Journal of a Gardener

July 21

Patty and I were in the garden for an hour from 7:45 this morning and brought in about 2/3 bushel of purple hulls, as well as green beans, several zucchinis, a few yellow squashes, a dozen cucumbers, three green onions, a few tomatoes and a beautiful bell pepper.  We got our usual collection of Japanese beetles in the first five minutes.  I also discovered a host of squash bugs on some of the butternut squash vines.  I manually eliminated as many as I could.  They are also working on some of the spaghetti squash.  It is hard to maintain a “no spray” approach when they come so aggressively – early enough to significantly reduce the yield.  I did not prune back on the tomatoes and have heavy foliage.  This is delaying the ripening and may invite disease.  Next year I will use less nitrogen in the early side dressing and give a little more space between plants.  On hot, humid days like this we are glad to have the tall pine tree just off the northeast side of the garden.  The shade is a blessing. 

July 20

Our only activity today was to take much of our harvest to friends at church.  The on-going moving process that includes a roofing project, a three seasons porch project, financing arrangements, shopping for some needed furnishings, caring for a rough new landscape has left us with little time for freezing and canning.

July 19

The purple hull peas were splayed on their stems above the vines and turning purple.  This makes them very easy to pick.  On my cell phone I called to see if D. J. was at his grandmother’s next door.  He was.  We invited him to come and help pick the peas.  He is a good pea picker.  He doesn’t like to gather the zucchini because the leaves cause his arms to itch.  Patty normally wear long sleeves for our morning harvests to avoid the itching.  We got a lot of lettuce and arrugula, as well as the usual fair.  I cut two spaghetti squashes since the vine is dying.  I left the stem long and we will let them lie for a few days and try them earlier than the three months they need for full maturity.  We used the wheelbarrow to bring the produce to the car.  From now on, that will be our plan.  We had a delightful mixed-greens salad that included arrugula tossed in with a little vinegar and olive oil.  The arrugula gives the salad a kick similar to the bite of radishes.

July 18

We drove the 3 ½ miles to the garden after breakfast and started by collecting about three dozen Japanese beetles from the bean vines.  I use a plastic quart jar and simply knock the bugs from the leaves into the jar.  They can’t fly or crawl out.  I prefer to quickly stamp them out by foot to spraying an insecticide.  Another option is to let the beetles take what I have nurtured.  That option is not appealing. 

The harvest was lighter today.  No beans.  We got cucumbers, a few tomatoes, some yellow squash and zucchini.  The heat and humidity were rough.  We sweated more than usual.