considered a medicinal plant - a diuretic; but considering that the stems contain a concentration of oxalic acid, rhubarb tea is not now to be recommended...    Good luck in digging it up. Although it is easier to divide than day lillies, you will need to dig deep because  rhubarb's roots are long and stocky. Fortunately the plant is quite hardy and can absorb and lot of abuse. 

Broad leaf sage. Photo: I. Stephens

Herbs - It is also time also to start dividing or potting those herbs  you want to take in for the winter. This year I planted about a half dozen  herbs in large pots directly in the ground.  In the past I've had mixed results trying to pot herbs for the winter --   most probably because I've been using small pots. 

We'll see how this works out. I'm hoping that not too many roots have discovered the drain holes to grow through.

Olla Update & Season Finale

This spring I said I was going to try using an olla - a buried container that slowly seeps water into the soil - and I did.  I placed an olla in the center of a typee frame I use for pole beans, and it did help to sustain the soil's moisture level.     

My backyard garden consists of 4 x 8' raised beds.  The soil is loamy, and I can easily dig down at least 24 - 30". However, ollas do take up space and are not practical for some square foot gardening situations.  My community garden plot is not suitable either because it is very clayish making  digging or tilling  extremely challenging.  Also, being clayish, water does not permeate well thorugh the soil.  

I created my olla from two 8" terra cotta pots lightly secured together with a bead of caulking around the rims.The caulking provided just enough adhesion to keep the pots together while I buried the olla. I  plugged the pot's bottom drain hole and used the drain hole on the inverted top pot to fill the olla.  I generally needed to replenish  water supply (about a 2 1/2 gal   watering can) every 2 - 3 days.  

And, most importantly, I remembered to dig up the olla this past week in order to avoid damage from freezing.  I will definitely reuse the olla next season for my cucumber typee. 

And remember:

"Rhubarb and patience can work wonders." - German proverb

Late Summer Garden Experiences

Late summer gardens, unfortunately, require sustained work.  If you didn't plant those second crops for   fall harvests, don't be discouraged by what now seems like just extra effort for clearly diminishing returns.  Gardeners, like old men planting trees, must be  optimistic in  believing that any work done now is really for the next growing season...

Brussels sprouts  Update

Sprouts forming in response to top pruning.
Source: I. Stephens

Three weeks ago I mentioned that my Brussels sprouts were not forming buds but exhibited extensive leaf growth due to the warm growing conditions.  I removed the top leaders; and presto, within two weeks the plants  refocused their energy into developing sprouts. The buds are now around 5/8"+ in diameter and still  growing. By sometime in October I'll have fresh sprouts ready to pick.  Occasionally some things I do, work out...

Are Your Tomatoes Ripening Poorly?

Two of my city friends this past week have asked me why their tomatoes were  not ripening completely.  The tops either remained green or just turned yellow.  [There is, of course, a lot about this topic on the Internet already, but we'll deal with their questions anyway...] 

The sympthoms are commonly referred to either  as "green" or "yellow" shoulder respectively, and both are temperature related.   If tomato tops, i.e. the stem ends, remain green, it indicates that  chlorophyll is not breaking down as the tomatoes attempt to ripen due either to prolonged high temperatures or simply too much direct sun exposure (but not enough to cause sun scorch). High temperatures  suppress the production of lycopene, the chemical that makes ripe tomatoes red.   If the stem tops turn yellow, it means that  temperatures have been sufficiently warm  to  inhibit  lycopene production but not so hot as   to stymie the breakdown of  chlorophyll. The result is that  the tomatoes' carotene [yellow]  becomes visible. 

Thus,  one of the interesting contradictions about tomatoes is revealed:  the vines like it hot to grow, but the fruit needs moderate temperatures  between 65°F and 75°F to ripen.  Backyard gardeners who over prune vines or remove foliage to "give the tomatoes more sun to ripen" are actually doing exactly the opposite of what the fruit needs to ripen fully!

FWIW:  Most plants produce carotene; most animals don't.  In plants  carotene absorbs ultraviolet, violet and blue light and  transfers that additional solar energy to the plant's chlorophylls that produce sugars from carbon dioxide and water via the complexities of photosynthesis.  Humans along with most  other animals  obtain carotene either from eating plants or other animals. The carotene then is converted  into vitamin .

You can attempt to  minimize your tomatoes' green or yellow shoulders either by providing some shade  in your garden or you can pick the fruit green and ripen it in your cellar as soon as  you notice that the  fruit is starting to look a little less intensely green. You can also just cut the green or yellow portions off of the fruit and devour the ripe red part.

Although it simply has been hot this year, I know of gardeners and farmers in  rural parts of Rensselaer County whose tomatoes have  ripened okay -- although they have not all escaped  the early onset of late blight. I suspect that we urban/suburban gardeners are just dealing with the effects of the somewhat higher  temperatures that occur in heavily built up areas.

Corn Stalks for Mulch

A community gardener I know this year planted corn mainly to use as a mulch on an adjacent abandoned plot.  She knew that raccoons would probably get most of the corn, and her expectations about the critters unwillingness to share her corn were realistic;   but her decision to use corn to suppress next season's  weeds  suprised me.

 

Corn - better for compost than mulch. Photo: I. Stephens

Because corn stalks do not compress  much, their fiber  does allow for good aeration in mulch; but unless they are chopped up (or put through a chipper), you will be stepping on the stalks and the cobs for a long time.  In a vegetable garden the problem is that  pests and diseases that are attracted to or reside in corn will be left in your garden.  For this reason corn stalks are better if removed to your compost pile.  Farmers simply either plow the stalks into the ground or use it as feed.  In your compost pile the fibrous corn stalks will also provide a lot of potential carbon. This can balance the amount of nitrogen that fresh green materials, like grass clippings,  abundantly supply.

If you are thinking about what types of mulch you want to use in your vegetable garden or around your ornamental plantings, checkout this U. of Missouri's website about the various characteristics of different kinds of  mulches.

Bags For Butternuts

Several years ago  when I first planted butternut squash in a new community garden plot, I lost a lot of squash to nibbling pests - probably an evil  combination of squirrels, chipmunks and mice.  An adjacent gardener suggested that I cover the squash with paper bags when they were starting to ripen as a means to discourage the nibblers.

Paper bags covering squash. Photo: I. Stephens

Given that I had lots of bags from various sources [because I never throw a good bag away], I tried it the following year.  To my surprise, it did dramatically reduce the damage from these competing harvesters; and I have continued to use the technique since with continuing good results.  The bags will not deter raccoons or the other usual critters from feasting once that the squash have been ripe on the vine for a while, but it buys the squash time to ripen and seems to give me just enough time to  harvest them.   Aestheticlaly, you really don't even notice the  bags while the vines are alive, and they actually keep their integrity through a number of rain storms. Although the bags are biodegradable and could be left in the garden to   decompose.   Because the bags might blow away if not secured, I remove them from the garden and add them to my compost pile when I detach the squashes from the vines.




And remember:

"We have neglected the truth that a good farmer is a craftsman

 of the highest order, a kind of artist." - Wendell Berry, Author & Environmental Activist

Garden Preparation:  September

Bacterial wilt and Cucumbers

Bacterial wilt. Source: U. of Maryland Extension.

Last week a friend asked me what happened to their cucumbers seemingly overnight.  They had beautiful vines one day; and the next morning, the plants looked like this photo.  The diagnosis:  bacterial wilt caused by Erwinia tracheiphilia. It can also affect other squashes and pumpkins.

This villain is spread by both the spotted and striped cucumber beetles. The bacteria reside in the insects' digestive tracks; and when the insects pierce the leaves or vines to suck the juices, the bacteria are introduced into a plant.  Sometimes, just a leaf or a vine will be infected.  Sometimes, the entire plant dramatically collapses. 

FWIW: Cucumber beetles are about the only insects bothering cucumbers because these beetles are on the only species that have evolved a resistance to the toxins present in cucumber vines and leaves.  

The toxins are called "cucuribitacins" and are present in cucumbers and related plants.  In our garden varieties of cukes, squashes and pumpkins the levels of these toxins have been reduced through selective breeding over centuries.  Such is not the case with those ornamental gourds that you use as part of  Thanksgiving table centerpieces. Don't snack on them...

Harvest Time Starting for Winter Squashes and Pumpkins

Source: wikimedia.org

Winter squash can begin to be harvested during September as well as pumpkins - although it's better to wait until the end of the month to allow the rinds to thicken.  The squash will keep better if you do.

Whenever pumpkins turn orange they are ready for picking.  When harvesting any vafriety of winter squash, remember to leave a segment (about 2") of their stems attached.  The stems help to keep the fruits sealed as they cure.  Although both squashes and pumpkins can handle light frosts, both need to be harvested before heavy frosts (i.e. temps in the middle to low 20°F's).

Pruning Brussels Sprouts

Brussel sprout. Source: I. Stephens

Another issue that you might have noticed in your garden during August, given the character of this year's   growing season, is the robustness of Brussels sprout plants.  They may have a lot of foliage, but their buds may be undeveloped. This is  due to the very warm temperatures and ample of moisture.

You can still prune the plants  to induce them to channel their efforts into growing those buds by removing the leader from the top of the plants. You can also remove  the lower leaves from the base to about a third of the way up the stalk.

 The plants still have a long growing season ahead of them to grow their buds.  

And also for September, here are a few more entertaining things you can do...

• Keep weeding -- remove those plants before they release their seeds...

• Now is a good time to get that soil test -- give yourself a head start for next year. Changing the pH level of your garden, as is true to other amendments, actually takes months. Don't wait until planting time.

• Got herbs? -- Let some go to seed, collect the seeds and get started early next spring by growing some of your own. Save a couple of bucks.

• Start that Garden Notebook -- While you may still remember what you actually planted, make a note about whether you liked it or not.  If you saved the seed packet, at least make a note on it  that you either liked it or will never plant it again.

• Having trouble giving your excess kale away -- your neighbors will appreciate your donating it to a local food pantry or kitchen.

Swiss Chard - A New Bird Food?  

House sparrow.  Photo: I. StephensI

I feed birds in our backyard. The feeders are  near the vegetable garden, and for years the feathery beasts have repaid my generocity  by regularly patrolling the garden for insects.  Starting several years ago I noticed that my Swiss chard was being shredded in late summer.  I couldn't detect any insects and so was baffled.  Then late in the growing season last year I noticed that the last brood of house sparrows were mobbing it.  This year I spied the arrival of the fledgling hordes and put bird netting over my row of chard -- just in time.  Now, these sparrows continue to patrol the garden; the chard is safe; and, fortunately, the little mauraders haven't redirected their tastes to some other vegetable.

When I was about nine years old, I had a parakeet that I would feed leafy greens; but I have never noticed wild birds of any other bent exhibiting a similar yen. It seems to be just these late season fledglings that are drawn to chard.  The chard can grow throughout the spring and summer without being molested; but late in the growing season, it is at risk.  Can anyone explain this behavior? I suspect that there is some nutrient that young house sparrows need to  become fortified in preparation for the oncoming of leaner times...

And remember:

    "I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village

          garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been 

 by any epaulet I could have worn." - H. D. Thoreau

Rogerland, Deer and New Pesticidal Threat to Bumble Bees

About a week ago, I had the opportunity to visit Rogerland, a private garden located in Arlington, VT.  It's a whimsical creation based on formal English gardens but reflecting the eclectic interests of its owner, Roger Cooper and those of his late wife, Sandi. Among its more uncommon features are a USGA regulation putting green, a chess board and    a British bowling green.  There are the usual ornamental plantings, of course, but it was   the  vegetables that I wanted to see!

Rogerland's Vegetables.  Photo: I. Stephens

Now, your vegetable garden as well as mine, probably doesn't look much like this. The planting bed frames are granite and the fencing and trellising are custom designed and fabricated on site.  That's really cool.  But, what is really neat about Rogerland in total, is that Arlington, VT  does not have a deer problem. It's not because these Vermonters shoot deer or run them down on snowmobiles, it's simply that there are no suburbs and actually relatively little agriculture in this area.  

Some of the staff commented to me that the deers just like to live in the woods.  That is partly correct. Deers do like to bed down and hide in woods, but there is not really very much for them to eat in the woods -- unlike much of Rensselaer County, NY where we sustain unnaturally  high deer populations.  Hopefully, for Rogerland's sake, the  Arlington, VT area will remain under developed...  

Bulletin:  New Pesticides Also Threaten Bees

Research recently published in the British journal, Nature, reports that new pesticides based on sulfoxomine-based chemicals now being promoted to replace neoniconoids (think Roundup) are not really any better.  Bumble bee colonies exposed to these insecticides   failed to thrive.  [FWIW: The EPA cleared two sulfoxomine chemicals back in 2013 for use on fruits and vegetables under the trades names, Transform and Closer.  Click on the lead author's name, Harry Siviter, to see the  abstract of the Nature article.

Sun Scorch and Trench Composting

Sun scorch. It's okay to eat with a little trimming.
Source: gardeningthehudsonvalley.com

So far August's weather leaves a lot to be desired - way too much rain and  very hot streaks followed by cooler and wet nights.  Although this has been good for my compost piles, it has badly affected my tomatoes and a number of other veggie favorites although the winter squashes seem to like it. 

The excess moisture results in cracked tomatoes that are then exposed to bacterial infections.   Although  tomato vines grow okay in temperatures that reach into the low 90°s,  their fruit ripens best with temperatures in the 70°s! If you've been wondering why your fruit has been slow to ripen, that's the reason.  Want a little more info? Check this note from Cornell's Vegetable Program website.

If you have over pruned your tomato vines or removed too many leaf stems to let more sun light shine on the fruit to hasten ripening, SURPRISE, you may be creating the conditions for "sun scorch."  High temperatures actually inhibit the production of the pigments that provide the glorious tomato red gardeners look for... Oh, well.

Trench Composting

A full trench ready to be covered.
Source: flowering.com

If you have a small garden AND possibly have some space in it now from your pulling up your blighted tomato vines or sun scorched fruit AND you still do not have a compost pile, now is the time to reserve a little of your precious  gardening space for compost.  Dig a trench about 12" deep (or just a small pit in a raised bed) leaving the excavated soil to one side and start dumping your vegetative table scraps into it. If you don't like the looks, simply cover the scraps with the soil that you left  along the side.  The  scraps will get a good start on decomposing.  In the spring, even if your trench is not full, plant a favorite vegetable parallel to the trench to benefit from the added nutrients.  

Another approach to composting directly in your garden is called the "sheet" method.  Gardeners simply scatter their table scraps around the garden and then gently till them into the soil throughout the season. I do this with coffee grounds,  but I prefer trenching (or using a pit)...  

FWIW:  Note that this photo shows corn cobs and corn husks as well as other whole fruits and vegetables. Leaving items whole will slow down their decomposition.  Corn cobs and husks will take 2+ years to rot. It's much better to to cut these scraps or stale vegetables into pieces to expedite composting.

And remember:

"Kings and cabbages go back to compost, 

but good deeds stay green forever." - Rick DiMarinis, American author