Thursday, May 31, 2012

The great weather continues,
for only a few more days.actually a
little rain Sat-Tuesday may be a good
thing, as the soil is drying out.
Everything is coming up nicely, but the
weeds are almost overwhelming, so
look at keeping them under control.
Try and get all of the chores done tomorrow
and then we can rest until Wednesday
of next week.
The lawn actually slowed down, yeah.
We are seeing lots of yards/gardens going
acid, so even now you add lime,
40# per 1000 sq foot.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Black cut worms are out and one grower said they
were chewing on his corn.  They come out at night. 
Just dig around the base of the plant and look for
dark colored, C shaped cut worms.  Pick them
or use a Bt spray to control them.

Also, the diamond back moth is starting to show
up in larger numbers with the warm weather so be
aware as they like ti munch on veggies.

If you are following the rain fall averages, in the local
Register Guard, the current rain fall is as close to
the short and long term averages that I have sen in
years.  As the old timers say, this year is very close
to what the weather was like in the 1950's.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Dear bloggers.
I know many of the local blog readers.  For those of
you who are from around the US and world, I would be most
interested in a short statement as to where you reside = country=
and how you found the blog.

Be aware that tiny black flea beetles are
out and they like chewing on small veggies.
Transplanting larger veggies help.
Cover early with Remay cover cloth.
Spray with a pyrethrum/rotenone spray works
pretty well.
Time to apply the predatory nematodes.
Even under a microscope, I had a hard
time seeing them.....leap of faith :)
Beans, onions, garlic are jumped out
of the ground this past week.
I am NOT going to talk about the
lack of slugs and snails.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Another great day for gardening.
Lots of cole and warm season crops in.
Grass is still going crazy.  The grass that I 
mowed two weeks ago, the grass has died and
is now nice mulch.  Knock on wood, no
secondary weed seed emerging, yet.
Tomatoes and peppers doing fine.
Plant some late and garlic and it was up
in less than one week.  When I dug a garlic up, I
noticed that the garlic scales, which keep the cloves
contained, there weren't many left, which means
the cloves may split more this year.
Berries forming very nicely.
Insects being slow, but the warm and
wet diseases are exploding.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Weather is up and down, rainy then sunny.
Forecast is for sunny - yeah.
Protect plants from slugs and snails.
Found quite a bit of frost damage from two weeks ago.
Most plants actually doing well.
Apple scab and powdery mildew really bad.  Prune
off the powdery mildew.  A protection spray is needed
for apple and pear scab.
Rosemary - blooming nice.
Garlic - sending up whistles or seed heads,
remove for bigger bulbs.
Grass is going wild so cut ASAP.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Dang rain,
It was only suppose to rain 10%, not all day long.
Apples looking very good.
Still seeing peach leaf curl.
Seeing a lot of coastal cedar rust on Bartlett
pears and comice.
Oaks showing the green webworms on thin
web strands.
Garlic is over three foot tall but bulbs
only about 1 1/2 inches.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

For tree fruits, the new growth is perfect for "wiping". 
Wiping is where you go out to the tree.  Where the new
growth is located, take your hand with a grove, and "wipe"
off the new growth from pruning cuts made this past
winter.  With the new growth only 2-3 inches long, with a
gloved hand, the new growth can be removed or "wiped"
from where it is growing.  By wiping, there is very little
growth since you are not cutting the tissue.  Plus little you
are a head for next winter, two WINS!!!  Apples have
 a lot of powdery mildew, just prune it out.

Thursday, May 17, 2012


Spittle bugs out in big numbers, just
wash them off or spray with a little
 insecticidalsafers soap mix.
Spotted wing drosophila was reported
in Albany, so the little critter is coming.
four more GOOD days.  Plant away.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Lots going on.
Stripped cucumber beetles are out so
be aware if you have squash plants.
Codling moths emerged early this week.
Lots of insects out.
Plant quickly as it may "R" next week.
Most crops, fruit and berries doing well.
Looks like strawberries around June
15th if the weather holds.
Push plants with a good fertilizer such
a liquid fish, blood meal or 16-16-16.




Friday, May 11, 2012

More great weather.
Watch out for the slugs and snails.  Various ways
 to keep them under control.  Call your local Extension
service for advise.
Warm for a few days, even hot and then predicted
cool and maybe "R" the end of he month.
All crops doing well in most areas.
Looks like a GREAT crop and garden year
so continue to plant away.
With this warmer weather, seeds should
do fine, depending on the soil.
Interesting tidbit - got more hits on my bog from
Russia than the US last month, hum!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

More great weather.
Continue to plant away.
Tree fruits looking OK.
Plumes - not sure yet.
Peaches - good.
Pears - good.
Apples - good.
The fruit needs to be about nickle size to
withstand light frost.
Blueberries and strawberries - looks like a
great crop and we wait patiently for June 15th-ish.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Chance of frost tonight and then back to great
spring weather.  Protect the warm season plants
with Remay, an old sheet, jugs of water, or even
the sprinkler early in the AM.
Do it now to add extra warmth to the soil for tonight. 
Placing the jugs of water out in the days, will add 3-8
degrees of warmth to the soil, which them re radiating
back up around the plants. This is where black black
 around the plants really is a saver.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

More good weather.  Temps 44-74 so soil temps are rising.
Plant the warm season veggies ASAP and get them up.  I
recommend using transplants so they get up and going IF
the weather takes another wrong turn.
Blueberry set looks good, most tree fruit are still looking
OK but some small yields due to the wet spring, time will tell.
Raspberry and blackberry rust (orange rust) on the
under side of the leaves.  Good air circulation or a good
organic wettable sulfur.  Remember that strawberries
ripen in June and blueberries in early July.

Friday, May 4, 2012

If we can trust the weather, hum, do we?
The weather looks good until next Friday,
with sunny weather.
Don't tell anyone, just plant crazily.
Temps being 45 night and 65-68 daytime.
So still a tad cool for the warm season crops
without  some kinds of wall of water, full
milk jugs, large water bottles covering the
plants or mini greenhouses to warm up the
soil. Next Saturday it is predicted to cloud over again.
Till or prepare soil if you haven't in the next three days.
Raspberries getting the orange rust good aeration or
wettable sulfur will control the disease but
needs an under leaf spray.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

It is truly amaizing how many different micro
climtaes we have in the Willamete Valley.
We can have rain, sun, cloudy  all over the county and state.
Day time weather reaching 60 degrees so time to start
looking at warm season planting, with some
 protections for cold and rain.
Tree fruits developing quie well even with
this WEIRD WEATHER.
Seeing more insects, start looking closer
at your plants for aphids, cucmber beetles, flea beetles.
Remay is good to sue early one to keep the insects
out or plant sacrificial zuccini plants around he garden.