guarding the fields

As some of you may have heard, late blight has now been spotted in Maine, albeit on a small scale. Nonetheless, this is cause for concern. We have done several things this year to prevent late blight on our potato and tomato crop: We have weeded any volunteer plants that have been found in last year's plots. We have scouted our fields looking for suspicious plants, and have sent in samples to UNH for diagnosis. Thus far, the tests have been negative! We split up our crops — potatoes are in two different plots in the field, as are tomatoes, and we have filled one greenhouse with tomatoes. We are also using an organic fungicide as a preventative measure.

This year we are experimenting with a sprayable clay to deter cucumber beetles, vine borers, and squash bugs from infesting our vining crops. That's why those plants will appear whitish in the field.

We're using Japanese beetle lures to trap beetles this year. Last year the slugs and snails were very pesky. This year it's the Japanese beetles and earwigs. It's amazing how many beetles we're catching and disposing of! May they be reborn as butterflies and ladybugs!

Word got out in the woodchuck-town about how big our garden is. We have at least three burrows around the field this year. So far, we've managed to catch and relocate four woodchucks. We've also caught two skunks. I really didn't want to drive around with skunks, so just let them go in the woods. I often think of my grandfather's solution to skunks in a box-trap: a 22 rifle. But I won't go there.

This year we're using some deer fencing around a few select crops, and it seems to be doing the trick. There is also a moose that is walking through the property back and forth between the wetlands and the power-lines. I have not seen her, but our neighbors have. I recently found her scat near the chard plot. I'm not sure if moose like chard, but I know deer do, so the chard is now fenced.