From The Old Farmer's Almanac.
Have you ever thought how cool it would be for garden bloggers to have their own HTML tags? Sure you have, who hasn't ?
As I was contemplating this very question just the other day, it dawned on me how wonderful it would be to create your garden from your very own computer - using nothing else but HTML code! For the uninitiated who treat HTML, or any coding language for that matter, as something from the pit of hell itself allow me to cover a few basics.
Most of us would have seen the common tags that turn up in our templates yet make very little sense. Tags such as <div>, <span>, <body> etc. (I'm making the assumption that you all understand that each tag has it's own corresponding closing tag as well ie. <div> and </div>)
Well, what if we began creating our own such as <flower></flower> or maybe even <compost-heap></compost-heap>
We could then begin to design our gardens with a few well appropriated tags defining it to the nth degree.
For example, here's a garden I produced earlier;
<garden style='border:blue;border-style:picket;' class='cottage'>
<gardenbed align="right-next-to-the-fence">
<flower style='height:groundcover;color:white;'></flower>
<flower style='height:shrub;color:yellow;'></flower>
<flower style='height:tall;color:red;type:rose;'></flower>
<bench style='width:wide-enough-for-large-bottoms;height:tall-enough-to-keep-the-kids-off;
color:rustic;'></bench>
</gardenbed>
</garden>
And here it is - photo
It would certainly make life much easier for us gardeners, wouldn't it?
First published July 10, 2008
Flea beetles are nasty vegetable pests. And if that statement sounds like it has an air of contempt to it, it’s because it does.
Having spent numerous years growing vegetables, I have a long (meaning painfully long) and complicated history with these pin-head sized menaces. Each year, as our cole crops (cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage) would push their way through the soil surface in the spring, I’d check for cruciferous flea beetles on the emerging seedlings. It wasn’t the job itself I disliked; rather it was the knowing that even a few bites from a tiny flea beetle meant death to a seedling. Then, of course, there was also the thought of having to deal with the problem. One year we had to spray 20 acres of cabbage with a “recommended” pesticide, but apparently flea beetles give little credence to chemical labels and opted instead to turn all 20 acres of seedlings into a tender snack. The memory of that razed crop is as vivid today as it was some 30 years ago.
Flea beetle damage on an emerging potato plant.
There are several flea beetles species on the prairies. Most are tiny and inconspicuous, chew small “shot holes” through leaves and have a penchant for jumping like a flea when disturbed (thus the name). Now even though the cruciferous flea beetle can devastate young plants, they do very little damage to older ones. That, however, is a small consolation in the battle against flea beetles because in July, its cousin, the potato tuber flea beetle, begins its own reign of terror.
Potato tuber flea beetle is still a relatively new pest to Alberta, having arrived from B.C. just over 20 years ago. Since then, they’ve been slowly leaping eastward across the prairies, eating members of the Solanaceae family, which include tomatoes, eggplant and, most notably, potatoes.
If you want to know if tuber flea beetles have attacked your potatoes, simply dig up some tubers. If they look like they’ve been poked with a safety pin, you can be pretty sure that flea beetles have been eating the nutrient-rich flesh. The second sign of damage is a fine, brown labyrinth of tunnels throughout the tuber. Each is confirmation that flea beetle larvae area at work. Now, if you’re lucky, these destructive little beetles haven’t found your yard. If you fall into the other camp, there’s really not much you can do—at least for this season.
Lose the battle; win the war
When tuber and tuber flea beetle meet, the victor is always the beetle. That, however, does not mean the war is lost. There are ways for gardeners to emerge victorious, and it starts with understanding the beetle’s life cycle.
After the tiny flea beetle larvae feed on the tubers, they exit the tuber and pupate in the soil. Then, in early fall, the larvae emerge from the ground and typically make homes in soil beneath plant debris where they hibernate for the winter. As the weather warms the following spring, the beetles start moving back to the garden in search of potatoes and other members of the potato family. The beetles then feed and mate on the leaves, drop down to the soil where they lay eggs that hatch into tuber-eating larvae and—voila!—the cycle is repeated. Here’s how to break it.
Flea beetle eggs on the underside of potato leaves.
The best course of action is to start by getting rid of the tunneled potatoes. Then, the following year, plant pest-free seed potatoes and spray the foliage of the plants in late spring. Because tuber flea beetle adults feed on the potato foliage before they drop to the ground, spraying allows you to kill the adults before they can produce offspring, thus solving the problem. Rotonone is a good “organic” product to try. For a non-chemical control, try placing a gauzy, light coloured fabric over the potato hills before the foliage emerges from the ground. This should prevent the flea beetles from accessing the plants and, ultimately, the tubers. Other than that, just remember to clean up the plant debris around the yard each autumn (nothing makes a better hibernation spot than a nice layer of dead plants); it’s a good practice and will help at the very least.
Give and take
Now, I know that flea beetles are as much a part of nature as any other insect and that we are therefore required to accommodate them to some degree, but hard as I try, I just can’t seem to extend any tolerance to a pest that is all take and no give. I’m guessing it’s personal…
The Summer issue of Jim Hole’s new magazine, Enjoy Gardening, is now available on newsstands.
Earthly Delights, CSA pickup #7.
Upon arriving at the garden today, I was told I could pick my own raspberries. Well, you don’t have to tell me twice. I skedaddled on over to the berry patch and commenced to picking. And eating, and picking. And eating. I tried to make it look like I picked just a few berries: I returned to pick up my veggies and showed them I had just a small container of the little red gems. No, I didn’t hog them all. But I wanted to. (A note: I am harvesting my golden raspberries at home right now and they are lovely!).
Today’s earthly bounty was big and hearty; a nice handful of beautiful fresh carrots. Five slender orange gorgeous carrots. These will be eaten ‘as is.’ No fussing necessary.
One head of Pirat red oak leaf lettuce, kind of holey (not holy), but with a little clean up, probably good enough to make salad for just two. As the farmer says, “Enjoy it, it’s the last fresh lettuce for a few weeks till the warm weather varieties kick in.”
Nasturtium flowers and leaves: the leaves add a zingy pepper taste to a salad or are really tasty on an egg salad sandwich. I am planning to use the flowers on a big salad I am making for a party tomorrow night. You know, to show off.
Dino and Redbor kale combo: a small portion of this as the aphids make havoc with greens in the summer heat. I have a big flower pot of arugula that is about to bolt, so I will harvest that, mix it with the kale and viola! ……a mess of greens. My blood is feeling pretty pure these days after a month and a half of anti-oxidant green cleansing.
Purple scallions: These look like a nice bunch of green onions only they are firmer and purple and go with anything savory. And I mean anything.
One fine first-of- the-season- happy zuke green, shiny, firm, warm, yummy. I will slice this in half, drag a fork across the exposed center to score it, brush with olive oil and salt and pepper, then grill. Put the green skin side down first, then flip over to the pale side which you scored.
I scored a huge helping of small white turnips tonight. They didn’t look very pretty so some folks were kind of afraid of them. I will wash them, spray with olive oil, add salt and pepper, and grill. A metal basket works well for this. Or just run a metal skewer through them and put them over the fire.
Glory be! fresh basil. Bring it on! Big leaves of fresh basil with a fragrance that just say summer. Where oh where are those tomatoes????? Hurry please.
No you did not miss week 6, Gardener Casey took a one week break between the cool season crops and the warm season crops. We did not have a pick up last week.
Post from: Idaho Gardener
