COVID times might have seemed slow to some people, but honestly it has been one busy summer this year for me! And I realized most of the months have had no registry in here, but for the sake of remembering this year's results, I will post backwards so that I will always know what happened!
For now I will start with some highlights.
The bad
The Swede Midge
I discovered what is affecting my brassicas, especially the kale. It is an insect called the swede midge, yet another imported pest into Quebec. The larvae eats the new growth part of the plant, usually the tender core. Not only it stunts the plant, the enzymes deform its leaves. One could almost think plant cancer, given the blackened, distorted shapes.
This year was worse than last year's and the problem is that the pulps overwinter in the soil. So crop rotation is more than imperative to stop the cycle.
It was a scary discovery, because Brassicas, especially kale, are what grows best for me in my soil, in my microclimate. So we had a poor year in comparison and we do depend a lot on greens.
But despite the scare I am glad to have finally identified the culprit. Over time I might have to transition to using some row covers both for alliums and for brassicas now!
Leafminers
They destroyed my sprint crops of chards and beets. It was an early cold season and I thought I could benefit from it, since in Quebec actual springs are a rare feat.
I was wrong!
If flea beetles were not enough, these leafminers were a horror scene. I cannot believe I did not register in pictures how bad my infestation was. It destroyed a lot of beets and chards leaves. It was terrible until mid summer, when it subsided. For the sake of remembrance, I will add a picture of the appearance here, from Hobbyfarms.
We managed to have some leaves, but no actual beets came to life from the spring sowing. Some leaves here and there and a lot of manual control. I guess this is ANOTHER candidate for row covering next year. And given how many of these pests overwinter I might abandon the idea of no dig. I will have to at least o the surface, turn the soil a bit to expose the bad insects. The sad part is that good insects get exposed too and some of the good fungal network gets destroyed.
Seed packages were not readily available
I considered the possibility it could happen. I usually buy my seed packages the fall or winter before planting, so I was stocked for this year. But I was scared to see mid-season that most seeds were just not available. I am happy for the farmers and the stores. I am happy for everybody that got a garden. But I am scared! That means I need to get serious in the business of saving seeds, which is very complicated because I always have more than one variety going on for every type of veggie. I need to rethink my strategies.
The good
A lot of good things happened too, despite covid. Here is just a sampler of what went well.
September holds a lot of harvest still
September got sudden and significantly cooler than the very hot summer we had. It is also a lot wetter. This excites me for two things: more beets and carrots will fatten up for late fall harvest and it allows for spinach and radishes and pac choi to give me one last substantial harvest. And they are just going in now! Hopefully despite the decreasing light they will have time to give me one final taste. It was impossible to start them in August. They all bolted. 30C and plus and high umidity were not friendly to these plants.
Everyday I collect some more bounty and fresh, even now in September.
Most of the peppers started the ripening process in mid august. Hot and sweet peppers are coming in in big numbers! So much that many are already prepped and frozen.
Pots are fantastic
This year I expanded the pot collection with more bags (nylon and felt) and hard plastic pots. I am elated. From beets to beans, to peppers, zucchini, to potatoes, everything in pots thrived even though it was an extremely hot season. Since I was always at home I could water my plants in pots twice a day. I am not sure what would have happened if I was working in the office, so I am not sure I can always count on using pots that much, but this year I could and it paid big time.
Another benefit I found with the pots is less pest pressure, since the soil is clean for sure and I could control the sun and rain exposure.
I used them in the front and in the back yard and I selected only pretty ones to be in the display, so neighbors would not consider my front yard unsightly.
Great garlic and onion season
I had a great harvest both for garlic and for onions. I had all sorts of varieties and planted from seeds and from sets. I had bulbs, I had greens. Everything worked for the alliums this year and I could not be happier. It is a staple for our meals.
The beds were stunning and actually made the front yard quite pretty.
Several similar buckets of onions and shallots.
It was also a great pepper and tomatoes season, but that is not news. I am really impressed on how the onion family performed, because for me, that was a first!
Flowers galore
I had failures alright, things did not germinate at all, like the much adored Lisianthus! But what worked... worked! And it all started with the crocus in early spring, followed by a tulip feast and alliums. The perennials such as chives, salvia and purple cone flower performed beautifully; I had success with sunflowers and the merriment keeps going with marigolds, calendulas and cosmos. It was also my first year growing marigold gems (another variety) and zinnias and I was impressed on how well they performed and how carefree they were.
I am attempting marigold tea, so I took ridiculous mounds like the one below and the plants are still massive in the ground. Those beds had very little pests I must mention. The marigolds worked.
I had so many flowers that I did not feel guilty at all to prepare some home made bouquets. The pollinators still had plenty!
Lots of first time successes
This is a year of gardening to be celebrated I think. A lot went wrong with pests, with squirrel destroying everything they could, with lack of supplies, with some poor germination. But the year is not finished and yet it was an overall bountiful and rich year.
A year of many first successes: 6 pumpkins, onions from seed that formed bulbs, garlic independence, tons of basil for pesto, oregano forrest from tiny seeds.
I will still do a final year assessment, but I can guarantee this year was phenomenal already.
In conclusion, despite COVID19 what I want to remember I that this was a great gardening season, I was kept more than busy and I learned a lot and the successes were more! 2020 should and will be celebrated. Certainly in my pantry!!
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