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Cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, is one of the most visible insects, pest or otherwise, in our garden.  It looks lovely and innocuous, dozens of white yellow butterflies floating around the garden on a warm summer day.  But watch them closely and find that what they're really doing is laying their eggs on host plants, which are those in the brassicacea family.  For us, the larva are mostly a problem in cabbage, as the leaves they feed on are also the part we eat.  They're frass fills the crevices of the growing cabbage, making it a disgusting mess.  Their feeding can stunt broccoli,...

Cucurbita maxima I've put my shoes on this squash to give me some size perspective. It's ready for kindergarten today, if that tells you anything. But really, this heirloom squash from New England is impressive in more ways than size. According to the Slow Food Ark of Taste, it has a documented history in North America of over 200 years. Check it out: https://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark-item/boston-marrow-squash . This variety was extremely productive for me. I direct-sowed them May 25th and they were in the ground 110 days to mid-October. I harvested them just before a predicted frost. They are touted as a...

Is this French heirloom green or light brown when ripe? I suspect the unique and lovely light brown I have seen in some depictions of the variety indicates full maturity, but the confusing thing is that some catalog pictures show “mature” fruit ranging from dark green to green with light brown speckles, as if just maturing.   So, when I harvested my 'Musquee de Provence' for the first time this year, I crossed my fingers that their still being part green was just a trait of the variety. Some of these squash did not keep long, indicating immaturity. By the...

The many moods of buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum I keep a stock of buckwheat seeds at the ready all summer long. I use it as a summer cover crop in vacant areas, and squeeze small plantings of it here and there to attract pollinatrs and beneficial insects. It has a lot of value to me as a multi-functioned, easy to grow annual. It grows quickly, even in poor soils, is somewhat drought tolerant, and decomposes quickly when incorporated as a cover crop. Its delicate roots do require friable soil though; it won't establish itself well in a hardpan.   As a...

Last year was the first year we dealt with Sand Chafer, or White Grub in our potato crop.  The damage to potato crops from this pest can be devastating.  White grubs, the larval stage of the Sand Chafer beetle lifecycle, feed on potatoes just as their about to be harvested in August and September.   Signs and symptoms: Adults are the only above-ground part of this insects life cycle: White grubs are large and easy to spot if they're in your potato patch.  They are sort of horrendous-looking things: Their damage is large bites, which create craters in the potatoes.  They...