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Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 3 Entries.
Sunday, April 13 View Page
I decided I would do a BP diary this year to document progress. I told my wife I wouldn’t grow this year if I got my jacket last year, which I did, but then spring rolled around and I couldn’t resist the itch to grow! Over the winter I grew a mixed mustard and legume cover crop that was mowed and worked under at the end of March.
 
Sunday, April 13 View Page
Cucumber beetle trap plants got started mid March and are now scattered around the patch in 5 gallon buckets. We start getting cucumber beetles in early April and I’m now killing hundreds every day. It’s no longer legal to purchase imidacloprid or any other neonicotinoids without a commercial applicator license in CA, so this is one tool to hopefully address the problem.
 
Sunday, April 13 View Page
Amendments were spread and tilled in on Saturday after letting the cover crop decompose for a few weeks. 50 gallons of compost tea with 1.5 gal liquid humic and .75 gal MT-17 were sprayed across the patch and tilled in at the same time to get the biology going and speed up cover crop breakdown. My plants will probably stay in the caterpillar tunnel for around a month depending on weather before I remove the plastic and use the hoops for shade cloth support. Seedlings will probably get transplanted in around a week.
 

 

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