Disease-free and pest free gardens with picture perfect produce. Those were the dreams of March and April. But now it’s June, and there are frequent challenges in the garden. It seems as if every year there are new challenges to face, new things to learn, but also new opportunities-the opportunity to overcome those challenges
June started off where May left off- harvesting of the remaining onions. As in the past, onions have grown very well at the garden, and we’re always trying to see who can grow the “perfect onion”. That onion will have 13 large leaves. Each leaf produces an onion ring, and the larger the leaves, the larger the rings. Other crops that were harvested early in the month included a few blackberries, green beans, cucumbers, plums, and peppers. We are especially enjoying the various varieties of peppers, each with its own special taste. By the middle of the month, zucchini and our lemon squash, a favorite of many, started producing. This variety grows vertically in tomato cages which also helps us find and fight those dreaded squash bugs.
All was going well until about the middle of June- June 14th to be exact. We had been noticing that the cucumber plants weren’t looking as healthy, and production was slowing down. At first we blamed the excessive heat with temperatures well over 100°day after day. Most cucumbers prefer milder temperatures, (Don’t we all?) but as time went on, we felt it was a more serious issue. We finally bit the bullet and pulled up one of the plants hoping NOT to find what we thought might be the culprit. Sadly to say, we had been correct in our analysis. The cucumber roots were covered with galls from root knot nematode, a microscopic organism that damages the roots, cutting off water and nutrients to the plants. Several strategies had been undertaken during the winter to keep this from happening but obviously had not been completely successful. So, there’s the challenge, but what do we do now? This is our main growing season! After much research, yet another strategy was implemented and will be followed the first part of July with the releasing of beneficial nematode ( the good guys) into the soil to attack the parasitic nematodes ( the bad guys). It’s all out war! We’re so grateful that several of our crops are either root knot nematode resistant or tolerant, and we’re always on the lookout for new resistant varieties . We’re pleased that the garden as a whole has produced over 2000 pounds of produce so far this year, but we have so much more growing to do.
With the new (to us) strategy that was implemented to fight this disease, more hands were needed, and we’ve been so fortunate to have those needed hands this month. First of all, a group of kids from Boys and Girls Club helped us to remove diseased plants and roots from the soil- a very time consuming task. Another group of teens has been coming weekly to help with weeding, but this week they also assisted us in planting some trap crops as well as nematode resistant black eyed peas. We couldn’t have done it without all the extra help.
Finally, the awning over the weigh station is now nearing completion, and we have already been putting it to good use during the recent blistering hot days. What a difference it makes when you can catch your breath for a minute under the cool of the shade! We are so grateful for this upgrade to our garden shed (office) and so thankful for the volunteers who are suffering through the heat to get it finished as quickly as possible.
Gardening can sometimes be like a mystery waiting to be solved. During the growing season, there often will be diseases to diagnose, insect (and other) pests to identify, plant nutrient deficiencies to correct, and more. The clues are scattered throughout the garden right there in front of us. The plants may have holes in the leaves, holes in the produce (birds?, caterpillars?, squirrels?), leaves that are pale, leaves that have spots, leaves that curl up or down, or misshapen fruit to name just a few. At times it seems we need to be a bit of a “Sherlock Holmes” to solve those mysteries that surround us. There’s so much more to gardening than digging a hole, putting a seed in that hole, and watering it. That’s just the beginning of what can be a rewarding experience as you bite into that crunchy cucumber, onion and tomato salad, the crispy grilled okra, the savory jalapeño poppers, or whatever your tastebuds are craving. Enjoy!