Notes for 2013

Peppers:
plant with more distance between them, and if the same varieties as 2012, stake taller

Basil

Don'tput under tomato netting

Tomatoes

Maybe no netting.  Need more support on cages or use twine more

Squash

Use floating row cover

Nov. 4

Sandy came through a week ago and seems to have ended the dahlias.  Have dug two sets of glads, the new ones in 2012 in one bag with duct tape and the set I planted first.  I think the first planting which was deep didn't develop the small corms the new ones did.

All tomatoes vines disposed of.  Plan to put the leaves under the netting for the winter.  Greens doing very well, including the spinach planted in Sept?   Still some peppers.

Around home the caladiums are down.  No frost yet.  Tried to mark the various perennials.  Need to rake and plan.

Sept 17

Expecting rain tonight and tomorrow.

Still harvesting okra, to my surprise.  A few tomatoes, a lot of early blight pruned.  Dahlias in bloom, though the red spider should have been on the outside, I think.  Peppers doing well, and one squash off the second planting of squash.

Lisa's lettuce, kale, endive, redicchio seedlings are transplanted and doing.   I sowed the mustard and crimson clover around the glads and the okra, mustard seeds are showing.

No success on trapping the last 3 weeks or so, though a couple of tomatoes on the ground have been gnawed.

September 5

Still dry with storms going around.  Second flush of tomatoes coming in.  Early blight is still there, need to prune.  The okra are starting to peter out, some plants gone.  Harvested some butternut squash since the vines were dead or dying and they were ripe.  The beets have not done well recently.  Hot cayenne peppers doing well, glads are about gone, dahlias starting their prime.  Beans all gone with bean beetle.

Lisa's starts should go out.

August 22

Okra plants are starting to mature slower.  Tomatoes have only green tomatoes, some of the plants have good foliage--the early blight is subsiding maybe. 

All of a sudden bean beetles are a big problem.

Harvested most of the first fruit of the eggplants, starting to see new leaves on the plants.

Harvested some beets.  Aphids a problem on the green chard.  The yellow glads are most of the remaining glads blossoming.  Dahlias starting to blossom more, though the 3 new dahlias were blossoming earlier (only one stem there?)

Harvesting peppers.  The butternut squash is good, the others are mostly dying after producing one fruit, which Lisa hasn't used.

At the house, the impatiens are terrible, some of the hostas are showing yellow leaves, and nibble by deer.

August 7

Lisa set out new squash plants around July 10-15, which are now doing well.  The first set of plants are mostly gone.

Tomatoes are past their peak, though we've done gazpacho and have about 20-30 tomatoes on the counter.  Okra are coming fast 5-6 a day.  Eggplant foliage is not great, may have been too hot.

We're running about as hot as last year, with highs in 90's most days. 

Got a new basil plant from Merrifield.. 

The yellow glads are blooming.

August 1 Update

Overflowing with tomatoes, gave some to Jin-ann and Dorothy, still many many, though the flow should start to slow soon. Some vines are suffering from early blight (haven't sprayed for a couple weeks or more).

Got about 2 inches of rain in last half of July, about .8 over the last 24 hours.

The chard and parsley have recovered.  Ann-marie had a squash and chives taken.

Okra has been bearing for maybe 10 days, a few cayenne peppers. Beans are also bearing and got the first eggplant 3 days ago.

New dahlias blooming, old ones not so much--lots of foliage, though only the Lilac time in no. quarterplot is doing well.

Trapped about 15-16 squirrels and 4 voles so far.