Robbins Farm Garden

A Cooperative Learning Project

Mike Smith

A Surprise Treasure in our Garden!

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While topping the Brussels sprouts* on Wednesday evening, I happened upon an odd, exotic-looking object that was attached to the main stem of one of our plants.  It looked like something that would fit right in on the set of the movie Alien!  However, as I examined it more closely, I realized that it is something that is very good to find in one’s garden — that is, an ootheca, (i.e., egg case), from a mantid!  In our case, (no pun intended!), based on its size and shape, this egg case is from a Chinese mantid (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis). 

 

Ootheca (egg case) from a Chinese mantid, on a Brussels Sprout Plant

[photo – Susan Doctrow]

The Chinese mantid is the world’s largest mantid, often reaching over four inches in length when fully grown.  They are brown, with green or yellow stripes on the sides of their wings, and they are widely sold through garden catalogs and garden centers because they are carnivorous predators that will often feed on other insects and creatures that are garden pests.

See our earlier post for a photo of the adult Chinese mantid that we discovered on our pole bean trellis:

https://robbinsfarmgarden.org/content/day-garden-september-8-2012

Here’s a Chinese mantid creating an egg case: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyrQSfXiGQY&feature=fvsr

And here’s a mantid egg case actually hatching: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJoNzO0iNVQ

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*  We learned, this season, that topping Brussels sprouts and flower sprouts when they are 3-4 weeks from harvest leads to bigger, more-consistently sized sprouts at harvest time.

 

Another Beneficial Insect Spotted at Robbins Farm Garden!

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Locust Borer BeetleOn Saturday, September 8, 2012, I spotted this unusual insect gathering nectar from our garlic chive blossoms.   At first glance I thought it was some kind of wasp, but upon closer inspection, I decided that it was some kind of beetle.  (This type of visual imitation, by the way, is called biomimicry.  In this specific case, this beetle evolved to resemble a wasp as a deterrent to possible predators.)  After some online research, I discovered that what we had here is a Megacyllene robiniae  –aka a Locust Borer Beetle.  [Photo credit – Alan Jones].

This convincingly camouflaged beetle shouldn’t be a problem in our garden, as this native insect only lays its eggs on, and then subsequently damages, black locust trees.  It was on the chive blossoms simply to feed, and, coincidentally, to pollinate.  So, as far as we are concerned, this is another beneficial insect helping to tend our garden!

For more info on this insect, see http://www.cirrusimage.com/beetles_locust_borer.htm

 

Mildew Strikes Back!

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This past Saturday, the mildew had spread across the patch of summer squash.  While *we* had been careful to avoid watering late evening, to avoid water sitting on leaves not drying off, Mother Nature had no such qualms.  For a week she rained on and off as she pleased, day and night, throwing in a few thundershowers for good measure.  Plus with the high humidity, and therefore a high dewpoint, we surely had leaves soaked in dew every night.

Nevertheless, we benefited significantly from using potassium bicarbonate (couple teaspoons mixed in a few quarts of water — we didn’t add soybean oil because that gummed up the sprayer) to prevent mildew.  Indeed, the cucumber leaves were still free of mildew, and we’ve had a much more abundant crop of cucumbers this year than last.  The winter squash along the fence showed some mildew encroachment, which by today according to our Thursday waterer had spread entirely over that patch.  Interestingly, the winter squash under the beans and corn was still free of mildew. Perhaps yet another advantage of growing the Three Sisters together!

 

 

Onions can walk…?!? Whaaaaat!?!

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Another very interesting plant that I want to recommend that we grow next season is the Egyptian Walking Onion.  They are also commonly called tree onions, top onions, or topsetting onions (Allium cepa var. proliferum ).

A field of Walking Onions 

 

Bulblets forming at the tops of the stems

This hardy perennial onion, unlike most other types of alliums, grows bulblets (small bulbs) at the tops of its leaves.  These bulblets can be eaten (they’re very mild), or they can be planted just like onion sets to produce more walking onions.  The term "walking" refers to the fact that if the bulblets are left on the plant, they eventually get big and heavy enough to cause the stems to bend to the point where the bulblets come into contact with the soil, at which point the bulblets take root and start new plants.  Thus, these alliums can "walk" their way across your garden (if you let them).

For more on this amazing and alluring allium:

http://gardening.about.com/od/gardeningwithkids/ig/Vegetable-Gardening-with-Kids/Egyptian-Walking-Onion.htm

http://www.egyptianwalkingonion.com/

http://www.territorialseed.com/product/1327/80

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_onion

Imposter or the Real Thing?!?

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We are growing sweet potatoes for the first time this season, and we’re learning as we go along.  Unlike most of the other plants in our garden, sweet potatoes are NOT grown from seeds.  Instead, they are grown from “slips,” or small clusters of leaves that can be made to sprout on mature tubers.  For info on how to start your own sweet potato slips, click here.

Sweet potatoes come in either bush or vining varieties.  We bought our vining-type sweet potato slips, variety ‘Georgia Jet,’ from Burpee. NOTE:  some sweet potato slips that are sold as ‘Georgia Jet” are, in fact, imposters.  To tell the difference between the imposter and the Real Thing, watch your plants for blossoms.  If you see blossoms, (as in photo, below), then you have the REAL Georgia Jet variety!

Our very own Georgia Jet sweet potato blossoms  [Photo by Alan Jones]

We wanted a variety that would do well this far north (slightly north of Boston, Massachusetts), but also have a relatively short time to maturity (90 days).  To place an order, click here.

Some important things to keep in mind to Successfully Grow Sweet Potatoes:

1.  Sweet potatoes like a slightly acid soil, prefering a soil pH between 5.0 and 6.5.

2.  Sweet potatoes do much better in very warm soil, so covering your soil with CLEAR plastic prior to planting your slips will help to capture extra solar energy, thus raising the temperature of your soil.

3.  Don’t fertilize your sweet potatoes — doing so will result in lots of foliage, but not necessarily more tubors.  Digging in 2-4″ of compost at planting time will supply sufficient nutrients for a good crop.

4.  IMPORTANT:  Give your sweet potatoes about 1″ of water per week, but, to keep the mature tubers from splitting, DO NOT WATER your plants for 3-4 weeks prior to their harvest date.

5.  Be gentle when digging your sweet potatoes — they grow close to the surface. Their skins are tender and can be easily damaged.

6.  VERY IMPORTANT:  Sweet potatoes develop a much better taste if allowed to cure properly after digging.

For more info on growing and curing your very own delicious and ridiculously nutritious sweet potatoes, see:

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-plant-and-grow-sweet-potatoes/index.html

http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetables/p/Sweet-Potatoes.htm

http://www.motherearthnews.com/print-article.aspx?id=2147495722