Enjoying the fruits of a late-season harvest
I just returned from a nine-day vacation to Vancouver, British Columbia, where I fished for sturgeon on the Fraser River and also for salmon and trout on the Pitt River. It was the adventure of a lifetime for me and something that was on my “bucket list” for sure!
If anyone is considering such an adventure, I would highly recommend the Fraser River Lodge in Agassiz, British Columbia. A nearby town is Harrison Hot Springs, the alleged home land of Sasquatch. Perhaps you will get a glimpse of this mysterious creature if you go into the rugged wilderness there. You can certainly have your picture taken with one of the many statues that are all over the town.
In the meantime, my garden is finally starting to produce vegetables in some quantity, but it seems like the harvest season is quite late this year. I have yet to pick a single full-size tomato and I just began to get some cucumbers and beans.
Those of you who live in the Kingston area are probably wondering what tall mountain I live on, to be having such a late season! I did get a late start this year, but I have heard from other gardeners that their gardens are also late. My “early” sweet corn is just about ready to pick and the late variety I planted (Silver Queen) is tasseling now. Winter squash, pumpkins and my late planting of carrots are also growing well, as is the Swiss chard and beets. I lost all the peaches from my “Reliance” tree to a disease called brown rot, but my other peach tree is loaded with unripe fruit. I have put up three strands of electric fence wire around this tree and hope it keeps the local bear away.
In terms of insect and disease problems, I have had very few this season. I credit that to early, prophylactic, applications of both insecticides and fungicides. I do have some early blight on the tomatoes, but just about everything else is disease- and relatively insect-free. I realize that no one likes to use pesticides in their backyard garden on a routine basis, but it is possible to grow a nice garden using organic products.
Poisons are poisons, and organic products can be as toxic as “chemical” ones, so it is still important to read and follow all label directions before spraying anything at all. Many gardeners wait until there is obvious damage before applying anything, and, often, that is far too late to remedy the problem. There are no fungicides that will “cure” an existing infection once it begins, but infections can be prevented.
In retrospect, I wish I had sprayed my peaches as soon as they formed! Even insect problems need to be prevented. By the time you see hordes of the grey-colored, triangular-shaped squash bugs on your cucurbits, it is too late to do anything. The same is true for the tiny striped cucumber beetles that transmit bacterial wilt, as well as the squash vine borer that causes squash plants
to collapse when its larvae eats into the crown of the bush.
Some large caterpillars, such as tomato hornworms, can defoliate entire tomato, pepper or potato plants in one or two nights. Learn to recognize these pests in their egg stages and take action accordingly.
Right now, our evening temperatures have cooled enough to be able to go
out after dark and spray any yellow jacket or hornet nests you may have noticed. These nests will expand exponentially in the next couple of weeks and the dispositions of the stinging insects will only get worse. An aerosol formulation of a wasp and hornet spray works very well at ranges of up to 20 feet. Practice before you attempt to do the spraying to be sure you can thoroughly soak the entrance of the nest without having the spray drip back down onto your head as you spray.
Inspect the lawn area
for any ground-nesting stinging insects as well, before you’re next mowing and deal with them at night, after dark, as well. Spraying these nests during daylight hours will not work, because the insects are mostly away from the nest foraging for food during the daytime. Be prepared by practicing and go after them at night for safety and effectiveness.