I would like to recant the nice things I said about the rain two weeks ago. It just hasn’t stopped! What a wet July. We prepared half of the beds for the fall and winter garden weeks and weeks ago, but we still haven’t been able to prepare the second half. I can’t complain about the rain too much. Even without the rain, we wouldn’t have been able to prepare the fall garden because the tractor was busted. The radiator for the hydraulic system was leaking badly. Happily, we have managed to replace it, and the tractor is ready and waiting for the field to dry out. The arrival of proper summer weather with accompanying heat advisories should help with that.
I do not love working in the heat and the humidity. Sweet potatoes and okra love it though, and I do love sweet potatoes and okra. So I guess I had better make my peace with it. And we did have such a temperate June and July. The sweet potato vines are looking especially lovely, for which much thanks is due to my mom for weeding them.
The first planting of tomatoes is finished. We’ve started taking down the trellises so the beds can be mowed and turned under. The squash is winding down, although there is one more late planting out in the field. Even as some things are ending, others are just getting started. We have started picking okra. The eggplant is booming. The pepper harvest is peaking. Hopefully in a few weeks we will have melons. Emphasis on hope, because melons are a tricky one. And they do not like rain.
As if just managing to get the basics accomplished in the heat weren’t enough, the fall army worms are here. I know, I know, it’s not even close to fall! Apparently they show up in late summer in the south. Well, I guess they are early this year. They are called army worms because they show up as an army. Zillions and zillions appear at once. Right now they are eating the crab grass, but I know they are about to move on to pretty much everything else. Although they are a caterpillar, they are immune to the biological control we typically use for caterpillars.
Two years ago, we had a particularly bad year for army worms after a couple years of hiatus. It threw me for quite a loop. I was not okay. Now I have a plan. We have spotted them early and can start measures to protect our crops this week. I am sure this is not the last you will hear about them, however.
Small Shares
- Cherry Tomato
- Slicing Tomato
- San Marzano type paste tomato
- Squash and/or Zucchini
- Sweet Peppers
- Assorted Eggplant
Full Shares
- Cherry Tomato
- Slicing Tomato
- Juliet Tomato
- Okra
- Sweet Peppers
- Assorted Eggplant
- Red Potatoes
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