Reprise of the Rehab

Almost a month. Of catch -up, of rehab. I have harvested greens and radishes. Almost all of the bok choy and several bags of peas.

The first crop of peas that I planted in March were almost a complete failure. I reseeded with cucumbers about two weeks ago. This week I added four sets of a pickling cuke I bought at the Coop. The seeds I planted were Marketmore, the cucumber my grandfather swore by. The cukes took their sweet time coming up - as did the squash and pumpkins planted several weeks back. The cool wet ( very wet!) weather really delayed their growth, although all the members of the cabbage family look happier than pigs in $%^&* The rain seems to have kept the flea beetles at bay.

The second crop of peas germinated better and have always outshone the earlier crop. Was it the timing, the variety, the seed? I suspect timing is the most important factor. Timing based on soil temperature. This fall I will decide where next year's peas will be planted and set up the pea fence and black plastic to warm the soil before winter sets in. Next March when planting peas I will be more than an impatient gardener going through the motions, I will be planning on peas by the end of May instead of mid-June.

Various friends have complained of aphids and other bugs in their gardens. I have been dismissive. How bad could they be? Really. Then I found what I swear are white flies on my tomatoes. White flies! That is a bug of greenhouses, not the great outdoors. I smashed what I could find and then noted my biggest ally was already on the job... The voracious lady bug nymph.

It goes after aphids and other soft-bodied bugs like a teenager at a burger stand.

I have planted quite a bit over the past few weeks. Tomato and pepper sets have gone in, as well as more Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and savoy cabbage. I planted another crop of beans Provider, and a row of Detroit golden beets on the 25th. On the 24th I planted a crop of lettuce next to the peas, where alas, my parsnoops failed to come up. I also planted Zinnia and sunflowers from seed to extend the season of bloom. I already have plants of both in the ground.

I continue to harvest greens, although my first crop of lettuce is getting close to being finished. The mache I planted this spring is huge and just beginning to flower - all of it is going to have to be harvested in the next day or two. The Really Red Deertongue lettuce has produced the most gorgeous heads I have ever grown. I will be sure to take a picture of it before I harvest the last one.

Mostly, I have tried to catch up with what went undone for six weeks, while I was gimping around on crutches. The almost constant rain of June has made it difficult to get work done and stay ahead of the weeds. The intense mulching I had planned to do this year has yet to happen, but I am getting after it bit by bit.

The potatoes have been hilled and are growing well, although I am going to have to find time between the raindrops to apply copper and Serenade to protect them and my tomatoes against Late Blight, which was reported in Tompkins County this week. Late blight is the disease that caused the potato famine. If it gets into the potatoes they are done. The only organic method of control is copper applied before infection. Serenade is a bacillus -based organic remedy which I have found to be a very effective fungicide and have read is useful against late blight, although it does not make that claim on its label.

Late blight is a scary creature. Its scientific name says it all: Phytopthora infestans. It sends uncounted spores far up into the air and has the ability to sweep over continents, leaving devastation and hunger in its wake. I want my potatoes to live! This continuous rain and humidity is not a good way to stop its spread.