Kitchen Gardeners Greater Portland (Maine)

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Comment by Sue G on August 19, 2009 at 9:22pm

Late blight has made it to my garden - at least to one of my three beds of tomatoes. How is everyone else looking? Today I pulled out three plants (an heirloom variety I was trying for the first time, Paul Robeson) and defoliated a bunch of others in the vicinity- hoping at least the fruits on those will ripen since they include one of my all-time faves, Green Zebra. I was away last week so couldn't keep as vigilant as I would have liked. Any success stories in avoiding it?

Comment by Sue G on August 12, 2009 at 9:42pm

Robin, I'm hoping your tomatoes avoid the blight - and mine (so far, so good, but I'm not resting easy) -
Here's the MOFGA pest report from June that talks about how to recognize it:
http://www.mofga.org/Publications/PestReports/PestReports2009/tabid/1183/Default.aspx?PageContentID=403
and this week's talks about what to do if you have it:
http://www.mofga.org/Publications/PestReports/PestReports2009/tabid/1183/Default.aspx
If you haven't joined MOFGA, I strongly recommend it. They have great information and you can sign up to get Eric Sideman's weekly pest reports emailed to you. See www.mofga.org.
Good luck! --Sue

Comment by Robin Stevens on August 12, 2009 at 8:26pm

What is this tomato blight of which Roger speaks?!! I heard about it before, but how do I know if my plants have it? There are lots of green tomatoes... just WAITING to turn red. One of my grape tomatoes did get red, so I ate it... and it was GOOD! But I heard if your tomatoes get blight, you have to pull out the whole plant so it doesn't damage the rest of the plants in your garden. Is that true?

Comment by Maya on June 22, 2009 at 11:21pm

Robin, it's been a pretty cool spring in terms of nighttime temperatures. And now all the wet. Your poor tomatoes (and everyone's) are in a holding pattern until things dry out and warm up. They will take off as soon as that happens. As for the basil, the only way to keep it growing is to keep eating it. Nice, eh? Pinch tops off just above a pair of leaves where the stem is still tender and it will branch out from there in a week. Good for you for getting started!

Comment by Catherine Wheeler-Mushlin on June 20, 2009 at 10:02pm

My garden was flooded yesterday. Today I made the mistake of walking in there and ended up to my ankles in mud. (Thank goodness for my Bean's Boots!) With seven more days of rain in the forecast, can I do anything to help my garden weather the storm?

Comment by Robin Stevens on June 8, 2009 at 8:21pm

My garden is coming along really well! We've been eating the spinach, and things are growing like crazy... not even sure what to do! My one concern is that the tomato plants have yellowing leaves. What does this mean? Am I overwatering? Underwatering? Not sure. Also, how do I keep the basil flourishing? Last year I grew it in containers and it went to "pod" or whatever the terminology is. I don't want that to happen again! Thank you!

Comment by Robin Stevens on April 20, 2009 at 1:37pm

Thanks Sue! I am furiously reading "Square Foot Gardening" at this very moment. My husband and I also did a 35 foot raised flower bed... (He's very ambitious), but my veggie garden will be smallish this year. Who knows for next year?

Comment by Sue G on April 18, 2009 at 7:04pm

Hi Robin - Good for you! And there's plenty of time. If you have your garden bed ready you can plant lettuce and spinach now-- they are very easy and you can get lots of greens though the spinach will be gone by the end of June and the lettuce tapers off in the hottest part of summer (my kids are salad eaters, don't know about yours). Beet greens and chard go all summer. Snap peas grow well and most kids love them, but they require a trellis. Also green beans are very easy, though you want to wait for warmer weather to plant them. Broccoli, cabbage, kale - do any of those appeal? All easy (except for flea beetles!!). Potatoes take up a lot of space, so maybe that's for next year, but they're fun for the kids. You can grow some basil to go with the tomatoes.
Do you have a neighbor who gardens? Other parents that you know through your kids' school? A useful book for a garden your size might be "Square Foot Gardening" which would give you lots of ideas-- I take his plans with a grain of salt as I am just not that meticulous and like my gardens a little messier, but to each his/her own!! There's lots of basic information, at least. Use lots of compost, mulch, and most of all have fun!

Comment by Robin Stevens on April 11, 2009 at 2:02pm

We are about to start our first garden. I may need to read "Gardening for Dummies", but with two small children who've been keeping me quite busy, I'm embarrassed that I haven't even figured out what to plant yet. I know I can do tomatoes. What else should we try? Am I too late in getting started? The garden will be about 8x4 feet, but I'd rather it be 8x8 (I think my husband thinks that's too ambitious for the first year. Anyway, I'd appreciate any and all suggestions. And, yes, feel free to talk to me as if I was 10, because I feel like a child undertaking an adult project:)

Comment by Bill Paradis on April 7, 2009 at 1:34pm

I am returning to Maine after a few years absence and am interested in connecting with fellow gardeners. I have been active in MOFGA for years, have raised produce commercially for almost 20 years on 4 acres in mid-coast Maine. I have an enormous collection of gardening tools and years of experience and am interested in helping to expand the number of home gardeners and kitchen gardeners, which has been a part of my focus while away in Philadelphia.

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