Warm season lettuce-Batavian or Summercrisp lettuces « giantveggiegardener I like salads, especially in the summer but most lettuces bolted here in my garden in the summer. Last year I grew some lettuces that grew well in the summer. Most lettuces are cool season crops that bolt with the heat but Batavian (also known as Summercrisp) lettuces did surprisingly well here. I grew them in partial shade and not in the direct sun. Not only was I happy they did not bolt and nor get bitter, but they have a crisp sweet taste to them and lasted all summer. There are many more Batavian lettuces online but these are what I tried. Cardinale-recently saved from extinction. Manoa-A special mini head from University of Hawaii, grown widely in the Islands for its resistance to heat and tip-burn. Anuenue-Another A sweet green header from Hawaii. Jester-Crisp as ice, glossy, juicy as an apple, perfectly proportioned for a plate or a sandwich, flashy red speckles on semi-savoyed leaves with crazy-crisped margins like a Jester’s attire. Skyphos-Most adaptable butterhead. Related
Common Swiss Chard Diseases - How To Treat Diseased Swiss Chard Plants Swiss chard diseases are not numerous, but just one of them can wipe out your crop for the year. But, if you know about these diseases and pests, you can take steps to prevent or treat them and save your harvest. Preventing Swiss Chard Diseases Infections are more likely to spread and take root when plants are close together, so give your chard plenty of space. One plant should not be touching another. You can also use row covers to protect your plants from insects. Signs of Swiss Chard Disease There are steps you can take to try to prevent disease and pests, but even with your best efforts you may end up with sick Swiss chard. Cercospora leaf spot. Powdery or downy mildew. Beet curly top virus. Flea beetles. Leafminer. How to Treat Diseased Swiss Chard When treating chard plant diseases, keep in mind that the quicker you act, the more likely you will be able to save your harvest. Pull out any plants that continue to worse or don’t improve after a week. Preventing Swiss Chard Diseases
Starting COLD HARDY VEGETABLES Super Early « giantveggiegardener So now that the Persephone period is almost over and the magic date of January 15th is upon us, what does that mean? It means our day lengths are getting longer and January 15th is when we start getting 10 hours of daylight that will continue to get longer every day. Have you noticed already it now gets dark around 5:30 instead of 5 pm? The darkest time of the year is over. If you want to try growing cold hardy vegetables outdoors at this time of year, you will need a cold frame, low tunnel or hoop house. If you already planted cold hardy vegetables late last fall in a cold frame, low tunnel or hoop house, you may have noticed that the little seedlings haven’t been growing much at all as winter set in. In late winter, before you have harvest your winter crops, decide what you want to plant in your bed once space opens up in your cold frame. STARTING VEGETABLE SEEDS INSIDE:I’ve already written about starting seeds inside on many earlier posts. arugula-Astro, Sylvetta claytonia leek-Tadorna
Swiss Chard Problems - Learn About Common Problems With Swiss Chard Swiss chard is generally a trouble-free veggie, but this cousin to the beet plant can sometimes fall prey to certain pests and diseases. Read on to learn about common problems with Swiss chard, and explore possible solutions that may save the huge, nutritious, flavor-rich leaves. Fungal Trouble with Swiss Chard Fungal Swiss chard diseases are the most common culprits responsible when your plants fall ill in the garden. Cercospora Leaf Spot – This fungal disease tends to affect lower leaves first. Downy mildew – Humid conditions or excess moisture may result in downy mildew, a fungal disease that is unsightly but usually not deadly. To prevent and treat fungal Swiss chard diseases, leave plenty of space between plants to provide adequate air circulation. If more aggressive treatment is required, use a fungicide containing copper. Swiss Chard Pests Occasionally insect pests are to blame when you have Swiss chard problems in the garden. Fungal Trouble with Swiss Chard Swiss Chard Pests
7 Tips for Cleaning Fruits, Vegetables Image Federal health officials estimate that nearly 48 million people are sickened by food contaminated with harmful germs each year, and some of the causes might surprise you. Although most people know animal products must be handled carefully to prevent illness, produce, too, can be the culprit in outbreaks of foodborne illness. Glenda Lewis, an expert on foodborne illness with the Food and Drug Administration, says fresh produce can become contaminated in many ways. If possible, FDA says to choose produce that isn’t bruised or damaged, and make sure that pre-cut items—such as bags of lettuce or watermelon slices—are either refrigerated or on ice both in the store and at home. Wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap before and after preparing fresh produce. Lewis says consumers should store perishable produce in the refrigerator at or below 40 degrees.
giantveggiegardener « —an artisan farmer's journey A new giant virus found in the waters off Oahu | University of Hawaiʻi System News A new, unusually large virus that infects common marine algae has been characterized by researchers at the Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa‘s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. Found in the coastal waters off Oʻahu, it contains the biggest genome ever sequenced for a virus infecting a photosynthetic organism. Said Christopher Schvarcz, UH Mānoa oceanography graduate student who led the project as part of his doctoral dissertation, “Most people are familiar with viruses, because there are so many that cause diseases in humans. Much of the phytoplankton that grows in the ocean every day gets eaten, thereby sustaining animals in the marine food web. “That sounds bad, but viruses actually help maintain balance in the marine ecosystem,” said Grieg Steward, professor in the UH Mānoa Department of Oceanography and co-author on the study. Giant viruses with special abilities
Bottle Tower Gardens Provide Exceptionally Efficient Small Space Growing Sharing is caring! Dr. Willem Van Cotthem experimented with this vertical gardening system using recycled plastic bottles stacked and attached to a fence. He began with the 2011 growing season and continued through 2012 with great success. This type of garden is cheap to start and is extremely efficient for those who do not have much growing space. In Van Cotthem’s system, the height of the different towers vary, and can be 4, 5, or 6 bottles. Using this method, many towers can be installed in a small space. This garden remained productive through the 2011 growing season. For 2012, the same set of bottles and substrate was used and a huge variety of vegetable and herb species were planted. A simple and cheap, but very efficient and sustainable gardening method to grow vegetables and herbs in small spaces at home year after year.
Experts warn: Must consider role of microbes in climate change | University of Hawaiʻi System News An international group of leading microbiologists, including University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa oceanography Professor David Karl, has issued a warning: Not including microbes, considered the support system of the biosphere, in any climate equation will lead to incomplete predictions of the environmental consequences of global climate change. More than 30 microbiologists from nine countries are calling for the world to stop ignoring an “unseen majority” in Earth’s biodiversity and metabolism when addressing climate change. The paper, Scientist’s warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change, was published in the journal Nature Reviews Microbiology. “Microorganisms controls the pulse of our planet,” said Karl, director of the UH Mānoa Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). “They harvest solar energy, recycle organic matter, sequester carbon dioxide, and detoxify many human-made pollutants.
Hydroponics: How It Works, Benefits and Downsides, & How to Get Started Modern industrialized agriculture produces a lot of food, but it’s also destroying the planet. With its over-reliance on pesticides and other agrochemicals, mechanization, and mono-cropping, it’s depleting our topsoil and aquifers, polluting our water and air, and destabilizing our climate. And climate change could make it harder to grow food in the years ahead, with droughts, floods, and extreme weather threatening food security for billions of people around the globe. So are there options emerging that address these downsides and might set up our food system for a more sustainable future? Yes, there are. Proponents of regenerative agriculture, permaculture, and other emerging sustainable food production methods point out that we can sequester carbon in the soil, create more nutrient-dense food, reduce or eliminate reliance on agrochemicals, and create more nutrient-dense, resilient, and sustainable food systems. But what about hydroponics? What Is Hydroponics? Modern Hydroponics Control
In 1886, the US Government Commissioned 7,500 Watercolor Paintings of Every Known Fruit in the World: Download Them in High Resolution T.S. Eliot asks in the opening stanzas of his Choruses from the Rock, “where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” The passage has been called a pointed question for our time, in which we seem to have lost the ability to learn, to make meaningful connections and contextualize events. They fly by us at superhuman speeds; credible sources are buried between spurious links. But there is another feature of the 21st century too-often unremarked upon, one only made possible by the rapid spread of information technology. Those archives include the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection, “over 7,500 paintings, drawings, and wax models commissioned by the USDA between 1886 and 1942,” notes Chloe Olewitz at Morsel. Prior to and even long after photography could do the job, that meant employing the talents of around 65 American artists to “document the thousands and thousands of varieties of heirloom and experimental fruit cultivars sprouting up nationwide.” via Morsel. Related Content:
How to Grow Celery: Tips, Tricks, & a Bonus Cheat Sheet! Celery, also known as Apium Graveolens, is a biennial plant that enjoys a long growing season. It’s a staple in cuisines around the world, providing flavor and crunch to recipes. Although it’s mostly grown for its stalks, a related plant called celeriac is also used like a root vegetable. But before it was a culinary staple, celery was used almost exclusively for medicinal purposes from 850 BC through the 17th century. Aside from all its health benefits, celery is a relatively easy plant to grow in many different climates. 3 Reasons to Grow Your Own Celery If you’re a fan of celery already, or want to add more of it into your diet for its health benefits, you may want to consider growing celery at home. 1. Celery is ranked as one of the Dirty Dozen by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), making non-organic celery one of the most pesticide-contaminated produce items on grocery shelves. 2. Your health starts in the soil. 3. It’s easy to overlook celery for flashier vegetables. 1. 2. 3.