There is a garden out there somewhere. I promise. You can't see it for all the weeds, weeds and more weeds. March has been cold, wet and dreary. Nothing has been done in the garden except for harvesting and some days the garden has been too muddy to even do that. Any day soon the weather will break and the hard work plowing and planting will begin. April will be a busy month.
All of the dormant plants have awakened and begun to grow so fast we can't eat it all. The weeds have also awakened.
The few collard green plants left that did not die of the stem rotting disease are growing rapidly also.
However, the virus continues to spread in the area. This plant is suffering and will be dead soon.
This one is healthy and thriving.
Other than weeds taking over everything, there is not any garden news.
Mother! chided Scooter. What is wrong with weeds?
See that long, tall steep flight of steps? Every night before bedtime I go down the steps and fertilize this weed at the bottom of the rail then quickly run back inside.
Weeds are great - especially ones that are conveniently located.
I was finally able to till up 2 small parts of my garden this past week, just when it became dry enough to do so with the tiny tiller, and before it started to rain once again. I was able to put a few early veggies in: carrots, beets, cabbage, broccoli, potatoes, artichokes, 3 kinds of lettuce and spinach. Even just a very short row of each one quickly used up the space I was able to till. I'm so glad I got them in, because it immediately started raining again. Now, they will hopefully sprout with no attention from me with the frequent, gentle rain that usually falls this time of year.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to move your collards to an entirely different place to hopefully thwart that disease? Or what? At our other place, I had to stop growing potatoes entirely because they just got something bad every single time. So frustrating! I hope you find a better solution.
Nothing has been planted in the garden yet. Every year I say I am going to plant some peas and beets but the ground is always too wet. It is getting time and the weather is finally warming up and I am ready to be outside.
DeleteThe collards, Chinese vegetables, cabbages and all other brassicas will be on the other side of the garden. They will not be close to this spot at all. It will be the area beside the fence next to the field. Nothing has been planted there for years because the chickens would stick their heads through the fence and eat everything. It has been a grassy walkway. Also something different this year, I plan to plant all of them together. In past years I scattered them throughout the garden in hopes of thwarting bugs from finding them. Now I see I need to be able to completely rotate something away from an area. This garden spot has been in production since this house was built 18(?) years ago so it stands to reason the soil is worn in places. I add as much compost as possible but it seems to never be enough.
We could move the garden to another area of the yard. There are a few other spots where the soil is good, meaning there is actually dirt and not rocks in a spot. We know where the boulders are located in the yard because there will be large dead areas of grass when it stops raining. Hopefully this will work.
When there are plant diseases on collard, cabbage and other Brassica plants, it would be
ReplyDeletespecially important to practice crop rotation. No Brassica plants on this plot in the following 2 or 3 years, but vegetables such as carrots, spinach or potatoes. Crop rotation
is a great help to avoid the risk of diseases.
I wish you a successful start for gardening this year!
Christel
This year I will try growing potatoes like you suggested. The ones I ordered are a late season German butterball just like you said to try. Well you didn't say get German but I decided since you are German, you should know all about them! They arrived in the mail on Saturday and they look good. I have some purple ones I purchased at the grocery store and are letting them sprout. They are for fun.
DeleteIt is raining again today. Bill wants to mow the grass because it is getting knee high but it is just too wet. That is our weather. It will rain all spring then stop for the summer.
I've never heard of stem rotting disease. Can you prevent it? I wasn't going to have a garden again, but last week I started building some raised beds. I thought they might be easier to maintain. I really hate weeding.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it is 100% preventable but there are many things you can do to lessen the chances of getting it.
Delete1. Rotate the crops. The biggest mistake I made was planting collards in the same spot two years in a row. This allowed the disease to grow and spread.
2. Burn the diseased plants and do not compost any part of them.
3. Wash your hands and gloves after touching them.
4. Don't use any tools on the diseased plants and then touch other plants.
When I see a plant that is infected, I wait until I am finished working in the garden, then pull them up, throw them in the burn pile and go inside. I wash my hands and also wash my gloves.
I am with you on weeding. That is why I put so much mulch down around everything!
Oh, one more thing. "Stem rotting disease" is not the right name but something I made up. It is probably some fancy Latin something I couldn't pronounce. Whatever it is called, I hate it.
DeleteI love how Scooter looks so proud standing next to his weed!
ReplyDeleteAnd collard greens -- yum! I'm now craving sautéed greens. Mmm...greens!
Margaret, Scooter has worked hard fertilizing his weed. He has even learned how keep his feet dry by not stepping off of the sidewalk.
DeleteWish you hadn't said that. Now I am craving sauteed greens too but it is bedtime.
It's always a challenge to get everything just right. But things are greening up everywhere now. Oh...your comment about the blackbirds in a pie was my favorite comment on that post. I have read it again and again for the fun of it. I finally DID get a positive ID on my mystery flower and posted it today. Thanks for visiting...what will you say next?!!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed visiting your site and recommend it to others.
Deletehttp://lavenderdreamstoo.blogspot.com/2018/04/need-help-with-flower-id.html
No one knows what I will say next, especially me! It seems I open my mouth and out comes all types of trouble.