fos@sdf.org wrote:
....
> everything i have is growing well but i think there's much room for
> improvement, hence the soil testing. the only problem i'm having is
> a little powdery mildew on cucumbers and zucchini plants. also some on
> the passion flower vines. just noticed it and will be treating it with
> neem oil.

powdery mildew here is endemic, there's just way too many
other host plants around that i'll never be able to remove
or control so i've learned to live with it. most the times
it doesn't kill my entire harvest in any thing we grow -
it just doesn't look good when it happens.

> critters i'm learning to live with. they're extraordinarily brutal this
> year due to the drought. everything is dry and brown except for those of
> us watering our gardens and it's attracting more critters than usual.

yes, that's been a large part of the problem. every animal
is hungry for some green and we're the supplier. recently
the road commission redid the road out front by spraying tar
and putting down gravel on top of that. the smell and change
may have been enough to get the three family deer (Momma and
two little ones) to stay away now and perhaps to break their
habit of coming by each night for easy goodies. the farm
fields around us are now grown up enough in corn that they
can hide in there all they want.

> it's making for something interesting though. in my front yard around our
> flag pole we planted sunflower seeds. last year the only problem we
> had was robins pulling some seedlings out. we kept planting and
> prevailed. this year the woodchuck was getting at them. i took the 4
> survivors, two seedlings and two 18" tall plants that got mowed down,
> and transplanted them in the safety of the fenced veggie garden. the
> seedlings are growing fine. the two plants that got mowed down are
> mutants now. one is now growing 4 stems with growing buds, and the other
> sent a stem up from near the bottom off the side with a growing bud.
> will be interesting to see how they finish growing since they're not
> normal.

sunflowers grown here rarely make it above 2ft high and
repeatedly get mown down by the deer. more often the
seeds and seedlings are eaten by chipmunks, rabbits, etc.
i don't even try any more to grow them. sometimes if i've
been trapping a random seed might grow and even flower but
it isn't too likely unless they end up inside the fenced
gardens.

songbird