Friday, July 21, 2017

So much for the raspberries

My raspberries got off to a good start this spring with growth on last year's canes and lots of new canes poking up from the soil. But the spider mites came back too and they've pretty much destroyed most of the leaves. Newer growth appears to be ok for now but eventually the mites will move up there too. I tried to spray them into oblivion a few times with the last of my neem oil and that might have slowed their progress but the damage was done. I've considered some insecticidal soap but I think it's too late.



Tuesday, July 18, 2017

The basil is getting used

For some reason the basil plants on one side of this container aren't doing well. A few have even died. But on the other side, they look great. Or at least, as good as they can given that every other night around dinner time a handful of leaves get pulled off of them. Sunlight wasn't a problem, and moisture is always consistent across the box. The problem could be with the fertilizer I mixed into the container. I was a bit sloppy with mixing it and perhaps I put too much or too little in the side where the plants are struggling. I'm not really sure and it doesn't matter. We appear to have enough basil and for now, production is keeping up with consumption.


I picked this cucumber a few days ago. It was ok. Lots of big seeds and the skin is tough. But the flesh is crisp and juicy, like a fresh field cucumber. The plants are putting out lots of female flowers now and there are a couple more cucumbers forming.


Saturday, July 1, 2017

Canada Day Cucumber

It's been a long time since I tried to grow cucumbers. This is a Talladega Cucumber. I tried these a few years ago and had no luck. I can't recall exactly what went wrong. Maybe I seeded the containers directly and nothing started, or I transplanted seedlings too early and they died off. This year I started inside a little late and put them out late as well. I planted four plants. One is dead, two aren't growing and one is doing really well. I'm getting lots of male and female flowers which I've been hand-pollinating but so far this is the only one to take.