PSTeach

Now that the time change has happened and the weather is fair, I have my husband back, lol. Of course, now he is in the garage til sundown, ha ha

I need to do something soon for my husband. He's starting to bring me down too! I joke with him about it, but I do think I will stop and look for some vit D or something for him.

I think I am going to try the vit. D for my husband. Even the mention of the word snow sends him down further, lol. he has started walking in the evening, before dark. It has helped a little.

I get mad at my husband. I seriously think he gets SAD, but he always has the curtains closed in the daytime. He needs the sunlight. I think he doesn't want to sit and look at the snow! We haven't gotten the seed catalogs out yet. maybe in a couple of weeks.

Mine that were protected up against the house always came back.

We didn't bother with our veggie garden after that second late frost happened. I don't feel so bad now!

I don't think it has anything to do at all with where you buy them. My mil raised her own plants from seed and they are starting to get it, too. I think it has everything to do with the cool, wet conditions. The only other time I ever had any blight (over a 5 year period) was with this type of cold, damp weather.

Just read the following on Gant Daily and thought I would share. Be on the lookout..... LOCAL NEWS: July 7th, 2009 Gary Abdullah, Penn State University Serious Disease Threatens Home Gardens, Commercial Fields UNIVERSITY PARK - The disease that caused the 1840s Irish Potato Famine now threatens Pennsylvania's home-gardening explosion, and a plant-disease expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences says hobbyists must work with commercial growers to protect the state's tomato and potato crops. The disease Phytophthora infestans is commonly known as "late blight," and it's potentially fatal to all tomato and potato plants grown in home gardens and in commercial fields. Commercial growers know that spraying fungicides can help manage and prevent its spread. But homeowners unaware of this contagious disease may not take timely corrective actions, and their home patches can propagate the disease for miles, according to Beth Gugino, vegetable pathologist in Penn State's Department of Plant Pathology. "Tough economic times have many families taking up vegetable gardening, and tomato is often the most important crop in gardens," Gugino said. "Late blight is a common disease in Pennsylvania and the Northeast since it likes the cool temperatures and frequent rains of our summers. If it gets entrenched in a backyard vegetable patch, it can create a serious problem for neighbors and for commercial growers because the disease spores are easily carried in wind currents to infect susceptible plants in even the most remote areas in our region." This year's battle with late blight is further complicated by other factors: a moist spring has brought the disease at the earliest it's been reported over such a broad region of the country. And a tragic mistake has large retail stores from Ohio to Maine unwittingly selling blight-infected plants. "Last season in Pennsylvania, there was only one report of late blight on tomato and two on potatoes, and those developed later in the season," Gugino said. "And never before has such an extensive distribution of infected plants occurred. The exceptionally contagious spores can spread from plant to tomato plant on garden center shelves, and late blight has been confirmed on tomato plants in home and garden centers in several counties in the state -- and the number is increasing daily. "State Agriculture Department inspectors currently are visiting 'big box' garden centers across Pennsylvania and other affected states, working with the original supplier to remove and destroy any infected plants on store shelves." By the start of July, late blight on tomato and/or potato plants from home gardens and in commercial fields has been confirmed in Bedford, Blair, Centre, Washington and Lancaster counties, and more reports are expected. Outbreaks also have been confirmed in states as far south as South Carolina, and north to Montreal and Quebec. Petunias also can be infected by late blight and show similar symptoms. "Given this scenario, we must assume that many infected tomato plants have been planted across the entire region, if they originated from so called 'big-box' stores," Gugino said. "In Pennsylvania, several cases of infected plants in home gardens have been traced back to these stores." While it's a problem for home hobbyists, she explained, the bigger threat is to commercial growers. Under the right conditions, blight spores thriving in backyard gardens can infect entire fields of tomatoes and potatoes several miles away. So, what starts as a minor disappointment for amateur gardeners can turn into a huge expense for commercial growers in the region. "Growers have access to several very effective fungicides, so if they monitor their fields regularly and maintain a fungicide program, we hope they will be able to harvest a crop," Gugino said. "But identifying and reducing the sources of inoculums is key. We are collecting isolates of the pathogen from each confirmed sample that comes to us, so that they can be genotyped. This will help identify where the inoculum is coming from." The lesions that develop on tomato leaves, stems and fruit are very obvious to the naked eye. The edge of the water-soaked lesion, on either the top or bottom of the leaf surface, will be covered with white fungal growth that contains the spores. On the stems, late blight lesions appear brown to almost black. The same lesions also will develop on the fruit, either directly on the infected plant, or after a few days sitting on your kitchen counter. "Lesions are not a danger to humans, so most of the fruit can be used if the affected area is removed," she said. "The good news is that the late blight pathogen is not seedborne in tomato, so tomato plants started from seed locally are most likely to be free of the disease, at least for now." Gugino urges gardeners to inspect their tomato plants daily, and to take quick, decisive action when they see symptoms. "Any plants with symptoms should be removed, placed in a sealed plastic bag and left in the sun for several hours to kill the spores before disposing of them in the garbage," she said. "Don

OUr trees seem to get fruit every other year. We had a good crop last year, and I am happy to say that both trees are looking good for this year! i really thought the would have gotten hit by the frost, but because they are close to the woods, I think they stayed shaded in the A.M. Yay!!

My mil does the bowls of beer for the slugs. It seems to work pretty well.

I was 2 months from being born, lol.

I am glad I covered my plants. I was talking on the phone and they told me it was going to frost. The report the other day (Friday?) said a low of 37, I thought. I checked and it has 31 for tonite.

I think it's a canna lily.

OUrs is at the edge of the field. I joke that I leave the weeds in it, so the animals can't find the plants, lol. We have found that marigolds around the edge seem to help.

Me too, ME TOO!!! We didn't get everything pulled out at the end of last season. Last friday it felt good to get me hands in the dirt again!

My son has about 30 moon flowers started from his seeds from last year's plants. He and his grandma have a sunflower (the 18" kind) with a bloom on it. We started our cabbage today.

I think I am going to need a whole acre this year, lol. Our broccoli is getting really tall and spindley. I should have taken it to my MIL's, she has the lights. But I wanted to let the kids watch it grow daily, since they did the seeds. Will it still get thicker and be plantable?? (My mother in law said she thought it was growing up to get to the light.)

Some how they are even getting into the bathroom. I know they aren't regular fleas. Whatever they are, they are attracted to the dampness, and are next door too.

Anyone else have a bunch of gnat-flea looking bugs all over their yard?? My husband called them snow fleas (there were actually a few on the last snow), but I was wondering what they were. They were so thick on the side walk, I thought it was a big pile of mold or something.

Just remember that some of the herbs tend to spread uncontrollably when you are picking the place for you herb garden outside. I have seen where they recommend putting up a barrier for plants like mint, etc, to keep them from spreading.

Probably the broccoli and cauliflower this week. In another week or two we might start some of the other things. My MIL just built a greenhouse last year, she has had a few strawberries and my son has a pretty big sunflower plant. They are just experimenting with last years leftovers.

I am hoping t get ours started this week. Maybe we can get to it tomorrow. Geeze Louise, I can't belive my son hasn't been bugging me!! We forgot all about it!

Got a booklet from Agway the other day. Looks like it is almost time to start the broccoli and cauliflower seeds. Woo hoo! My son drew a map of the garden tonight too. I can almost smell the dirt now......

We got our seeds today!! I am hopeful we can grow one of those giant pumpkins this year, I've been studying up on it! I think I am going to start researching a planting calendar. It will keep me busy figuring out when to plant our seeds, and when they shuold be ready to harvest. Anything to keep from thinking about how cold and frozen the ground is right now!!

My son and I just ordered a huge bunch of seeds from Gurny's last week. Good thing grandma built a greenhouse for us to start them in! I think our garden is going to be twice the size it was last year. I am hoping to have more to freeze. Last year he gave away all the corn, ha ha. I am excited though!