Friday, July 1, 2011

Scenes from the Garden - Part II

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Things are starting to fill up in the back garden, despite the work of Mr. Groundhog. Oh, apparently we have not one but two juvenile groundhogs. Marc chased after one with a shovel yesterday only to spot a second one in the garden. We've decided to get a .22. In the town we live in, we have to get permission from our neighbors who live within 500 ft of our home in order to discharge a firarm. I'm sure our two next door neighbors won't mind but I'm not certain about the two since we've never met them.

Anyway, here's what's going on in the back garden:

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My artichokes are looking good this year. No signs of disease yet. My cantaloupe and french melons on the other hand show major signs of fungal disease.

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The worst of it looks like this. I sprayed with a copper fungicide solution the other day. However, I've read that copper-based fungicides are more affective as a preventative. For those of you who've used it, do you find this to be the case? I'm debating whether to turn to a non-organic "cure" before the vines start to fruit. In some ways, I don't mind utilizing a non-organic alternative as long as it's the solution of last resort. Any advice?

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The corn is about 3-4 ft tall now. And by the looks of things, we should have a good amount of beans this year.

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Tomato vines reaching for the sky.

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The first Hungarian Wax peppers are almost ready.

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San Marzano tomatoes.

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Cherokee Purple tomatoes.

11 comments:

  1. It all looks fantastic! I may follow your lead on the 22 but I need to hunt down rabbits. I still am lacking big time in my edible plantings but when I see yours I am way jealous!

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  2. Your garden puts mine to shame. I can brag that I have no diseases on my melon plants though...but only because I didn't plant any melons, LOL!

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  3. "Serenade" (fungicide) helped keep late blight in check for me a couple of years back. It is organic, but not sure what it's full prevention spectrum is off hand.

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  4. I hope that you are feeling better after the removal of your wisdom teeth.

    Your garden is looking great! I hope that either you or Marc is a good shot with that 22!

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  5. I was also going to suggest Serenade. Seems to clear up any spots I had in the garden or yard. The good part is you can't overdose.

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  6. The garden is looking lush and beautiful. The corn patch is particularly nice looking! I have only used copper fungicide as a preventative and not an after the fact application. My use of it is quite limited though. Basically, the year after we had late blight on the tomatoes, I used it as a preventitive measure the following year just to be safe. No idea if it was needed or not as we did not have late blight that year - but cannot know if it was the fungicide stopping it or that it just did not show up that year. I have not used any at all this year.

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  7. Your garden is just picture prefect and could be in any garden magazine. Your hard work really shows.

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  8. your garden looks amazingly green (coming from an aussie winter - everything is dry and cold at the moment). I just wondered what is the large leafed plant in the second photo? I haven't seen that one before.

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  9. I know this is a little late (only a couple days), but have you noticed any weird marks on the bottoms of your Cherokee Purples? It almost looks like blossom end rot, but it doesn't feel like it, on mine...

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  10. Your garden is looking great. Had problems with groundhogs here too, a mother & two babies. I loved the idea of using a 22, but settled for traps. We caught all 3within 3 days. Unfortunately we are unable to relocate here wildlife here, so I had to call in a trapper to do the job. I've replanted my polebeans again, and hopefully my cucumbers will recover. Destructive little cuties, lol.

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  11. felt that the true artist engaged in the development of this garden. everything is very well maintained

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