Research conducted on Long Island by Meg McGrath of Cornell has shown that resistant varieties provided better control of powdery mildew than that obtained with fungicides applied to standard susceptible varieties.
Squash varieties with powdery mildew resistance include Butternut types: Betternut 401 and Bugle. Green acorn squash types: Autumn Delight, Royal Acorn PM, Sweet REBA, Table Star, and Taybelle PM. Specialty types: Bush Delicata – elongated green fruit with white stripes; Celebration - gold striped acorn; Harlequin – green striped acorn. There are tables showing cucumber, melon, pumpkin an squash varieties with resistance to PM and other vegetable diseases at: http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/Tables/TableList.htm
Here is a recipe for a nontoxic, low-cost spray for powdery mildew that has been effective on numerous crops:
Per gallon of water, add:
1 heaping Tablespoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon dormant oil
1/2 teaspoon insecticidal or dish soap.
Until two years ago I was germinating all seedlings in greenhouses using almost exclusively bottom heat from electric heat mats. At my current farm we only had space for about 8-10 trays on our two mats and we definitely noticed differences in the germination (and presumably the heat the mats were providing) on the edges of our trays.
When I saw this tool I knew the exact need that inspired its creation and I loved seeing the abundant comments from other farmers around the world who had also created their own versions, born of that same common need. Nat Wiseman from Village Greens of Willunga Creek near Adelaide in southern Australia posted a very simple and relatively quick fix to the problem of laying drip lines in garlic after the canopy has already filled in.
Another simple and relatively inexpensive tool drew me in on social media this month – a magnet in the place of a knife sheath submitted by Kat Johnson, the Produce Manager at Fields Edge Farm in Floyd, Virginia.
Weddings are a huge opportunity for local flower farmers, especially with the growing awareness of and demand for seasonal, sustainable flowers. And, if there is one time that people really want special flowers, it’s at their weddings.
Megan French from Boundless Farmstead near Bend, Oregon, posted these dibblers she built on Instagram and reminded me that I need to get my act together. On their farm they’re typically seeding 30 to 100 trays per week with a vacuum seeder. To get evenly dibbled holes before making the dibbler boards they were using a single bolt with a nut and washer to set the depth. One. Cell. At. A. Time. Which understandably was slow.
If you’ve been a subscriber to Growing For Market (or even if you haven’t), you’re probably familiar with the many advantages of no-till agriculture. No-till methods can reduce a farm’s carbon footprint, promote complex soil biology, and preserve and build organic matter.
Here's a system to track all those details
