Magic Milk for Powdery Mildew

joenesgarden — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:08:34 +0000

You know … the unattractive white powdery-looking spots that seem to appear from nowhere during mid- to late-summer? These fungal spots begin on lower leaves and can quickly spread to cover leaf surfaces of entire plants. Lilacs, phlox, bee balm, asters, dahlias, cucumber and summer squash are all susceptible, particularly if the plants do not have good air circulation (a problem I plant to avoid). Not liking to spray fungicides, I've tolerated powdery mildew for years. But when cleaning up paperwork this past winter, I found a note I had jotted down, likely while watching any one of gardening shows I try to take in during cold weather months. The note said: powdery mildew; 1 part milk to 9 parts water; spray 2x weekly.

My guess is this tidbit of advice came from one of those shows HGTV deemed unworthy … probably Gardening by the Yard … but I can't be sure. It also may have come from an old Victory Garden show on PBS. Anyway, I tried this concoction on all my phlox, one lilac (saving the others for comparison), and my cucumbers and summer squash. In previous years all had been covered by powdery mildew. The cucumbers and squash would simply succumb. The phlox would valiantly bloom on in spite of the truly unattractive appearance of its leaves. The photo at the top shows an unsprayed lilac … it just looks plain sad. The photos below show a nearby lilac two weeks after just one magic milk spray. The powdery mildew is not completely gone – you can see a few traces on the lower leaves - but is controlled. Just one spraying of magic milk stopped powdery mildew in its fuzzy little tracks on my cucumbers and squash leaves – though I will spray again for insurance. The phlox leaves look better than they ever have by this time of year … two weeks after the initial spray only small traces of powdery mildew appeared – I re-sprayed.

I've not yet figured out exactly why milk works to stem the spread of powdery mildew – there must be a substance in milk that holds fungus in check – but I'd love to hear from anyone who can explain milk's effect. But the point is it works, it requires no special permit to use, and its nearly free.

Categories: Gardening, Perennials & Annuals, Techniques.
Tags: cucumbers, lilacs, milk spray, phlox, powdery mildew, squash.

Share this post:
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Technorati Favorites
Twitter
Yahoo! Buzz

CT Grown Eats

joenesgarden — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:30:34 +0000

August 8, 2009. Today is the last 'official' day of Eat CT Grown, but this does not mean we cannot continue to enjoy the fresh grown vegetables and fruits, and other freshly made local products so easily found at CT farm stands and farmer's markets. Yes, the campaign was poorly advertised – there is not even a mention of it on Buy CT Grown … nope not on the home page, the news page, or the event page. Regardless, buying locally grown produce and other products is the best – outside of actually growing your own – way to get really fresh foods. Besides, doing so supports local businesses and it's considered an environmentally-friendly practice.

In addition to the list of CT Grown products mentioned yesterday, my family will enjoy more sweet corn, more blueberries (see freezing method below), and more tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, and plums – all from Staehly Tree Farm and Gardens. Plus we'll try more cheese (Nehantic Abbey aged cheddar) from Beaver Brook Farm (already love their Pleasant Cow and Aged Feta cheeses), and we'll grill up the first eggplant from our own garden (photo) to accompany the last of our home grown lettuce, and our continually producing yellow snap beans.

Blueberry freezing tip: wash freshly picked blueberries in a colander, then scoop about 2 cups into a pint-size zip lock bag. Zip closed, eliminating as much air as possible. I found 5 pint bags fit into a quart-sized freezer bag. Once all berries are bagged, lay the bags flat in the freezer. Once frozen, store bags of berries so they will not be crushed. Use frozen on cereal, add to winter fruit salads, sprinkle a few on top of a bowl of vanilla yogurt (this tastes sinfully delicious, particularly when accompanied by a square of dark chocolate), or eat frozen berries right out of the bag. Oh, and save the emptied zip lock bags to hold kitchen fruit and veggie scraps destined for the compost pile.

So, what do you say Connecticut … will you join my family in celebrating CT Grown?

Categories: CT Grown, Edibles, Gardening.
Tags: Beaver Brook Farm, blueberries, cheese, cucumbers, Eat CT Grown, eggplant, freezing blueberries, locally grown, plums, squash, Staehly's Farm, sweet corn, tomatoes.

Share this post:
Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Technorati Favorites
Twitter
Yahoo! Buzz

joene's garden » squash

Magic Milk for Powdery Mildew

CT Grown Eats