In the fall, bunnies eat...

In the fall, bunnies eat...

• Carrots tops and carrots
• Red Beet Tops
• Spinach
• Blueberry bush branches

They didn't touch the turnips or radishes.

Note to future self: after first frost, protect remaining greens with wire mesh, etc.

White German Beer Radishes

Pulled on Nov 3rd. I didn't know what size to expect. The bodies were about 3" long (not including the tap root, and about 2" across. Brought them to Rick who said the ones he's used to in Bavaria were about three times the size. These were healthy but small.

These were planted in the same area as the onions, which were heavy feeders. Will make sure to amend the soil more heavily next time, as well as start earlier in the season.

Turnips Rock!

The turnips were FABULOUS! Peeled 'em, cut them up like fries, and baked them. Flavor like a cross between sweet corn and sweet broccoli. Gave 2 to Kuehns, kept the rest for us. Havested between Oct 16 and Nov 01.

Urgh!! Early first frost!!

And again I say "Urgh"!!

1-2 weeks early, and not just a light kiss of frost. Nope, it went hard core on the first visit.

Oh well... that's global cooling for you!

I dug up the orange bell pepper as well as the cayenne pepper plant, to give myself the opportunity to decide if I want to try to over-winter either of them (if I get permission from the "boss"). Can't do it if they're dead.

Winding down for the season.

The snap peas are about 3.5' tall; no sign of flowers yet. We are expecting the first frost this weekend, so am anticipating covering them.

The turnips and white beets are doing very well... in fact the turnip greens are so huge that they're covering the red beets in the next row, from which I am now expecting not much.

Delicata squash: Harvesting a total of eight, seven of which are cut from the vine and curing outside for a few weeks prior to a move to the garage. The eighth squash was invaded in the middle by some creature, and rendered unusable. For future squash plantings, I have GOT to get off my butt sooner and have vertical support ready for them when they need it (not after).

All four pepper plants are still doing well, though the mini bell never seemed to really gear-up into production. The orange and green bell peppers did very well once the floods stopped and some decent late-summer heat kicked-in. The cayenne is doing OK, but was shaded by the green pepper as well as an aggressive borage I let grow in the tomato bed to attract bees. If the forecast for frost holds true, I'll pull the peppers this weekend, but I still need to decide if I'm going to try to over-winter one of them.

Still have to figure out how to prune the grapevines, or next season's harvest will be even smaller than this one. Also on the to-do list: order garlic to get in the ground between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Tomato Harvest Time!

Since the tomatoes were all weird this year, and many held on to the plants, I did the squooshing in just one session. From the squeezin's, I estimate that I'll get 6-7 quarts of sauce. Won't try any paste this year, nor am I making any stewed tomatoes or anything with pieces.

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Siberian x1: Third and final year. Just not a good producer for me. Every tomato was small and scarred. Vegetation sparse and gangly.

Opalka x1: Prolific producer of bowling-pin shaped fruit, which held on tight to the plant this year, Also the most vigorous growing plant. After it topped the cage, I let it trail out to the sides on top of the adjacent cages... would have hit at least 8' vertically.

Viva Italia x2: Decent sized plant and adequate fruit, but subject to a LOT of blossom end rot.

Roma x3: In the end, not sure they were all Roma. One was for sure, since I started it from seed from a packet. The other 2 were from a store bought 3-pack, but their form was much more like an Amish Paste; lots of fruit but lots of disease. The Roma-for-sure was very prolific.

Sugar Sweet x1: Exceptionally prolific, very sweet, VERY subject to splitting. Hardly used any.

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The Roma and Oplaka I started early from seed was very healthy, very bushy, very productive plants. Given how cool and wet this year was, they seemed to appreciate the good start. Throughout the midwest, all tomato growers had problems this spring/summer.

Tobacco: Positioned the tobacco-in-container next to the Roma at the west end of "Tomato Row". Possibility that since tobacco and tomatoes share some diseases that my maters were more apt to get hit. Will try tobacco next year on south side of house, and hope I didn't do anything permanent.

Turnips too tall!

Planted the red beets next to the turnips... too close it seems. The turnip greens are already almost a foot tall, yet the beet tops are only a few inches long. Since the rows are so close, the turnip greens are shading the beets. Must remember that for next year!

2009 Onions are in!

Of 75 originally planted, ALL the starts survived. Have about 65 onions now, since I've already given away about 9-10 of them.

Ready to braid as soon as I can get the time and a horizontal work surface coordinated. Thinking that this Sunday afternoon after church might work.

Sad about the Cippolinas though... they are the ones that were (inadvertently) allowed to bolt; their central stems are strong and hollow, and will work against being worked into a braid. :(

Late summer squash fail...

The straight-neck yellow summer squash recently planted did not germinate.

Trying in their place (12" container") some of Jung's "Tricolor Bush Bean Blend" from seed box (which I am heavy purging today... found seeds from 2002).

Seed packet was marked for 2005, so hopes are not high, but they listed "52 - 56 day" from seeding, so it is possible. Since they're in a container, if we have possibly frosty nights, I can move them into the garage. Grew them successfully at Sackchewsky's back in 2007.

01049 - Jung's Tricolor Bush Bean Blend
(52 - 56 day) Enjoy a variety of beans from one packet. Our special blend includes green, yellow and purple bush varieties providing lots of good eating over a long harvest period.

Squash vine borers!

Discovered signs of entry at base of each Delicata squash plant... looked like a pile of wet sawdust on the main stem about an inch or two up from the soil. One stem was already mush... I slit the other open and discovered (and removed the grub).

Didn't check regularly because of all the rain. Won't make that mistake again.

SQUASH VINE BORER

"The squash vine borer is a key pest of winter squash, gourds and pumpkins in Kentucky. Unfortunately, it is usually noticed only after it has done its damage. Symptoms appear in mid summer when a long runner or an entire plant wilts suddenly. Infested vines usually die beyond the point of attack.

Sawdust like frass near the base of the plant is the best evidence of squash vine borer activity. Careful examination will uncover yellow brown excrement pushed out through holes in the side of the stem at the point of wilting. If the stem is split open, one to several borers are usually present. The caterpillars reach a length of 1 inch and have a brown head and a cream colored body. Winter squash, particularly 'Hubbard', are most susceptible to damage while 'Butternut' is somewhat resistant.

The adult squash vine borer is a stout dark gray moth with 'hairy' red hind legs, opaque front wings, and clear hind wings with dark veins. Unlike most moths, they fly about the plants during the daytime, appearing more like a paper wasp than a moth.

This insect overwinters as a full grown larva or a pupa one to two inches below the soil surface. If it has not already done so, the larva pupates in the spring. Adult moths begin to emerge about the time the plants begin to run, and moth flight continues through mid August.

The small brown eggs, laid individually on leaf stalks and vines, hatch in seven to 10 days. The newly hatched larva immediately bores into the stem. A larva feeds for 14 to 30 days before exiting the stem to pupate in the soil. There are 1 to 2 generations per year in Kentucky.

Management
The key to squash vine borer management is controlling the borers before they enter the stem. Once inside the vine, insecticidal control is ineffective. Poor timing of sprays is the usual cause of inadequate control. Adult emergence occurs at approximately 1000 degree days (base 50F with a Jan 1 biofix) in the early summer. Use 950 degree days as the time to begin monitoring plants weekly for initial signs of the borer's frass at entrance holes in the stems. This usually corresponds to mid June as the start of the adult flight. Very early signs of larval feeding indicate that other eggs will be hatching soon. Use two insecticide applications 7 days apart to control newly hatching larvae and continue to monitor for additional activity. Sprays need to penetrate the canopy to cover the vines to be effective.

Home gardeners may have some success with deworming the vines. At the first signs of the sawdust like frass, vines are slit lengthwise near where the damage is found and the borers removed. The stems should be immediately covered with earth. Sanitation is also important. After harvest is complete, vines should be removed from the garden and composted to prevent the remaining borers from completing larval development. Burying a few nodes along each vine will encourage rooting at these nodes. This will lessen the impact if squash vine borers girdle the base of the vine."

Fall Sugar Snap Peas

Pulled the burnt-out remnants of the non-vining Blue Lake pole beans from around the antenna support pole and planted Sugar Snap Peas, which were very successful container-grown this spring/summer.

Hoping for a decent crop before frosts set in, since they like the cool weather. The pole and peas would be easy to wrap against frost if an early frost comes to visit (always does, thanks to our micro-climate).

Yellow summer squash

Planted 5x Straight-neck yellow summer squash in 12" pot.

Said to have 42-50 days until harvest... right now expecting approx 55-60 days until first frost.We'll see how they do!

2009 Tomatoes

Planted:

3x Roma (1 home-start, 2 store-bought)
2x Viva Italia (1 home-start, 1 store bought)
1x Siberian (Home start)
1x Opalka (Home start)
1x "Super Sweet" cherry-type (store bought)

VERY wet and cool spring... lots of rain! Would normally set out tomatoes weeks after last frost, which was Mother's Day this year (2nd Sunday in May). Waited until June 05... still cool and wet, but wanted to get the plants out.

Onions

2009 Plantings. Used only starts from Dixondale Farms.

Ordered 4 bundles: one each of Red Torpedo, long-day storage, long-day sweet, and yellow Cippolina. Gave someof each to Vehlows and Kuehns.

Planted 30 Red torpedo, and 15 each of other varieties today. Red torpedos as a block in 6' long bed, and all the rest in a row in front of the tomato cages. Figuring that most (if not all) of the onion green growth will occur prior to the tomatoes growing large enough to block much light.

Added much extra organic material, compost, and fertilizer to onion planting areas; heavy feeders.

Hoping to get good (and enough) onions for braiding. Inspired by post on Frugal Squirrels website: Harvest: Braiding Onions Step by Step!

2009 Plant Starts

Commited to space in the basement with a twin-tube 4' light fixture and an el-cheapo 6" electric fan.

Starting tomatoes 4x, delicata squash 2x, sesame 6x, mini-bell pepper 1x, leaf tobacco 12x.