Wilted Cucumber Plants

For the past week, one by one, all of my cucumber plants have succumbed to bacteria wilt. There is no cure except to remove the plants and try again next year.

The disease is caused when a bacteria-infested striped cucumber beetle makes a cut on the plant. The bacteria then enters the plant through the wound and causes a slimy ooze to clog the plant making it unable to transport water through it’s system. No matter how much you water it, the plant can’t drink.

Bacteria wilt is always fatal and there is no cure. It’s best to remove the plant immediately and send it away with the landscaping waste. Never add diseased plants to your compost pile.

Cucumber Beetle

The most common way to control this pest is to dust the plants with a light coating of insecticide in the early spring to destroy the beetle. I prefer to grow my food organically and rarely use any chemicals. Non-chemical options are to screen the young plants with cheesecloth or row covers, plant later in the spring after the beetle has moved out of the area or try to find a more resistant cultivar.

In past years I have waited until the second week of June to plant my cucumbers and have usually evaded this bug. This year I planted earlier to take advantage of the very warm spring here in Chicago. Next year I will once again plant later in the spring and try to track down a more resistant strain of cucumber.

The idea of a greenhouse to start my plants is sounding better and better.

Read Full Post »

Garden Seeds May Be In Short Supply

Don’t wait too long to buy seeds for your vegetable garden. According to a recent AP story some of the more popular varieties may be difficult to find this year.

A combination of factors could cause seeds for home gardeners to be in short supply. Demand in the United States is up. A record number of people started vegetable gardens in response to the poor economy, the scares about contaminated commercial produce and a desire to be more green. European orders of US seeds have increased as their seed growers had a bad year. And finally, farmers that grow seeds are becoming scarce. It’s more profitable to grow corn for biofuel and many are no longer supplying seeds.

Now would be a good time to check out the seed catalogs. A site that I like is mailordergardening.com. They have links to some of the more popular catalogs plus other useful information.

Read Full Post »

Zucchini Muffins

There are probably a zillion different zucchini bread recipes. I use the same recipe for muffins and bread. It’s easy to make and it stays nice and moist, even if you bake it a few minutes too long. So, here’s mine…

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• 2 cups grated zucchini

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a large bowl beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar. Add the flour mixture to the ingredients in the large bowl and mix well. Add the zucchini and walnuts and stir until combined.

Pour into muffin pans or two 8×4 loaf pans. Grease or spray pans with non-stick cooking spray. Bake 40 to 60 minutes for loaf or 25 to 30 minutes for muffins. Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes then remove.

Read Full Post »

Ripe Tomatoes

Finally! I leave the tomatoes on the vine until they are completely ripe and ready to eat. Last week I started picking them.

Vine Ripened Tomatoes

I use my own seeds taken from the best fruit in past years. Last year I grew early girls, romas and cherry tomatoes. These tomatoes look like a cross between early girl and roma. They taste wonderful; sweet and juicy.

I have several different garden beds in my yard and they receive anywhere from 50% to 80% of the day’s sunshine. This is usually not a problem as it’s generally quite hot and sunny around here.  But this year the Chicago area has had cooler than normal temperatures and no excess sunshine. In fact, this has been the least sunny summer in the past 17 years. So the vegetables are a few weeks behind schedule in ripening. On the other hand, my broccoli plants are still making side shoots not having succumbed to the usual summer heat.

Read Full Post »

Mystery Curcubit

What looked like a cucumber seedling emerged in my begonias this spring. It was healthy looking and already had 4 leaves, so I moved it to the cucumber patch. It made lots of vines and lots of flowers and no cucumbers. However, it did produce this:

Mystery Veggie

The skin is soft and smooth with the texture of a zucchini and slightly fuzzy. The vine definitely looks like a cucumber plant. However, the cucumbers I planted were always the dark green, thin, straight type with bumpy skin and spines.

Being curious I picked the fruit and cut it open.

It is a cucumber! I was expecting a mini watermelon or squash interior, but nope, it’s definitely a cucumber. I decided taste it and yes, cucumber. And quite tasty too. I saved some seeds to plant next year and see what comes up. I love science experiments!

Read Full Post »

Squash Vine Borer

RIP squash plants.

Healthy Squash Plant

Over the past few days most of my squash and zucchini plants have wilted and died from squash vine borer. The two plants left have the telltale signs of frass protruding from small holes at the base of the vine. I knew it was inevitable; I’ve been gardening for years and they always manage to get to my plants sooner or later. I fried up my last dozen flowers today and savored every bite of them.

The squash vine borer is actually a moth that lays its eggs on the leaf stalks. The moths emerge from the ground about the same time the vines begin to run. When the eggs hatch, the larvae enter the stems and feed for 4 to 6 weeks. When they are fully grown they leave the stems to burrow into the ground to pupate until next spring. Then they start the cycle over again and emerge as moths and ruin another one of my squash crops.

I have tried everything to stop them. Nothing works. Row covers, wrapping the stems in foil, cutting the stem and removing the bug. Pesticides were not an option for me. The recommended pesticide for this bug is Sevin, which is extremely toxic to bees and other beneficial insects. I have a hive of bumble bees about 3 feet from the vines. And besides, once the larvae are inside the stem, pesticides do not work.

So next year I am going to try and outsmart them. I’m going to plant 3 or 4 successive crops of squash 14 days apart. When I see the signs that a plant is infected (the small holes at the base of the vine), I’ll pull the plant from the ground and send it off with the landscape waste (not to the compost pile) before the larvae mature. This way they will not get into the ground only to return next year. The plant was going to die anyway, I’m just pulling it a little early. And by planting successive crops I’ll still have zucchini and squash.

I’m hoping if I do this for a year or two I won’t have any more borers in the ground. It’s worth a try, nothing else worked.

Read Full Post »

First Ripe Tomato

Finally, a ripe tomato. I found this one waiting for me to pick when I went to the garden today.

Early Girl Tomato

A delicious, organically grown tomato. Yummy. It was worth the wait. Although next year I think I’ll get the seeds started a few weeks earlier!

Read Full Post »

Lettuce

The lettuce is ready to eat. The seeds were planted about 5 weeks ago. I put the lettuce in a barrel to keep it out of the reach of bunnies. Plus it’s easier to pick when higher off the ground.

Early spring is the best time to plant lettuce in the Chicago area. Lettuce is a cool weather crop that is happiest when the daytime temperatures are 65F to 75F with cool evenings. Once the days heat up, the leaves get bitter and the plants tend to bolt and go to seed.

I tried a different mix this year. These are a little more tolerant of heat than the mesclun mix I planted last year.

• Four Seasons (soft butterhead)
• Lollo Rossa (curly red leaf)
• Buttercrunch (heat tolerant cousin of Bibb)
• Craquerelle du Midi (French Romaine)
• Black Seeded Simpson (fast growing looseleaf)
• Salad Bowl (looseleaf)

Read Full Post »