Friday, August 7, 2015

Bread And Butter Pickles

 Mmmm.

Bread and Butter Pickles. 

My favorite!




We've been having some very cool, damp weather and I'm starting to see signs of powdery mildew on some of my plants.  I'll combat it as best I can, but I know it's jut a matter of time.....

Oh horror.  








Tuesday, August 4, 2015

My Sheer Curtain Experiment Was A Success!


Last year, I acquired a box of sheer curtains and thought that maybe they would help keep the cabbage moths off my growing broccoli. 

 I'd grown broccoli in the past but was completely grossed out by the number of green worms that fell out when I steamed it.  "How many did not fall out!?!," I thought.  

I had tried using garden row cover fabric, but even the lightest fabric seemed to generate a lot of heat underneath.  The growing vegetables had a "cooked" smell to them!

Inspiration hit.  I clipped the sheer curtains to a string above the growing broccoli and tented them into a loose teepee.  As the plants grow larger, they easily push the teepee up and away.  






I picked and cooked my first broccoli heads last week and not one bug or worm fell from the whole bunch!  (And trust me, I checked!)  

Success!