The Potager

The Potager

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Garden Update

A brief update of what's going on in the Potager this week.
The snow peas and the sugar snap peas are still producing. The snow peas leaves are starting to turn yellow, so I don't know how much longer they will hang in there, especially with this mini heat wave we are having today.
When the peas get hard to find, they will be removed and replaced with more string beans. I have Royal burgundy bush beans and pole beans planted as of now.
I was hoping the peas would last until it was time to pick the beans, but I don't think that will happen.
The Collards.
This is my first year growing collards. Something is eating them.
I've seen the white cabbage moth flitting around, but no sign of cabbage caterpillars. Still I sprayed them with Thuricide and they still got eaten.
I've sprayed them with insecticidal soap and they are still being eaten.
That's as far as I will go with spraying. Even though they are considered organic sprays, I'm still not comfortable with the idea of spraying.
Maybe it's slugs? I certainly have a bonus of them this year. I don't know. I do know that next year the collards will go under a floating row cover. They don't need to be pollinated but they do seem to need to be protected! As for this year, I suppose that I can chop them up and cook them anyway and I won't notice the holes. But.... They just don't look appetizing to me. How sad.

I am happy to report that switching types of beets worked for me and I have a bunch of beets ready to be harvested. Yum!
I waited until Memorial Day weekend to put my tomatoes in but it was fine. They are growing well and I have a few little green tomatoes already.
I put in two beefsteak varieties, one cherry tomato, and early girl.
I have two that self seeded and I don't know what they are. One is doing well and has blooms, and the other is still very small. It may be replaced with a larger tomato plant if I can find a garden center that still has them.







I have little Jalapenos appearing on the Jalapenos I planted from seed.
That makes me happy!

I need three more. I will have to search out garden centers and stands to see if anyone still has them.









The King of the North Peppers and Rosa Bianco Eggplant I grew from seed are looking great. The peppers (and a cubanelle pepper my son gave me for Mother's Day) all have flowers on them.
I (so far) have won the war with the flea beetles on the eggplant. I had it under row cover until this week, and now it's being sprayed with insecticidal soap. Hopefully, it is big enough now to withstand any minor attacks.



The Bright Lights Swiss Chard is ready for harvest. It looks beautiful.

In addition we are still harvesting lettuces and herbs.
The garlic from last fall has been harvested.
There are more things growing that I haven't talked about.
But I will share all that another day.











2 comments:

  1. Flea beetles are eating the collards as they like all the brassicas. Row cover is one way to prevent them.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I didn't think of flea beetles - I thought they made smaller holes. In any case, they are going under row covers next year. I think it may be too late for this year.

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