PEACHTREE CITY COMMUNITY GARDEN
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Transitions

5/31/2015

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  We are making the transition from spring to summer and as your spring crops finish, the summer crops are coming on. Tomorrow I'll mow the first snow pea crop, it's finished and the second crop of snow peas are coming on. I'll work up the soil in the 1st pea patch, hopefully get some of the weed seeds to germinate and then work the ground again in two weeks for the next bean crop. This week I'll plant a second summer squash crop to extent the season on the squash. I'm killing squash bugs as I find them and so far the squash bugs aren't out of control. The eggplants survived the potato beetles, the wasps started feeding on the potato beetle larva...we even had a wasp munching on a potato beetle at the open house last week! Yesterday I planted the first of the sweet potatoes, the purple sweet potatoes sprouted first so they were planted last evening. I'll start planting regular sweet potatoes as they get ready. The sweet potatoes in bed 142 at the community garden are up and as soon as they are ready I'll advise.
 The rains we had last week were a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the rain came at an opportune time for the berry crop here on the farm. The berries will take up that moisture and size up nicely. The potatoes also appreciated the water and will use it to size up. At the community garden that nearly 4" of rain was a bit much. It allows me to see where we need more French drains, a project for next winter. 
  Several years ago I lost my entire tomato crop to late blight. The yellow leaves you see on the bottoms of your tomatoes are early blight, a different disease. Now to prevent late blight and to protect my tomatoes I prophylactically spray copper sulfate and you may do so also. I'll spray 3 times total, about 10-14 days apart depending on the weather. If you spray copper, don't overdo it. A light mist to wet the leaves without runoff is all it takes. Too much copper is hard on the soil so be careful. You'll find premixed copper at the garden centers.
  Bean beetles are a problem for some of you. The soap sprays will kill the soft bodied larva, you may not think the bugs are dead as the mouth part will stay attached to the leaves. Or if you want, pyrethrum and spinosad are two products that will also kill just about any insect pest you run into. Spray only in the evening when the pollinators are not active...don't kill the bees!
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Open House

5/17/2015

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The garden is growing and planting continues as we roll into summer. This week I dug the garlic and it is on racks in the shade of the barn drying. I also dug the onions and they are on racks in the barn. I harvested the first cabbage of the year and picked snow peas. With no rain for almost three weeks, I'm watering everything regularly and deep watering the potatoes about once a week. The water potatoes get now affects the size of the tubers when I start digging them in another month. This week I'll plant a second crop of sweet corn and also start squash seeds in trays for transplant next week. A second planting of squash will extend the season longer into the summer.
  I'm seeing more potato beetles this year than I've seen in a long time. They are attacking the eggplants this year, nary a one on the potatoes. Mostly I simply pick off the little buggers and toss them elsewhere in the garden. They can't crawl back to the eggplants and die trying to find food.
  I've also procured orange oil and soap for fire ant treatment. I'll drop it by the garden this week with instructions for making a drench to get rid of the ants.
  Open house on the 23rd, 8-2 here at the farm. Everyone is welcome to come by and enjoy a self guided tour of the vegetable patch, get an idea or two and pull a weed if you are so inclined. The address is 380 Ebenezer Church Rd.
  Happy Gardening

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Organic 101

5/9/2015

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For those of you interested in the nuts and bolts of organic gardening and living the organic lifestyle, I'll be holding a class next Saturday coordinated by the Fayette Co. extension office. Check with the extension office for more details but my class runs from 1-2 pm at the Kiwanis center on Redwine Rd. And if that doesn't work for you, maybe we can put together a class one evening at the library.
  I spent some time at the garden this morning taking care of a few odds and ends. As expected, the warm, dry, sunny weather has really been a boon to our gardens and I'm seeing good results here at home also. Plants that were sickly after the last rain are putting on new growth so we survived the deluge. Check your tomatoes and peppers for new leaves budding out the top of the plant. Here's what need to be done in the next couple weeks. the onions and garlic are just about finished growing. As the leaves yellow the plants are taking the last nutrients from the leaves and storing those nutrients in the bulb. It's time to pull both crops out of the ground. Dig them but do not wash them. Take the onions and garlic with the tops and spread them out on newspaper in the garage to let them completely cure. During the curing process the bulbs will make their paper wrappers. The tops will shrivel away and you'll be left with the bulbs that will keep for awhile. Onions will keep for a couple months garlic for even longer but enjoy them.
  I saw lots of ripe strawberries at the garden, even sampled a few I know are unclaimed. We've got a great crop of strawberries!!
  Keep planting warm season crops. It peak planting time.
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Warm Season Plantings

5/7/2015

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  It's warm, it's sunny and it's dry...let's plant our warm season crops. It's not too late to transplant tomatoes, peppers and eggplants so get ye to the garden center and get transplants now. Once you get these three planted, put down a layer of newsprint around those plants and cover the newsprint with wheat straw. There is a supply of straw at the front of the garden. It is especially important to mulch the tomatoes as a soil borne virus will splash onto the lower leaves of the tomato plants and start killing the leaves. As you plant tomatoes, crush an eggshell and put into the bottom of the planting hole, the tomatoes like that extra bit of calcium. Then stake the tomato plants, some of my cherry tomatoes will be over 8' tall by the end of the season.
  Let's plant summer squash, cucumbers, and beans. Beans may either be bush varieties or pole varieties, it doesn't matter. Bush varieties will give you a faster crop, pole varieties will give you a larger crop but take longer to mature. The pole varieties will need something to climb on so plan for that. While you're at it, grow your cucumbers vertically, those tomato cages actually work well to support cucumbers as well as the eggplant and pepper plants. Your peppers will get so full of peppers that their brittle stems will break later in the season.
  If you want some of the winter squashes such as acorn, butternut or spaghetti, plant those now. Those squash grow on vines that like to sprawl so give them room to run. Same thing with melons, plant those now and give them room to run. The smaller watermelons such as "Sugar Baby" will do the best. Cantaloupes are the easiest melon to grow.
  If you've got cabbage growing, it's time to give them supplemental fertilizer. Scratch blood meal into the soil and water it in good and those heavy feeding cabbage plants will be happy.
  We're late in the season for additional lettuce or spinach or peas. Don't despair, we'll grow more of those in the fall.

 
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    Larry Dove, of Two Doves Farm,.

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