It’s one month and 8 days since the summer solstice, and while my seasonal sensitivities are screaming “fall is coming, winter is almost here, things are slowing down, prepare for the colder, slower season.”

In reality, those things are coming, but they are not here. And it’s best to be present.

In reality, we are in the depths of the summer growing season. We can see the effects of this in our farmer’s fields and in your blossoming home gardens. Melons are ripening, tomatoes are in full swing, and corn, beans, and zucchini are flourishing! 

But, to be honest, not all produce is doing well. Most kales right now are not looking too hot and kohlrabi is hammered with bug bites. We often find that our strawberries are collapsing and molding too quickly.

Some of you are probably asking why?  Why does produce that looked great two months ago look horrible now?

The answer lies in night time temperatures, longer daylight hours, and relatively hotter, drier days. It also lies in the insects that begin to flourish in this warmer season and the plants those insects prefer.

So, without further boring you with more intro - here’s some information on the flea beetle, one of the main pests that affects us on our farms and in our gardens.

#1 culprit-  The flea beetle: 

Loves to eat: all Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, arugula, radish, turnips, pac Choi, mustards etc.. (Brassiccae)

Time of year: Present year round in small amounts on arugula and radish greens, but not bad until night time temperatures stay above 55.

Example: Look at the leaves on our Kohlrabi this week. The edges of our kale, and what you have in your garden. While these plants are naturally struggling in these warmer temperatures, the flea beetles really thrive.

Solution: This is where your wisdom comes into play. For us and our farmers, it is tough to decide not to plant these crops this time of year because we know that you and I both want to eat them. What we do, is we water them heavier than normal with overhead sprinklers more often than normal to knock the eggs down from hatching and discourage flight.  And then we just expect to only have 1 pick of our leaf crops and to have everything else be a bit ugly.  

The big commercial farms spray pyrethrin, which is extremely harmful and kills off bees.

In a smaller area, like the gardens we have at home, it is a good thing to cover these guys up! A nice light fine mesh netting on a quick little improvised hoop house will work wonders.  If you coupled that with some nice sprinkler emitters above the canopy of your plants, you’d have a happy little out-of-season, winter garden.

Hope this helps provide a better understanding of where your food is coming from and how to grow your own better. 

I’ll be looking to dive into this stuff a bit more and add to this list of common pests. If there’s anything you question or want to know more about, shoot me an email!

Jason@farmcartorganics.com

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