Category Archives: Gardening

Planting, Growing, Care

by | June 2, 2012 · 12:29 pm

Tomatoes: Curly Top Virus

Summer is upon us once again and now I start to worry about Curly Top Virus.  Curly Top can devastate  several plants or even your entire crop.    It is transmitted by the sugar beet leafhopper.    They are very small and hard to detect in the garden.  Only one-tenth of inch long, pale green, gray, or brown in color.  They are winged and wedge-shaped.

Beet Leaf Hopper

The interesting thing about the  nasty little bugger is that tomatoes are not their favorite crops.  It just comes in looking for what it wants, hops around, infects the plant and moves on.  Tomatoes aren’t the only thing that can be affected by Curly Top.  Peppers and bean plants can also be infected.

Curly Top is just what the name implies.  Curling leaves.  It kinda looks like your tomato plant is wilting.  To be sure that wilting is not what the problem , water and wait to see if the wilted look goes away in an hour or so.   Leaflets roll and develop a purplish color, especially along the veins.  Leaves and stems become stiff; fruit ripens prematurely.   Leaves may remain green or turn yellow.  Yellowing will generally begin  at the bottom of the plant first.  The virus spreads in a random fashion.  You can have a healthy plant right next to an infected plant.

Curly Top

There is no cure for curly top, but there are prevention steps you can take.  The beet leaf hopper prefers to feed in sunny spots.  Providing some shade for tomatoes and peppers will discourage leafhopper feeding.  Row cover can be used to offer shade.  Not only will it discourage the beet leaf hopper, it will also help tomato and pepper plants grow better and produce more fruit during the hottest summer months giving them some relief.  The beet leaf hopper also likes dry conditions.  Keeping the soil evenly moist will raise the humidity level around the plants.  Apply a good layer of organic matter to reduce evaporation.  Areas that the humidity level is 50% or higher there will be little or no beet leaf hoppers.  Areas of 30% humidity there is a large increase of hoppers.  Of course our area that is often time 10% or lower during the summer months we seem to be affected heavily.  Another option to help keep these hoppers at bay is spraying with neem. Neem is an organic spray from the neem tree.  Spraying should be done weekly and ONLY in the evening times.  If you spray during the heat of the day you will cause burning!  NEVER use more than the label tells you when using concentrate.  This can also cause burn.  More is not always better.  I also try not to spray  the blossoms.   If your plant shows all the tell tell signs of curly top,

Purple coloring in plant veins usually means stress.

stunting, curly leaves, ect. it should be removed.  Leaving the disease plant in place will provide a  source of virus for feeding leafhoppers to pick up and carry to healthy plants.  Put the disease plant in a garbage bag, seal and toss or burn.  DO NOT COMPOST the diseased plant either.

Neem

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by | May 24, 2012 · 12:40 pm

Life is Abundant this Week!

We know summer is well on its way when our temperatures are in the 100’s. The spring garden is just passing its peak and I will start to remove lettuces, spinach and cool season crops that are going to seed and start to pop in sweet potato plants, more peppers plants and squash seed in the vacant spots. Our little farm is lively with the arrival of twin Nubians does, baby bunnies,baby quail and the rest of our farm critters that keeps us on our toes. This is when true dedication comes in….or in other words, the work! Weeds are a plenty, watering chores have elevated, milking, feeding, thinning the fruit trees, harvesting and preserving.

This week we harvested over two gallons of Camarosa Strawberries.  They are one of my favorite strawberries.  Although they are not everbearing, they are big,  extremely flavorful and the harvest is very plentiful and they will produce a second crop in the fall, although not as big.  After cleaning them and slightly drying them, I place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and freeze.  Once frozen they get put into quart bags for winter smoothies.

2 years ago I planted 3 pear trees, one a seckel, one a bosc and the other is a red pear.  I really didn’t have anymore space on the property so I crammed them closely on the south side of the shed to be espaliered.  Beneath them is another bed of strawberries.  So far the are looking great and maintenance has been very minimal.  Besides they are a great addition to farmyard.

This week we have new baby bunnies.  You know the saying “breed like rabbits”, well new bunnies are pretty common here, but none the less, I just love the little guys!

Our chickens are laying in full production.  They are getting all the scrapes from the garden, like lettuce, spinach and other greens that have become bitter or have gone to seed.  Their production always gets a boost when they get a large amount of fresh garden scrapes.  If you haven’t raised chickens, you might want to try.  I love watching them rummage through their treats from the garden, plus the eggs become so rich and bright!

This week the artichokes are abundant.  Artichoke dip, artichoke hearts, and whatever else I can muster up.  Saturday we harvested over 25 artichokes off of three plants and we will probably harvest that again this week.  As they ripen through the month the size of the globe gets smaller and smaller.  After the harvest is over, the plants start to look scraggly so I will cut out old stocks and leaves then toss them into the compost.  My once beautiful, very large plants will become rather ugly and tired looking.  They need a rest from their labor!

I have really become a fan of ‘purple of sicily’ cauliflower.  It’s taste is almost nutty when steamed.  It seems to do very well in our conditions and what’s not to like?  It has color, it’s an heirloom, and it tastes good!

Our tomatoes get covered ever year to prevent the beet leaf hopper from infecting the curly top virus.  This year we have warmed up early and we are very dry.  These conditions are prefect for this awful virus.  Once the tomatoes get it there is nothing you can do, so prevention is essential.  Eight years ago here in Southern Utah it was almost unheard of and now the virus is ramped and can wipe out your entire crop.  Now that’s devastating whether you have hundreds of tomatoes or maybe just a few heirlooms.

If you have the space, I would suggest planting a Bagel Peach.  Oh my goodness!  The flavor can’t be beat (although our white peach is a very close runner-up).  Although the peach is small, it’s not small in flavor.  The bagel peach is not for preserving, but I think you will find a small family can consume them rather quickly before even thinking about preserving.  Caution:  They can be very addicting!  You may also find them with the name of Flat Peach or Saturn.

Our Nubian doe Ivy, had twins does two weeks ago.  Once again I am milking and looking forward to making cheese, yogurt and kefir.   the babies are so much fun at this age, so full of life and playful.  The first doe born has a name of Sassafras, Sassy for short.  The poor little second baby is still nameless….  Perhaps nothing has come to fit her personality yet.

Our lavender looks great this year.  It’s loaded with blooms that we will harvest within the next few weeks.  Did you know the blossoms are great in a balsamic vinegar dressing?  There isn’t too much that will bother lavender and once established, it is a breeze to grow.  Once I have harvested all of the lavender flower stalks I will trim back the bush to a nice mound to keep it uniform and healthy for next years show.

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by | May 9, 2012 · 3:34 pm

Tomatoes….Pure Bliss

What garden is complete unless it has America’s favorite vegetable crop the tomato?  Beautiful shades of red, maroon, yellow, green and even striped tomatoes find their way into my kitchen (if they make it that far) starting as early as mid-June.   With a little TLC you will be well on your way to the succulent, sun-kissed taste you look forward to all year.

Soil Matters!  Tomatoes like a rich well-drained loamy soil with a pH of 6.5 to 7.0.   I add plenty of compost early spring along with phosphorous in the form of Soft Rock Phosphate and potassium in the form of Greensand.    If you have a problem with blossom end rot you can add lime if your pH is low and oyster shell if it is high.  I always use organic fertilizers in my garden to build up the soil to create a healthy environment for my veggies.  It truly makes a big difference in flavor too!  I just makes sense!

Tomatoes love sunshine, with a minimum of 6 hours of full, bright sunshine to soak in the rays.  Where I live in Southern Utah, however, tomatoes benefit from some afternoon shade.   The sun is intense and we will even use floating row cover that lets in 85% light to help protect our plants throughout the day starting late spring.  Without it, we have less production and more sun-scald.

Once the days are longer and soil temperature in your garden reaches 60-65 degrees, it’s time to plant!  Make sure your little babies have been hardened off and always plant in the evening time or on cloudy non-windy days.  All tomato varieties will be happy and produce better if they have some kind of support, whether it be stakes, cages or trellises.  I space my tomato plants very close together.  Determinate varieties get planted 1 foot apart and indeterminate varieties are planted 2 foot apart.  Bio-intensive gardening baby!   Our area is very arid, so the problem of molds and mildews are rare and there is plenty of wind so we get ample air circulation.  If you live in a humid area, planting 3-4 apart is recommended.  By planting this close, it helps keep the roots cooler, helps prevent weeds and I can have a bigger variety in a small space.  Plant them deep!  If your plants are tall and spindly, plant them deep.  Others can be planted an inch or two deeper than the pot they are in.  Roots form along the buried portion of the them, giving better growth and they have less plant injury from to weak of a stem.  I’m not afraid to buy a tall skinny tomato plant as long as it’s healthy.   Press the soil around they transplants with a slight depression, this way you can give it a drink without the water running off.  At this time I like to feed with liquid kelp to help strengthen the plant and help with stress of transplanting.  A weekly foliar feeding of kelp will really give your plants a boost.  I have used the ‘red mulch’  and I am giving it a try again this year.  It’s just a red plastic you place right over the soil and  make slits to pop your transplants in.  It’s said to increase yields and make healthier plants.  I can say my plants do look really great this year and have plenty of blossoms, but so do the ones a few beds over!   Experimentation!  Priceless!

Water will depend on your area, soil and climate.  You can use mulch to help keep the soil moist.  I like to apply it a couple of times a growing season.  Allow the soil to slightly dry out between watering.   A steady supply will keep your tomatoes from cracking and getting blossom end rot, but too much water will cause your tomatoes flavor to be washed out.  Fertilizing should be done every 3-4 weeks with a good balanced fertilizer.  Carefully work  it in around the base of each plant without disturbing the roots.

I love planting heirloom tomatoes!  Some big, scalloped, lobed,  stripped and some…..down right ugly like the Black Elephant!  But that is what is so fun about heirlooms.  I always add a few new varieties just to see how they perform.  Brandywine is a very popular tomato and many people ask for it, but it does not perform well in hot climates.  Potato leaf and the wispy fern-like leaf tomatoes do not perform well in my hot dry area, but 15 miles east they do just fine.  It’s just a trial and error to find the perfect heirloom tomato for your area.  Not all heirloom are created equal!  This year my new varieties that look outstanding so far and have many tomatoes on already are Orange Giraffe, Koralik, Orange Purple Smudge and Sub-Arctic.  Sub-Arctic is a variety that is good for cool regions, opposite of me, but because it is an early variety and I planted it out rather early (with some protection) and it already has many golf ball sized tomatoes.  And this is the beginning of May!  Even though I love heirlooms,  I will always plant a few hybrid tomatoes, kind of as a back up plan.  NOT GMO tomatoes though! Hybrids perform well in the heat and are more disease resistant then the heirlooms.  A couple of old-time favorites of my is Better Bush and Mountain Delight, both determinate.  Ask seasoned gardeners in your area which varieties have preformed well for them.

If you are in to saving seeds from these heirloom beauties, you will find that some varieties will adapt to your area and start to produce better and become more hardy.    Truly amazing plants!

Liquid Kelp, Greensand, All Purpose Fertilizer

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by | April 25, 2012 · 3:54 pm

Cilantro….Not Just for Salsa

Cilantro flowering

Mysterious Cilantro…or is it coriander?  Both!  Cilantro and coriander come from the same plant.  When the plant is cultivated for its pungent, aromatic leaves, it is called cilantro.  When is allowed to go to seed and cultivated for its citrus-flavored seeds, it is called coriander.  Two great spices all rolled up into one plant!

Cilantro is an annual grown during the cooler times of the year.  Once temperatures start to steadily stay warm the plant will start to bolt.  In our case here in Southern Utah that can be anywhere from the end of March to the end of May.  I like to plant cilantro seed in September (zone 8) and use a light row cover through the coldest months of winter to keep it from getting ‘freezer burn’ and it will continue to grow.  This way we will have fresh cilantro all winter long.  I usually get a second planting in come mid-January.  This way when the fall sowing has become tired out, the next session is ready to go.  You can shade your cilantro to help keep it from bolting as early with some row cover, but it will bolt when it wants to bolt!

Plant your seed 1/2 inch deep in well composted soil.  It will take 7-10 days to germinate at temperatures of 50-75 degrees.  I prefer planting from seed more than I do from a plant.  Plants will always bolt faster!  Plus you get a lot more bang for your buck with direct seed sowing.   Plant in full sun to part shade.  Cilantro is such a great crop, because it rarely has any pest or disease problems.  I don’t recommend that you fertilize much other then adding some compost, rock phosphate and greensand at the time of sowing the seed.  If you give cilantro too much nitrogen, it will reduce the pungent flavor.  You can sow seeds every two weeks during the spring to have an extended harvest.  If you live in a cool area, your season will last through the summer.  Lucky!  We are just to hot here to have fresh cilantro out in the garden when the tomatoes are ripe!  Keep cutting back and using the plant through the growing season.  By doing this it will also slow the bolting a bit.  Once your plant starts to send up seed stocks it’s time to keep an eye on it so you can collect seeds for coriander spice or replanting.  After the plant goes to seed and the seeds turn yellowish-brown, bunch the seed heads together, place upside down in a paper bag, then allow seeds to ripen until they drop into the bag.  Coriander seeds will stay viable for about 5 years.

Use cilantro leaves fresh in salads, salsa, marinades, stir-fries, rice, pasta, or vinegar and with fish and shellfish.  Add leaves to guacamole or to Chinese soups and Asian chicken dishes.  Try growing cilantro for micro greens.  Use coriander seed to flavor confections, bread, cakes biscuits and mexican dishes.  Don’t forget to garnish!

Here is a high-five for cilantro!   1 fistful of organic cilantro (of course you wouldn’t use anything else….Right?) a day for 10 days straight will flush your body of serious heavy metals that can accumulate in your body these days.  There is a compound in cilantro that mercury (and other heavy metals) binds to and then gets released through the urine as a natural chelation technique. The body will not function properly with heavy metals and cilantro is cheap, easy, safe and could be available right in your garden.  Another great reason to grow cilantro!  Okay.. Not enough to get you growing it?  Think about this;  Cilantro will also help promote healthy liver function, lower blood sugar, ward off urinary tract infections, aid digestion and it’s an anti-inflammatory plus so many other benefits.  Well you get the picture!  Cilantro is not just for salsa!

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