23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Could be purple hyacinth. They're black.

Indeed, I checked further after reading your response and they certainly are Purple Hyacinth.
Thanks....

Also, if you are worried about being inundated with melons, think about planting an early variety and a later variety. Some types store better than others.

Thanks all! Great advise! Nancy

Have you figured this out yet? I have the EXACT same thing! I'm in Austin and got a new cedar fence put in next to my raised garden beds last fall. Shortly after the fence went up, a 15 foot area was covered by these tiny little hard things from the picture, with the greatest infestation closer to the ground/garden. They soon covered my plants in the area and the plants ended up dying. They're not moist at all, and hard to the touch, so it doesn't sound like cabbage beetle. I tried spraying them with soap, but no change. Even now they're still there.

Artillery fungus spores as rhizo said above.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics of artillery fungus spores

I go for SNOW also. But I like sugar snaps best. Snow peas are good in Chinese stir fry.

O' I just remembered ; I got to move and plant my peas ..TOMORROW. We are going to have a couple weeks of nice weather. per forecasts.

I tried the taste test method- definitely snow peas! Thanks everyone! I did try to grow snap peas too but half of them died when we got an unseasonable heat wave, but the survivors seem to be recovering. The snow peas are doing very well, glad I know what they are now, and should be able to tell them apart once the shelling peas start producing.

"Insects are great survivors."

Especially in urban or suburban areas, where they can take shelter in heated human structures. Unfortunately, that is where most vegetable gardens are located.

I too am hoping that the severe cold will reduce some insect pests... and since JB are just beginning to move into my area, it wouldn't break my heart to slow them down for a year or two. Maybe SVB will be reduced too, if we are lucky.

I'm not holding out too much hope for the deep freeze killing the stinkbugs since they like to overwinter in people's houses. Judging by the fact that we've picked up and flushed at least one a day all winter long (yes, even when it was below 0) and during this recent warm up (in the 40s), we've had more like 2-3 a day. We got horrible swarms here last year and I have no doubt that my attic and siding are full of them just waiting for warmth to emerge and harass us again.

This year, I'm planning on treating the house (inside and out) with cedarcide. It's the only thing that I feel comfortable using around my kids and pets (and my garden) - it's made from cedar oil. I may even use the outside stuff (PCO Choice) on my pear trees after petal fall. It doesn't affect sight-driven insects like bees and butterflies and other important pollinators, just scent-driven ones like fleas, ticks and stink bugs.

The stink bugs were so bad last year, when they swarmed it was like something out of a horror film... and my husband wonders why my girls are afraid of them, lol. They also ruined my whole pear crop last year. I'm not ready to put faith in the freeze killing them off, not considering that I've had the little pests in my house all winter. I'm going to be proactive this year to make sure we don't end up with a repeat of last year.

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: cedarcide

Just make sure when you buy that you are purchasing Saffron Crocus, ie Crocus sativus, and not Meadow Saffron, often miscalled Autumn Crocus, ie Colchicum autumnale. A very different plant and very poisonous. The two are often confused in articles and even catalogues due to their misleading common names.

Thanks floral_uk.

Yes. For production purposes one wants an entire field to head up so you get a maximum one time harvest. With Green Goliath, you may have ten days or so before the first head and last head.

Farmerdill, you have explained something that I didn't even know I had a question about, you are that good! :) My GG in previous years did seem to be all over the place in reaching maturity (the ones that did) and then this year I was growing something else and they all came right at once, making a broccoli glut for me. I vaguely attributed it to the weather, but now I know better, it was the variety. Cool, thanks.

Agree that this is a non-issue. You probably have more acids on your garden cull pile from the salad dressings of left-over salads over the season.

I recall a pre Hay-Gard,etc. time when we would hand spread a full bucket of salt over every layer of hay stacked in the barn that was baled at higher moisture. The cows loved that hay but I'm not sure it would have been such a good hay to mulch with.

Thanks everyone.

I was just thinking about the hay, if used as a mulch, would prohibit molds, fungus, and bacteria from breaking it down. I know propionic acid is naturally occurring and I do lime every once in a while, and should pose little threat to the plants.

I am planning to switch to the lasagna-style this year to see how it goes for weeds. I'm trying to get the wife out there to harvest more, since I work a lot during summer...and she has no idea what are weeds to pull vs. vegetables.

Yes what Kevin said, and every fall after your veggies (or whatever) are done for the year, pull it all out, put down more compost, mulch, and let it sit all winter. Then the next spring it will be even better soil than the year before and ready for planting. Keep doing this every year and you'll have the best soil in the neighborhood.

And use the weeds pull , except for the roots of perennials, to start a compost heap. They grew with nutrients in your garden, so it makes sense to put them back in there.

I actually prefer to grow eggplants in pots. There are fewer (but not none) flea beetles that way. They produce extremely well. Digdirt is right about the fertilizer. Half strength miracle grow (or other liquid fertilizer) weekly and osmocote once a month. I use the same regimen on pepper plants in pots too.

Thank you for your answer. I kind of had the notion I'd try out some square foot gardening this year so there are two small raised beds which will be mostly just peppers, so no peppers in pots this year.

pnbrown:

So is red meat. But you don't see on the side of a package of cheese, for example, "beef free."

Eat some veggies in one's diet and maybe he/she can digest more properly.

No, the grain digestibility issues are not related to other plant foods for the most part. Eating greens does not solve the problems around using wheat (whether whole or white) as the diet staple. It is simply good to eat greens, but not magic.

6 zuks for 2 people? Hearty laugh! Most years 1 zuk and 1 yellow crook neck do the 3 of us just fine! We don't have the dreaded SVB though!
Squash doesn't freeze very well except grated for stews, soups, breads etc.
We get along with just a few chard plants, but they grow year round here and I don't freeze (don't they get soggy?)
Be sure to seed radishes every few weeks so they don't all get to size at once! I guess you could make a radish slaw if you got too many at once! Hmmmm, that sounds good!
WHAT! No tomatoes???????? Nancy

gjcore, kathy and nancy thanks a lot for your valuable inputs.

gjcore.. i thought I need to plant the taller plants on the north side and shorter on the south. I will take your suggestions and change the layout.

kathy .. last year we planted 3 rows of chard (in the same spot) and we ate it without much problem. We also gave some to our friends.

Nancy, we lost our zuks last year to svb and squash bugs. It was very disappointing. And we love zuks. Thats why I was thinking to plant more, so even if we get hit by the svb, we still will get some before it hits.
regarding tomato, I have a 12x12 feet space just for tomatoes.
I also have another 10x20 feet bed, which I need to plan as well.

This post was edited by robert2014 on Sat, Feb 22, 14 at 21:48

Lots of 'favorite mulch' discussions here and even more over on the Soil & Mulch forum. Several contain long lists of things to use for mulching and plastic/landscape fabric isn't very high on the list.

While plastic mulches can work ok on some crops it's is only on specific crops (like melons) and in the northern zones where soil warming is required. And once full summer arrives it can cook the plant roots unless removed or covered.

I agree with lacey that you must have been mowing grass that had gone to seed or a lawn with lots of weeds that had gone to seed. Pretty hard to get seeds from grass clippings otherwise.

Straw, chopped or not, is often touted as the perfect mulch with old hay and compost close seconds. Other good alternatives are leaf mold or shredded leaves, cardboard, newspaper (shredded or multiple layers), pine straw, etc. but regardless of what it used it has to be applied thickly to work and to remain in place.

All of those have the added benefits of soil improvement. Plastic doesn't contribute anything to the soil.

Dave

We have a large, hilly yard and my husband works 60-80 hours a week... I'm not skilled/confident enough to handle the steep slopes with a riding mower, so yes... the lawn doesn't get mowed nearly as often as it should. I often pull tall, seeded grass by hand from around the planting beds and other areas that are hard to reach with the riding mower (we're finally getting a trimmer this year). When I did try mulching with grass clippings, I tried to make sure there weren't any seeds mixed in, but it was just too much trouble.

I hadn't really considered straw, sounds like that might be a good option for me.