Cabbage worms

As soon as I see little white butterflies with greyish-brown dots on its wings visit my garden, I know it is time to protect my vegetable garden from cabbage worms.

Cabbage Worm (length = approximately 1")

These butterflies lay hundreds of tiny yellow eggs on the underside of the leaves. The eggs hatch and release velvety green larvae (cabbage worms) that love the taste of broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, and other members of the brassica genus. The larvae feed on the foliage of these vegetables, creating numerous holes. About three weeks after hatching, the cabbage worm form a cocoon-like pupal case. A few days later, a new butterfly emerges and the cycle starts again...and again, throughout the summer. In the fall, these pests overwinter and emerge again in the spring.

Cabbage worms can be very destructive during their short lifespan. Leaves become riddled with small holes, altering the appearance of the plant, reducing yield, and eventually impacting the plant's ability to undergo photosynthesis.

Some gardeners cover their crops with a light floating row cover to prevent the butterflies from laying eggs. This sounds great, but I practice intensive gardening. It is too difficult to cover just the brassica crops. AND, the floating row cover should be applied at transplanting to be the most effective. 

Alternatively, cabbage worms can be hand-picked off the plants. Yeah, this sounds like a lot of fun. Not really! This is a labor-intensive endevour that I know I will not win, so I don't even attempt to fight this battle.

I prefer to use an "organic" control that relies on the bacterium, bacillus thuringiensis (also called "Bt"). Bt can be found at most garden centers under the brand names "Dipel" or "Thuricide".

Although harmless to humans, Bt is toxic to a number of destructive worms upon digestion, including: cabbage worms, tomato hornworms, and cutworms. However, it must be applied when the cabbage worms are actively feeding on the leaves. Once the cabbage worm ingests the Bt, it will stop feeding and die of starvation within 3-5 days.

Since Bt rapidly degrades in the sun, I sprinkle it sparingly over the leaves surface just after the sun goes down in the evening. A bonus: cabbage worms mainly feed at night so the Bt will be most effective at this time as well. Unfortunately, Bt must be reapplied after it rains.

It is possible to still get harvestable ("sellable") produce despite a cabbage worm infestation, provided that it is caught and treated early in the season.

Garlic scapes

Garlic Scapes

Tuesday I harvested the garlic scapes from one of the two varieties of hardneck garlic I planted last fall (Music).

Garlic scapes are the "flower" stalks of hardneck garlic plants. These twisting and twirling stems shoot up from the center of the garlic plant's leaves and signal that the garlic is 3-6 weeks away from being ready to harvest.  

While the scapes do not need to be cut off the plants, some people believe the plants energy will be diverted from forming plump bulbs if the flower was allowed to grow. However, last year I left the scapes on a couple of the garlic plants and did not notice any significant difference between the size or weight of the garlic. So, I do not think it hurts the size of the bulb to the keep the garlic scape on the plant...but why waste such a tasty treat. 

I first noticed the garlic scapes forming about 3 weeks ago. Since it is best to harvest young and tender garlic scapes, I have been keeping a watchful eye on the stalks as they twisted and turned. If I harvest the garlic scapes too early, the scape will continue to grow, making it difficult to remove the nub of new growth. Too late and the scape would be too fiborous to eat. And, you will want to eat them! Garlic scapes have the texture of fresh green beans and taste like mild garlic. They are excellent in salads, stir-fries, and pestos!

Freedom from the hose

Once a garden has been planted, there is nothing more important than water for its ability to survive. 

The best time to water is in the morning (6-9 am) or early evening (5-7 pm), before the sun sets. Since I rather sleep in the morning, I spend my evenings watering each vegetable bed by hand using a hand-held sprinkler.

Not only is overhead watering a waste of water and an invitation for disease, I spend more than 12 hours per week watering all my gardens. Last year I vowed that it was going to be my last year lugging around a garden hose to water the vegetable gardens.

The most economical method for watering vegetable gardens is to use a soaker hose. However, in the past, I found that the soaker hose needed to be on for several hours to provide sufficient water to the roots of each plant. At the time, I really didn't feel that the plants were being watered well enough to encourage a deep root system. 

After considering the alternatives, I decided to install a drip irrigation system. Not only is a drip irrigation system a great time saver, it supplies water directly to the roots of the plants. This minimizes the loss of water due to evaporation and runoff (which occurs with overhead watering) and helps to reduce water bills. An added benefit: direct watering should keep the area between plants dry, which helps limit weed growth. BONUS!

I used the Mister Landscaper Drip Irrigation System (plus additional tubing, emitters, stakes, etc.) for my garden. Setting up the drip irrigation system was easy, but it did require some planning ahead of time. Something I do not usually do when it comes to something like this. 

Ryan efficiently used all the parts to design a simple system while my setup was far more complicated (and messy). I believe my lack of engineering skills showed through in my set up. Nonetheless, after six trips to the big box store to get additional parts, Ryan and I have completed the installation of a drip irrigation system in my vegetable garden. And...IT WORKS! :)

I placed 1 gallon per hour (gph) emitters on all the pepper plants, 2 gph emitters on all the tomato plants, and 10 gph adjustable misters to the rest of the garden (onions, lettuce, beans, etc). I have no idea whether this is the best rate for each plant. I am currently trying to optimize the watering schedule so I do not over or under water each plant. 

Once the system fully operational, it doesn't mean I can just walk away and assume the garden is being properly watered. Periodically throughout the season, I will monitor the soil's moisture level to ensure sufficient water is delivered to the roots of the plants.

Only time will tell whether the investment of the drip irrigation system will pay off. But I am looking forward to the system being a significant time saver for me. I plan to use the my extra time harvesting, weeding, and maintaining my garden, rather than watering.