Aug 05 2011 - Garden Journal (Day 119) – Where Things Stand

Now that we’re in August, I’ve seen a number of things changing…seem to be more pests in the garden, insect and otherwise. Disease is harder to fight back. I haven’t seen anymore bacterial wilt, but the powdery mildew is slowly taking over the squash and pickling cucumbers, although I’m still getting vegetables on both.

The squash production has slowed down. I don’t see too many new buds, probably because I had to cut away 90% of the plant. I don’t think I’ll be seeing too many more squash this season.

Even though I’m seeing mildew more and more on the pickling cucumbers, it doesn’t seem to be effecting production. I still have plenty of cucumbers on the vine and pick at least one on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the trellis netting is deteriorating more and more every day…almost had a total collapse of the cucumber vines a few days ago. I’ve since used string to help secure the vines. Hopefully, it holds out until the end of the season.

The bean plants have been producing less lately, similar to last year. Ever since we had that hot weather, beans have been few and far in between, but the vegetation is growing…a lot of leaves on the vines. I remember from last year, this happen for several weeks and then the beans started coming back again. I’ll have to keep an eye on the situation and see how it goes. The bean leaf beetles are still an issue as I’m still seeing swiss cheese leaves.

As far as the eggplant, I’m not sure if I’ll be planting this again next year, mainly because there’s not a whole lot you can do with it. If anything, maybe I’ll plant the bigger variety and not the Little Fingers. Also, they go bad quickly once picked, so be sure you have plans for it.

I ended up pulling the cilantro plants. I pulled three of them a week or so again, after we had that really hot (100 degree) weather. I think it might of just been too much for them. They never really bounced back after it. I pulled the remaining three today, so no more cilantro. And I probably won’t be planting it next season unless I get on a salsa kick. I didn’t really use that much this year. If anything, maybe I’ll grow one plant next year.

I finally pulled all the first round carrots today. I’m very please on how they all turned out..only one or two looked deformed, the rest were a good size and tasty! I still have two squares of carrots growing, so I don’t think we’ll need to plant any more this season. I predict the next square will be ready in a few weeks, and the last a few weeks after that, probably early October.

I have yet to plant the vegetables I mentioned back on day 88, rutabaga, white icicle radishes, baby spinach, and Italian (bull’s eye) beets, so I need to get those in the ground this weekend, particularly the rutabaga, spinach, and beets. The radishes come up quick, so it may still be too hot for them in August. Maybe I’ll plant those in another week or two.

Harvest Update
* Radishes: 29
* Green Onions: 26
* Lettuce: 125 (leaves)
* Onions: 6
* Beets: 7
* Squash: 23
* Banana Pepper: 11
* Jalapeno Pepper: 17
* Super Chilis: 106
* Pole Beans: 242
* Slicing Cucumber: 44
* Pickling Cucumber: 75
* Cherry Tomato: 67
* 4th July Tomato: 24
* Green Pepper: 5
* Carrots: 13
* Rutgers Tomato: 8
* Eggplant: 15
* Roma Tomato: 6
* Dazzleberry Tomato: 4

Squirrel (Raccoon?) Wars 2011 Victims:
* Rutgers Tomato: 5