#27 Mother Nature is Not Cooperating

The summer solstice is fast approaching and Mother Nature is not cooperating. The weather here has been on the cool side – some might say downright cold. The other morning the temperatures were in the high 40˚s. Come on, it’s June.

Enough of this complaining. The madman’s peas look GREAT. In fact we’re glad we did a double trellis and we are considering raising the height for next year. (A note for the journal).

Coffee Strolls

Our morning coffee strolls are a lot of fun. We are finding radishes to be harvested – more than we have ever had before. Greens are still going gangbusters. The peas are a profusion of buds, blooms and pods. The garlic is scaping. The summer vegetables look green and full – just begging for warmer temperatures to they can take off.

Our strolls are not just for entertainment purposes. We are also scouting for things known in the gardening world as bugs and thugs – anything that impedes the production of our plants.

Bugs

Much to our delight, we are not finding a lot of bugs. At this point in the season the madman is most concerned with the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), the stripped cucumber beetle (Acalymma vittatum), the squash bug (Anasa tristis) – a relatively new addition to the enemy list, and the Imported cabbage moth (Pieris rapae). So far the Colorado potato beetle has been managed by hand picking. The stripped cucumber beetle has shown up on my Brugmansia plant, but not near the cucumbers. The squash bug has not shown his ugly face yet.

Accidental Discovery

The imported cabbage moth larvae (the green worms) are always out there – it’s a fact of life.  The madman has made an anecdotal discovery. When he planted his red Russian kale weeks ago, he noticed a non-red plant in the mix. He let it stay in the row and has noticed that the nasty moths preferred to lay eggs on the green as opposed to the red plants – a delightful find since the red kale is more attractive in our salads.

So far bug control has been in the squishable stage (we are practicing Integrated Pest Management) – mostly because of active scouting throughout the day. See it, squish it.

Big Thugs

The big thugs are in the “watch out for” area – not much you can do about them. Earlier this week we were reminded that it is snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentine) egg-laying season. These monsters crawl out of the water and bully their way into the garden looking for a spot to lay their eggs. The madman knows they don’t intentionally cause harm to the garden – they are looking for soft soil and if a Moruga scorpion pepper is in the way, the poor plant loses. The deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and bear (Ursus americanus) pretty much step where they want, but all they get is a loud talking to from a safe distance. The deer will run away and the bears do what they please.

Since the bugs have not been a big problem, we have been concentrating on the smaller things – the weeds that invade the garden. When weeds are allowed to grow unabated they can disrupt air circulation which can contribute to the spread of disease. The weeds also steal nutrition from the soil and compete with the madman’s precious plants. Every garden has any number of weeds that plague it.

Our Top Weeds

For us the big players in the weed department are:

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1. Spotted spurge (Euphorbia maculata) is a low growing summer annual broad leaf weed. As it is a low growing native plant, it is a host for fungal diseases and attracts insects that damage crops.
2. Hairy galinsoga (Galinsoga quadriradiata), also called shaggy soldier, comes from Mexico, but has naturalized in our area. It can reduce the yield of row crops by 50% and the madman won’t stand for it. Each plant can produce up to 7500 seeds allowing it to spread like wildfire.
3. Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) and Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) are among the most difficult weeds to completely eradicate. They compete with plants for nutrients and quickly entwine anything nearby. The bindweed can spread 10’ in one year if left alone. These noxious weeds spread by roots, rhizomes, stem fragments and seeds making control extremely difficult.
4. Broadleaf dock (Rumex obtusifolius) is a perennial from Europe that has a massive taproot, up to 5’ deep. A single plant can produce 60,000 seeds per year that have a shelf-life of 20 years or more.
5. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is an edible weed with a lot of high nutritional value, but that doesn’t endear it to the madman. He still calls it a weed because it readily grows anyplace – garden beds and paths – and forms a dense unattractive mat that steals nutrients. Because it germinates best at higher soil temperatures, the purslane battle is fought all summer long.
6. Yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta) is a common summer annual which is tolerant of a wide range of conditions. It flowers from mid spring to fall, potentially producing a lot of plants. The ripe seed pods pop open, sending seed 8-10’ in any direction.

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But That’s Not All

It would be wonderful if these were the only weeds we face. A lot of common weeds do find their way into our gardens. In addition to the above we have crabgrass, carpet weed, lady’s thumb smartweed, common chickweed – the list could go on forever, but you get the picture. None of these other weeds are as numerous as our top six, but they have the potential to become major problems.

Since we do not use herbicides, we use mulches and mechanical means to control the weeds. As a result of our morning stroll we know which areas, if any, need attention during the day. We weed the garden rows by hand and we use the stirrup hoe in garden paths.

Non-weed Weeds

The madman’s definition of a weed is “a plant in the wrong spot.” This year we have two types of non-weed weeds: trees and volunteers. We have noticed an inordinately large number of oak tree sprouts. Most likely they were planted by our gardeners (the squirrels, birds and chipmunks) last fall. Not officially weeds, these sprouts will cause great harm to our garden beds if left alone. Because oak trees are big-time supporters of native wildlife we have been transplanting lots of them to our property edge and the woods, knowing it will take 20-30 years before they produce acorns. The maple seed sprouts are so very numerous this year that we are not bothering to transplant them – enough will survive on their own.

Then there’s the volunteers, the herb, flower and vegetable seeds that have sprouted on their own. The madman used to leave them where they sprouted, but learned that they cause more harm than good. We generally pull out the vegetable volunteers and transplant herbs and flowers to the correct spot. But, I have noticed three cucurbits growing in the sweet pepper row. When confronted with this, the madman just smiled and said, “I’m curious to see what they turn into.” Apparently he may be creeping back to his old ways: I’ll humor him for now.

Nice Ending

A nice thing happened at the end of the week. One of the seed companies we order from invited us to an “end of season plant sale”, so we took the time to drive to Select Seeds in Union, Conn. – not necessarily to buy plants, the madman simply wanted to see their operation. He was impressed and we did come home with a trunkful of plants.

Now to find a home for all of these newcomers. But first, lemonade.