Winter questions~planning

[mnjrutherford]

Bugwise, I'm with Kevin. The vermin don't, or haven't given us trouble thus far. But squash bugs, vine borers, hoppers, Jap beetles, potato beetles... GRRRRR At least with our current control methods, seek & destroy (it's personal here) the Jap and potato beetles should be on a serious decline this coming year. The others; however, desire my attention!

I want to give those pumpkins a shot Mass. Our pumpkins just start fruit and then die. VERY sad! WAAAA

[ottawagardener]

Along with planting resistant varieties, I've heard (never tried this) that wrapping the stem near the ground with nylon or aluminum foil can prevent them from laying eggs. I'm not sure how much stem they bury? Also some farmers bury the stem at intervals to encourage them to root so if the main stem gets borer, the fruiting branch might live on.

There is an early butternut for those in more northern/cloudy locals, btw.

Good Luck!

[mnjrutherford]

Those are some interesting ideas Telsing. I'll put that on my try list. I've also heard that you could plant garlic around it. I'm planning on giving that a shot as well.
Herbs to the rescue!

[Alan]

I have a major issue with cucumber beetle as well as squash vine borer (in Maxima varieties) I can say with some certainty as said above, with those two pests, even on a bit larger space, rotation makes no difference. What does make a difference is growing tolerant varieties of C. Pepo and Maxima which I have been selecting hard for (same with selection for powdery mildew). With the C. Moschata the borer isn't an issue but the striped cucumber beetle is, I keep it under control with nicotine tea and diotamacious earth, usually works pretty well and when it doesn't I just keep replanting hills that didn't come up, but I'm usually dealing with a couple hundred plants so that won't work for everyone.

One major issue we have here, particularly with creating rich organic soil via compost is wire worms, they destroy anything with a larger type seed and burrow into the root system, but there is a trick to defeating them.

Let your compost dry quite a bit before spreading it and mix it with some diatomacious earth, add it to the soil and dig it in well, or don't treat the entire field, instead only add compost to the hole you plan on planting in, this will keep many harmful pests from seeking out the rich organic material in order to deposit their eggs.

[peapod]

I have read all and agree with all the post here even the nasty bugs that bother us "people".
You all may have more bugs that irritate each of you, I have such a reaction the these little critters called "noseeums" that I had to be hospitalized for 2 days because I was so swollen from their bites.

flys bah... I really wish that there were no such thing as asian beetles. The smell awful and are a pest beyond belief for me.

I have not rotated my maters in years and they do really well. I wish I could find the phone number of the farmer that I spoke late this summer. I'd ask for their stock of marigolds. She also mentioned that if I could have a stable bed of mums that would help in the later months. I cant because I till. If I didnt I'd get lost in the weeds and wilderness. helicopters wouldnt find me in bush/weeds.

I also met a fella that lives on the other side of this state(MN) in August. His name is get this, farmer John. He actually changed his name legally to be Farmer as a first name and John as his last name. Oh well. He had never rotated his pumpkin/squash patch in over 20 years like I mentioned before and he tosses his cow pies on the patch when he thinks of it. He said he has problems with squash beetles and other boering bugs but still does really well with production.

I have to much prairie wind to have that many bug issues. Guess Ontario and Michigan win that one.

Eeeww.

[ozarklady]

Mosquitos are present here, but not a major problem. I used to live in NE Arkansas, and there, I was outside one day... and a pair of mosquitos joined me in the lawn swing...
I could hear their conversation...." Shall we eat her here or take her with us?"
We have no seeums, I honestly know they are nuisances, but I didn't realize they could be a serious pest, just annoying. We have ticks, and that is why I always have alot of free range chickens. They just love to eat them, and keep me safe!

In the winter, I clear all beds, rake leaves etc. and open my garden up for the poultry. If I catch a nice day, I often will break up the soil and let the chickens have a blast. I do normally watch for worms and grab the red worms out of the beds, and move them to beds that aren't broken, to keep the chickens from getting my helpers!

I grow my best tomatoes in a bed, right next to a walnut tree. I know, this is a no-no. But, it works. I have noticed that when I have a crop failure, if I check the bed over, it is depleted, full of tree roots, and just 'not a raised bed' anymore. The tiles are still at the edge, but the bed becomes a sunken bed! My cure for that? I let it stay open all winter, then come spring, I put potato cuttings in it, and cover them with hay, I keep adding hay as they grow, and when I finally harvest my potatoes, I have a decent raised bed for next year, and move my potato growing venture to another depleted bed.
I also only add manure and compost to the beds, as I am preparing for spring, I start my seedlings inside, and start adding aged manure and animal bedding to my beds, getting them ready for the baby seedlings. Every year, I faithfully promise to do that in the fall, and every year, I find February has arrived and the manure is still in the barn or henhouse.
If I have too many failed beds, then I do sometimes, manage to get a few of them set up with sheet composting, right on the bed itself for all winter, and this helps some, but the bugs are more of an issue for that bed. I find, that I then have to remove all that didn't break down, and break up the bed, and leave it open to the poultry for a few days to let them clean it up.