Rain drops keep falling ....

Red delicious - still a tad
bit green. Two more weeks
and the 2nd crop of figs MAY
be ripe. Drained the garden
irrigation line. Started
draining hoses and laying flat.
Weeds - already behind on the
weeds. Glad I mowed the lawn
last week :) Slowly mentally
getting used to winter..but
the rain had moderated the
cold weather. Hard to believe
that we still have SOME tomatoes
and it will be November in a few
days.

Rain

Potential rain today (maybe not
accounting to the cloud maps
(Eugene weather) and more potential
rain on Sunday, but time will tell.
Sure way...look out the window or
walk out side - 100% accurate :)
Cover tomatoes and that which has
not been frozen yet.
Move equipment under cover, or put
to "bed" until spring except the
snow shovel..wish...wish.
Enjoy a great weekend.
Do a little service to the community
with your church, community group, family or
Grass Roots Garden on Coburg Road
and St. Thomas Church.
It is good for the soul and body.
Plant away! Peas are doing
REALLY well.

Fall weather

Three cold AM's have taken out
most of the warm season veggies
if they weren't protected.
Better weather the next 7 days
but some rain Friday and Sunday.
Cole crops doing well.
Winter weeds still growing wildly
- control them now or they will be
hard to control the bigger they get.
If you haven't yet, drain hoses,
lay flat, drain irrigation system.
Clean up tools that have been used
and remove dirt and grime.

Great day, cold nights

Last night and tonight are
going to be cold. Most squash
and warm season plants are
"biting" the dust due to cold
temps. As temps remain cold,
compost the plants that die.
Covering the plant will help
protect the plants. Cole crops
will be OK.

Wooly bear caterpillars

Black and reddish wooly bear
caterpillars are showing up
all over. It is the end of
season so don't worry, just be
aware they are showing up in
many places.

Apples

I was out picking apples today and
noticed several things. Many apples
are ripe but some late varieties are
STILL green, like red delicious.
The apples had a lot of bitter pit
(exterior skin pits or lack of calcium
so add lime ASAP. Many apples are
showing water core, where the juices
are concentrating in the center of
the apple - a natural condition.
Make apple cider. Nothing to worry
about. Leaves have yellow spots and
there are small insects "flying" around -
leaf hopper. Don't worry this late.
We also found a new caterpillar that
is eating the top layer of the leaf -
a skeletonizer. Use Bt to control
the caterpillar.

Friday - apple day

The weather for the last two months
has been perfect for apple ripening.
Most apples are excellent. Take time
to get a box or two, store them in a
cool, non freezing area and they
should last for 2-4 months. Then
either dry, sauce or eat them.

Grand autumn

More great weather. Gardens continue to grow,
keep them covered. Early AM
temps still above 35 degrees
so all is well. Continue to mulch
falling leaves BEFORE the next rain.
More rain on the way so pick
tomatoes and grapes, if ripe. My
peas are 15 inches - peas in the
near future. My table beets, squash,
onions, doing good. The broccoli
is really good with 2-3 inches heads
after cutting the primary head in
September. The second cabbage head,s
after harvesting the primary head
are now 4 inches.

Tuesday - great weather

Each sunny day is a joy. Are you
taking advantage of this great
weather??? My new mantra: OCCUPY
- FARMS AND GARDENS. I was thinking
how do we make an impact; by working
in and occupying our own gardens and
raising food for our selves and families;
by occupying the local farms and buying
fresh, local produce - thus increasing
the need for more locally grown food and
more local employment; plus keeping the
money local; and occupy the local
Extension office (Where ever it is);
where there is great education
information, classes and information
to help local gardeners and farms;
which then helps feed the local
community.

:) :)

Fall can be some of the best
weather, time and opportunities
that we have during the year.
Another great weekend. More
leaves falling. Compost, mulch,
lasagna, or pulverize with lawn
mower. Control winter manual weeds,
there are coming in massively. As
little as three layers of cardboard,
or 3 inches of mulch will smother the
new weeds. Don't delay. Beets,
peas, salads, still doing well.
Get the winter garden in ASAP.

Friday

Hazelnuts falling, some harvesting.
Apples, late pears - great taste for so late.
Pumpkins survived the powdery mildew.
Squash - OK. Zucchini - still producing.
Some late raspberries.
Spotted wing drosophila - still finding a few.
Not bad this year.
Tomatoes - still turning red, avoid getting
the fruit toooo wet and keep from splitting.
Grapes - starting harvest. Look really good.
Veggies - still growing slowly.
Actually may get another pea crop.

Oh well

Fall and winter are coming upon us.
There will be good days and not so good days.
Start mulching the leaves that fall.
I like to wait when it is dry, some day
soon :( and mow the leaves which will
pulverize, or rake them into the flower
bed. Peas, beets, zucchini, tomatoes,
apples, winter pears, asian pears STILL
doing good.

Hum

Rain and then great weather - talk
about confusing, oh ya, it is fall
in the Willamette Valley. Found
several not ripe apple varieties -
Liberty and Golden delicious. They
need another week or two to be perfect
in color and taste. The wind today
and tomorrow will help hazelnut to fall.

Sunday

Gardens, tree fruits and nuts...
still moving ahead in a positive
direction. The extended trowing
season has made tomatoes, peppers
and apples really have excellent
flavoring.

:) what is next

Great day today.
Did too much today so am sore :(
Mow the lawn before th e next rain;
weed and mulch the garden; vole are
out in huge numbers. Don't mulch to
blueberries, fruit trees or small
ornamentals. Cole crops and PEPPERS,
yes my peppers were marvelous that we
picked today. Kohlrabi doing very well.
Red flame grapes ALMOST ripe. All we
need are few more days............
time will tell.

Weather

Very wet weather
Hazelnuts are dropping well.
Grapes and tomatoes are suffering due
to the wet weather.
Cole crops still doing OK.
Insects and critters NOW starting to
show up: voles, red humpback caterpillars,
massive aphids, fall web worms.

Night temps

Night time temps are getting into the 30's.
Cover tomatoes or other tender crops.

Great day

I have been at a water quality
conference this week, relearning
what a value resource RAIN, surface
water and groundwater we have
in the Willamette Valley compared
to contaminated water in the mid US
and dry Texas. World wide most of
the water is unpotable or drinkable,
being salt water. And where does
the the water come that fills all
of our reservoirs, and rivers?
I also listened to a fellow by the
name of Dean Jacobs who does similar
travels as
Greg Mortensen (Three Cups of Tea.)
He showed a picture of a grandfather
and his granddaughter, which he
called humanity. How often we forget
how easily it is get caught up in the
bad news and we forgot the joy of just
holding our grand children's hands :)

More rain

This rain is hammering
the tomatoes and grapes.
Cover if you can.

Rain

Hope everyone covered your tomatoes.
More rain on the way.
During the weather break I am still going
to transplant some more cole crops.
Watch grapes for powdery mildew
and splitting, maybe only juice this year.
Control weeds as they LIKE the wet weather,
especially the winter annual weeds.

Master Gardener Fall fest

Thank you to all who helped with
the great Fall fest at the Springfield
adult center Saturday.

La Nina

According to the paper we are going
to have another La Nina or cooler
and wetter winter. The way the
weather is starting, the paper
may be right. So lets throw
caution to the wind. Time plant!!!
I planted peas two weeks
ago and they are now 7 inches all.
Lets plant broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower,
chard, lettuce. Who said we have to stop
growing food. Weeds are also growing
strongly so the winter annuals need
to be controlled on a weekly basis.
Worst case scenario, you will
have a good cover crop.