Myrciaria cauliflora, Jaboticaba fruit tree

Myrciaria cauliflora, Jaboticaba fruit tree: "MYRCIARIA CAULIFLORA
Jaboticaba Fruit Tree

FAMILY: Myrtaceae
ORIGIN: Brazil
AVERAGE SIZE: 25'
LIGHT REQUIREMENTS : full sun
WATER REQUIREMENTS : average
MIN. TEMP.: 35°
FLOWER: white flowers that grow on the trunk
COMMENTS: delicious edible fruit"

On the plus side of things...

A little yin, a little yang. My gardenias, in all their glory...

Organic control of pickleworms...

OK, I RAGE, RAGE RAGE AGAINST THE WORM!

Damn them. Oh, I am SO tempted to get out that bag of Sevin my mom gave me "just in case"

... See how they like the taste of Carbaryl! (pant pant pant)

I'm a little worked up. Witness the ravages:

(Egg cluster, entry hole, damage, caught in the act...)

We eat a LOT of cucumbers. I had such a great run this year, though, that even with full-time, all-out cuke eating, I had enough to make several batches of pickles. I even had the fungal issues completely under control through regular copper spraying, hygienic culture, and trellising:

(A single plant, trellised over four strings. It reached the top of my 6' trellis, and was beginning to spread over the wires that run between my two trellises.)

I almost ripped them out of the ground, since everything that I've read about these buggers indicates that, short of smothering them in insecticide, there was nothing to be done. Surrender. All. Hope.

But, poking around on the Web, I found this...

[2734] FRUIT BAGGING FOR PROTECTION OF CUCUMBER AGAINST THE
MELONWORM, DIAPHANIA HYALINATA, AND THE PICLEWORM,
DIAPHANIA NITIDALIS.
J. O. G. de Lima1 & E. A. da Silva1, 1Laboratório de Proteção de Plantas, Univ. Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, 28.015-620 - Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil. E-mail joscar@uenf.br.
In all regions of Brazil, the melonworm, Diaphania hyalinata, and the picleworm, D.
nitidalis, destroy several cucurbit fruits, especially cucumber, which if unprotected is
seriously damaged. Besides the frequent use of insecticides, no other single method is effective for protecting cucurbit vegetables. In order to find an alternative to insecticides, an experiment was carried out in the field to test the efficacy of paper bags for protecting the cucumber fruits against the pickleworm penetration. Bagging was accomplished no more than 24 h after the flower pollination (beginning of the flower wilting process).
In the four treatments used, the percentages of bored cucumber fruits at the first harvest (04.20.98) were: 1. Conventional application of insecticides (weekly application of deltamethrin at 5 g a. i./ha): 40.0 %; 2. Bagging the fruit and no insecticide application: 27.1 %; 3. Weekly application of deltamethrin (5 g a. i./ha) before and after bagging of the fruits: 30.0 %; and 4. Control (No insecticide application and exposed fruits): 52.4 %. Because of the poor quality of the paper bags, some of the bags split open at the first harvest and this number increasead at the second harvest (04.28.98). Due to these problems, the experiment was discontinued. However, the preliminary results were promising in that bagging reduced the need for application of insecticides. In addition, the color and size of the fruit were not altered by bagging. There is great potential for bagging of cucumber, especially using a new type of microperforated plastic bag, which is currently being tested.

Notice that the bagging is 50% more effective (40%/27%) than the conventional insecticide.

Guess what I'll be doing tonight?

Drought outlook

Pickleworms!

Damn them. They have arrived. The end is near.

We had a good run... Good bye, cucurbits!

Gazpacho

I made a dishy gazpacho tonight from the garden. Is there a better way to simultaneously use up overripe tomatoes and celebrate summer?

• 3# of ripe tomatoes
• 1# of cucumbers
• 1/2# green pepper (any sort, I used a couple of banana peppers)
• 1 clove garlic
• 5-6 summer onions (large scallions, or use 1/2 of a small red onion)
• 1 c. good olive oil (not too expensive, not too cheap)
• a few pieces of stale hearty country loaf, torn into pieces
• as much sherry vinegar as your care to eat
• a lot of salt, I like flake sea salt

for garnish: chopped hard-boiled egg, diced green pepper, basil (purple offers a striking contrast), chopped scallion

Chuck it all in a blender, in batches if you have to (mix it all together in a large pitcher when you're done blending).

Serve with garnishes and some toasted country bread.

Carrot Sweet Treat Hybrid

Recommended from the FLA forum, GardenWeb.

Customer Favorite
Carrot Sweet Treat Hybrid
Superb carrot flavor and delicious crunch.

Easy to grow and full of vitamins. 1,500 seeds per packet; sows a 40' row; 1 oz., about 300'. Ready to harvest in about 70 days. Superb carrot flavor and delicious crunch these 5" sugary spikes are one of the best salad carrots we've ever pulled from the ground.

but who buys drinks?

Tantric secrets of the invertebrate world...

lovebug - Plecia nearctica Hardy

Copulatory behavior begins with the male darting and grasping a female that is flying through the swarm. The pair falls to the ground where they couple. Initially the male is positioned on the back of the female and both sexes face the same direction. After coupling, the male turns 180° and faces the opposite direction. Successful genitalic engagement takes from 1.5 to 10 min.

From now on, I'll reference "genitalic engagement" in all such discussions with my wife...

Rain!

It rained last night and today, a total of about two inches, perhaps a bit more. This evening we enjoyed the cool, drier air (73 degrees and 61 degrees for the dew point -- which translates into very comfy conditions). This "backdoor front" (backdoor because it comes from the north) is rare this time of the year. Our May winds are usually from the south-east, not the north-east:

Last night's rainfall was more characteristic of a winter storm than a summer rain, which is usually caused by instability brought on by the sea breeze interacting with the much hotter air over the peninsula. We're in the midst here in Florida of an epic drought and hellfire, so the rain is welcome, whatever its provenance.

It was actually too cool to sit on the patio with drinks. That never happens mid-May. My foxgloves and poppies are living large.

seeds

In my ever useful Parks dome, my female child and I planted...

• Rows 10 + 9 A, B cucuzzi seeds from Bill (it's really too late, but why not try if I have a couple spots free?)
• Rows 8 + 9 Ethiopian Kale from ECHO (s'posed to be heat & humidity tolerant)
• Row 7 more New Zealand Spinach. I real bugger to start.
• Row 6 Papaloqeulite (a Mexican herb that Bill gave me). The seeds remind me of those from zinnias.
  
• Row 5 Roselle

Update: The roselle was up the next day...

Local food culture...

I'm reading Bill McKibben's new book, Deep Economy. I haven't been terribly impressed so far -- Michael Pollan and Wendell Berry are far more eloquent and sophisticated in their analysis and criticisms of modern farming-food culture, but McKibben understands better the unsustainability of the whole of modern American economy.

Berry says somewhere that it's a sign of how far removed we've become from the most primal experiences of life when children know where babies come from, but not potatoes.

"Eating is an agricultural act."

I spend a fair amount of time in the garden with my children, talking about how things grow and reproduce and die. And trying to share with them the wonder and awe I have for all things living, even the writhing mass of maggots in my compost bucket. They're usually out there with me planting seeds or helping harvest cukes and tomatoes. My daughter loves to pick snapdragons and make them ROAR!

From this morning's Times:

Local Food 101, With a School as His Lab

By GERRI HIRSHEY

BLOOMFIELD

TALL, bald and of robust appetite, the chef Timothy Cipriano is casting an appreciative eye at the young free-range chickens clucking in their moveable, open-air run outside the Agriscience and Technology Center at Bloomfield High School. “By fall, I can give you three dozen eggs a week,” predicts Joseph Rodrigues, the agriscience teacher who oversees greenhouses, raised-bed gardens and a set of big, burbling aquaculture tanks.

“Fantastic. We’ll do frittatas,” Mr. Cipriano murmurs.

The two men are amiable and enthusiastic co-conspirators. Mr. Cipriano, the food service director for the Bloomfield school district, is also a committed activist for the Connecticut Farm-to-School program, which advocates serving students fresh, locally grown and sustainable food. He is clearly delighted by Mr. Rodrigues’s next promise: “We’ll be raising tilapia. It’s a good, mild fish the kids like. I’m hoping to give you a couple of decent harvests.”

Having cajoled a few students out of study hall, Mr. Rodrigues has set them to transplanting heirloom tomato seedlings in the greenhouse. He walks between potting benches reciting tomato varieties: “Moskovich. First Ladies. Juliets. The Great White ... .” The crops also include snap peas, leeks, broccoli rabe, carrots, herbs, lettuce, arugula, okra and squash. Crews of volunteer students will tend the beds over the summer, with early harvest going to a local food bank.

Students also test recipes, from watermelon gazpacho to Mexican pizza, and Mr. Cipriano has gathered the favorites in a self-published compendium intended for the delectation of “Not Your Average Lunch Lady.” His most popular dish is Squapple Crisp, a toothsome bake of winter squash, apples, cinnamon and brown sugar topped with crushed cornflakes. Has he had some losers?

more quick garden pics

Gardenia.

Cucino cucumber. It mounted the 7' pole and is now sprawling across some wire that I stretched between my two vertical supports.

Little Finger Eggplant.

great barred owl

tomatoes, quail grass, foxglove

Queensland Lettuce

From ECHO:
Lettuce, Queensland [1441]

Lactuca sativa.
This leaf lettuce is an ECHO favorite. From Australia, it grows extremely well under hot, humid conditions and is slow to bolt. Leaves are numerous and tasty with a yellowish hue. Highly recommended.

More garden notes...

• I picked another two pounds of cucumbers today, and a few Tiffany tomatoes. Last night I harvested a half-pound of chard. More figs on the fig tree -- the ones that set last month are slowly ripening.
  
• I borrowed our botanist's pH meter and tested the beds. The blueberries are all 5.5 to 5.8 within about a two-foot radius. I need to lower that pH to 5.3 or a bit lower. I added sulfur about two months ago. It takes a few months to lower the pH, but I went ahead and added a bit more sulfur today. I don't see any signs of iron chlorosis, and they are growing well, so I'm not too worried. My other beds are all 7.0, perfectly neutral. I need to lower that a bit, so I put about a cup per 50-square feet of wettable sulfur down on my flower beds today.
• Candytuft ( Iberis umbellata Dwarf Fairyland Mixed from T-M) has done really well for me this year. Mostly the lilac seems to thrive, but the white is doing OK, too. They they flop more than I'd like, but I'll have to add this to my late-spring and early-summer palette.
  

Let's see now... what's new in the garden...

Garden notes to myself... Early May:

• I planted okra (Annie Oakley from Pinetree) this weekend (5/6)
• The New Zealand Spinach is finally up. That's nearly a month to germinate! (Turns out they were a weed... My attempts to sow in situ have all failed. I've gotten a few of these to germinate in small pots, but it takes several weeks. Better be worth all this trouble...)
  
• Two words: Chard ROCKS. Plant more of it next year -- I planted it out into the garden at the beginning of December, it's still producing heavily. I don't remember when I started to harvest, but the small 1'x3' square has given me at least three months of picking, probably more. A beautiful plant! Why would anyone grow spinach?
• I started training the yardlong bean up a twine. Vigorous bugger.
  
• Eggplants are really beautiful plants!
• Tiffany is the winner for full-sized tomatoes. Earlier than Better Boy, much more vigorous than Matina. A lot of them are reddening now; great texture, good taste, though nothing spectacular. These need to ripen fully on the vine to be sweet.
• Yellow Currant tomato is a monster. It's reached seven feet in a matter of weeks and is branching heavily. The flavor is basic cherry tomato, no better or worse.
• Peppers are all producing nicely.
• Chervil goes to seed in early May.I've harvested cilantro (coriander) seeds and dill seeds this week. No reason to mourn their going to seed. I'm going to start some seeds of paploquelite soon as a replacement for cilantro.
  

Sweet potatoes, runner beans, tomatoes...

The layout of my cold-season strawberry bed: A rough circle that gets about 8 hours a day of hot sun. I dug the strawberries into the bed, and laid down another thick layer of oak leaves and grass clippings.

My son & I started the rattlesnake beans a couple of weeks ago : I'm running wire from stakes along the perimeter to a 10' high conduit pole in the center of the bed. In theory, they'll scramble up the wires, but not shade out the white sweet potatoes (planted on Sunday) that are planted in the center of the bed or the Sungold tomato that's training up the pole. The way the sun tracks, the left (north) side of the bed should still get tons of sun, even with the beans growing up the right (south) side. The bed's very heavily mulched with hay, leaves and pinestraw. I have some pentas and milkweed mixed in there, too, since this used to be my butterfly bed.

Intensive gardening!

A hike through Lake Woodrufff

The family went for a hike this morning through Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, a series of lakes (Woodruff is the largest at 2200 acres), impoundments, and channels that are part of the St Johns River system.

It was hot, but a nice breeze and a fairly low dew point made for a pretty comfortable three-mile hike... even with my three-year-old daughter perched on my shoulders the whole way. When at the park last week, I saw a a few dozen Marsh Rabbits nibbling the tender grasses along the impoundments. I wanted to show the kids who, growing up in Central Florida, haven't seen many wild rabbits. Alas, we made it to the Refuge too late, and the bunnies were hidden in the brush waiting out the hottest part of the day. We did see many alligators, turtles, egrets, a small kite, hawks, coots, gallinules. We heard a Great Barred Owl calling from the pine forests that dot the perimeter of the public area.

Swamp Rosemallow (Hibiscus grandiflorus).
Nuttall's Thistle (Cirsium nuttallii). This specimen was mixed in with some Purple Thistle (Cirsium horridulum) that had already gone to seed. I think I'm right on the identification: the Nuttall's Thistle is a lot paler and more delicate, and a bit taller, than the more common Purple.
I have no idea. Anyone?

Purple Passionflower, or the (aptly named) Maypop. I find these to be so otherworldly in their beauty. It's strange to come across them, growing untended in the wild.

A Gulf fritillary fresh from its cocoon. Tasting Spanish Needles (Bidens alba). Bidens is probably the most common wildflower here in Central Florida. It's indestructible, and seems to thrive in swales and cracks in the concrete. If you walk through a field with them, you'll find your socks and cuffs spiked with their sharp thistles.

Sawtooth Blackberry (Rubus argutus) blooms.

Rubus berries. These lined the banks of the channels cut through Woodruff. Considering how bone-dry it is, the berries were fairly abundant and the ripe ones were sweet enough. Surprised that there were any left with all the crows, sparrows, etc. flitting about.

May Day Veg

I don't know what varietal these cukes are -- I bought them at Lowes. That's one plant that has been trellised onto four strings to keep them off the ground and less prone to fungal problems. I've harvest dozens of cukes so far. I ended up making some tasty quick pickles with the excess. If you look carefully, you can see the next couple of dozen cukes ripening on the vine.

These are Tiffany tomatoes from TGS. Very vigorous, early to set fruit and redden, nice yield so far with probably two dozen medium-sized fruit now ripening. They are VFNT, so if they taste decent, I'll definitely raise them again next year.

Yellow Banana Peppers. Good yield, tasty.

Quail Grass, an Amaranth (like Celosia) that's supposed to be very mild and low in oxalic acid and nitrates, making them tastier and easier to digest than must tropical greens. I tried some raw a few days ago and found it to taste pretty much exactly like spinach, only less oxalic acid (the unpleasant bitterness/grittiness that characterizes spinach past its prime) and a bit nuttier. Tasty.

I had some trouble with germination and slugs, but two plants survived and that's all that can likely fit in the four-square feet I've given them. It gets five feet tall and blooms in the fall.
Pretty plant, no?