Today we planted the Collard and Kale plants bought from Applefield. It is really nice to be able to start putting plants into the soil. It won’t be long before we start eating them!
Today we visited our plot for the first time this year. This will be our third year on the same allotment. Hopefully we are getting close to eradicating all of the knot weed.
Using Make Magazine’s workbench plans as a basis, we built ourselves a seed bench for the basement this weekend. The goal was to have somewhere to hang grow lights to start seeds below and a work surface to pot plants and other plant related projects.
I have always admired how weed free the beds at small farm are. Really, it is amazing. It takes us forever to weed, yet in all of the times we have been there, we have never seen anyone weeding. I assumed they had a legion of nocturnal workers with tweezers that would work all night. On a recent trip, I decided to ascertain the secret.
Everyone’s vegetables are getting massive! The plants have been showing the benefits of weeks soaking up the sun, some rain, and hard work.
If you are driving down Tuttle Lane at any time between sunrise and sunset you are bound to see at least one person lugging heavy buckets of water, tearing out weeds, or collecting the fruits of their labors. Stop by and have a look!
Last year our squash crops were devastated by the squash bugs and we harvested none. We were extremely excited, then, to find this beautiful summer squash waiting for us this morning. It is only about eight inches long. While it could certainly be left to grow MUCH larger, they taste better at this size and give the plant a chance to produce more!
We still find squash bug eggs under the leaves, but this year is looking to be a much more manageable season.
Orzo With Summer Squash and Toasted Hazelnuts
from Epicurious
serving size: Makes 8 servings.
1 1/2 cups orzo (10 oz)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped shallot (6 1/2 oz)
2 medium zucchini (1 1/2 lb total), cut into 1/3-inch dice
2 medium yellow squash (1 lb total), cut into 1/3-inch dice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup hazelnuts (4 oz), toasted, loose skins rubbed off in a kitchen towel, and nuts coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
Cook orzo in a 4- to 5-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain orzo in a colander. While orzo is cooking, heat butter and oil in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté shallot, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini, yellow squash, salt, and pepper and sauté, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in nuts, parsley, basil, and zest.
Add cooked orzo to skillet and stir gently. If mixture seems dry, moisten with some reserved pasta water. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Gourmet, August 2003
Gourmet Entertains
There are a lot of enjoyable aspects about gardening that I would never wish to automate. Harvesting for one, is incredibly satisfying. Weeding, on the other hand, is a task I would gladly give up to a robot. Especially one with lasers.
Popular Science Blog – The Robotic Weed-Puller
The new robot, called the Hortibot, would still need someone to operate it, but would be capable of doing the work of ten people. It could also be equipped with micro-sprayers that would drastically cut the amount of chemicals applied to kill the weeds, reducing the potential for environmental damage.
The squash bugs have joined the battle for our beloved vegetables. While they look harmless, they can prove deadly to our squashes and their relatives. Rather than eat the leaves, they are more subtle sucking the juices out of the plant causing leaves to wilt and die eventually killing the plant. Last year, we did not keep up with them and they decimated all of our squash, zucchini, and pumpkin plants.
Unfortunately, other than manually picking them off there seems to be few effective organic options to rid ourselves of these pests.
If only a few plants are affected, it is most effective to hand pick and destroy squash bugs and eggs. Another option is to place boards or shingles on the ground next to the plants. At night the squash bugs will aggregate under the boards and can then be destroyed each morning. Using resistant varieties such as Butternut, Royal Acorn, or Sweet Cheese and maintaining a healthy plant through proper fertilization and watering are also important to limiting squash bug damage. It is also necessary to remove debris in and around the garden area that could possibly be used as shelter by the bugs. As stated above, by removing debris from the area, overwintering sites for the adults are reduced.
The Potato Beetle assault continues. Despite our best efforts to pick off every beetle and every egg we could find, some have hatched. These little larvae are nestling themselves into the smallest folds of the leaves and slowly devouring the potato plants.
On the upside, they are easier to kill than their hard shelled parents.
This invasive species is trying its best to over run the entire farm and in some plots is succeeding. Like a tentacled sea monster reaching up from the deep sea strangling anything and everything, most of our poor vegetables don’t stand a chance. Even our emotional well-being is threatened by this killer weed.
By the name it is obvious that it comes from Japan. One might assume, like other unwanted invasive imports, the Japanese knotweed hitched a ride as a seed with another desirable cargo. The spread of this “killer bamboo” (it’s not really related to bamboo at all) must have been unintentional, right? Wrong. (more…)