No, it’s not a science-fiction thriller, or a new novel.
It’s the potato bug and squash borer.
These pesky bugs seem to like the organic pest deterrents we have used. It seems that they drink it like kool-aid, but instead of dying, they multiply!
The only thing that works, according to the research we have done, is to pick off the bugs one-by-one and squash them. At the same time, we have to check top and bottom sides of the leaves for a cluster of yellow, orange (potato bugs) or brown eggs (squash borer).
We’ve watched as healthy, vibrant zucchini plants wither and die overnight. And the potatoes.. we’ve seen the leaves go from full and green to having more holes in them than Swiss cheese, and finally, to no leaves at all.
We harvested some smaller potatoes from all of the plants that had severely damaged leaves, to no leaves at all and gave them out for the CSA this Saturday.
The gestation period is 9 – 10 days, so we have to go out every day and kill bugs and remove eggs for about 2 weeks – and we have to replant every 4 weeks until the bug season is gone.
Then there are the peaches…
We have 10 peach trees and all but 3 are ripening. And, due to the really hot and really wet weather we are having, there is a fungus (brown rot) that is thriving – and it attacks the fruit.
We watch beautiful peaches go from yellow-green and then, as they ripen, to yellow-red. Then they appear to get a brown “bruise”, which spreads rapidly over the fruit and then, POOF! In an instance they are covered in a powdery mold – rotten and worthless.
Of the peaches we picked this weekend (a small wagon and 2 bucket fulls), we have managed to save maybe 10%.
And everyone wonders why organically grown produce is more expensive.
–Pat