Basil Blight

I'm including an email from Cherrie Corrie, a gardener from the East Quarter Farm Community Garden, who's sad to say she's gotten basil blight. Hope this hasn't effected any of you...I'm going to be on the lookout at ours today. Here are the details:

"A heads up, gardening friends -

Just as I am reveling in the beautiful lushness of my East Quarter Farm community garden, I'm SO sad to report that the sudden yellowing of leaves that I noticed on four varieties of my many basil plants last weekend is confirmed basil blight.  Now the leaves are quickly thinning and dark spores are appearing on the undersides and they must be pulled.

See my photo link:  https://picasaweb.google.com/khadro06/BasilBlight2011

This particular blight is relatively unfamiliar in the U.S.  Even our own Thurston Handley was unaware of it when I mentioned it to him today.  It apparently was first seen and ID'd in Uganda in 1933, then not again until 2001 in Switzerland and made the press last year in another resurgence. Wish I'd seen those news flashes before making it the dominant planting (in several varieties) in this year's garden design. Here's a link with more information for anyone with basil:

http://organicgardening.about.com/b/2010/06/24/a-new-blight-to-worry-about-here-comes-basil-blight.htm which is also linked to this one from NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128061773

The organic gardening post has instructions regarding detection, harvest, and disposal...much the same as with the late blight that hit tomatoes 2 years ago.  Hope yours will be passed over...good luck!

Sigh!!!

Cherrie

-- 

Cherrie A. Corey

Naturalist, educator, and photographer
Concord, MA   978.760.1933

http://sense-of-place-concord.blogspot.com/"

The Public Works Commission Has Declared a State of Water Supply Conservation

Hello Cousins Field Community Gardeners,

Please read the Public Works Advisory notice below and follow for your home. What this means to us: Water before 7am and after 7pm  (correction per Delia K.) 8:30am and after 6pm to minimize water loss through evaporation.

Thanks all!

The Public Works Commission Has Declared a

State of Water Supply Conservation

 ADVISORY

 Due to the extended period of extreme heat and lack of precipitation, customer demand is reaching the limits of our available water supply.  If demand is not curtailed voluntarily, the Public Works Commission will be required to upgrade this declaration to a Mandatory Water Use Restriction – Level 1 which includes enforcement on noted water use restrictions.    

 To avoid this measure, we are seeking your support.  This can be done by increased awareness and abidance of the following Best Management Practices for lawn irrigation.   

Best Management Practices

S  Horticulturists agree that a total of one-inch of water applied to a lawn (rainfall and/or supplemental irrigation) over the course of a week is generally sufficient.

S  Water before 7 am to minimize water loss via evaporation. 

S  Mow high. Keep your lawn 2.5”-3” high to encourage a stronger roots system, reduce evaporation and crowd out weeds.

•   Leave the clippings on the lawn, they help retain moisture and provide valuable nutrients.

S  Check your lawn to see if it is thirsty by sticking a screwdriver into your lawn. If it goes through 5 inches of soil easily, your lawn may not need to be watered.

• Lawns that go brown in the heat of summer are not dead; they are just dormant and will become green again when the rain returns.

Please adjust your irrigation controller accordingly.  If you do not know how to adjust your controller, contact your irrigation professional.

Concord Public Works is monitoring customer demand and available water supply around the clock and will provide additional information as it becomes available. 

 For additional information as to what activities are acceptable under different levels of a Declared State of Water Conservation, please go to http://www.concordma.gov/pages/ConcordMA_PublicWorks/index 

Memorial Planter Dedication

When: 6/27/2011 @7PM
Where: Cousins Field Community Garden
Why: So we may dedicate the new planter to remember Gardeners who have passed away.

Please join us for a short dedication of the Memorial Planter as well as to enjoy some light appetizers and soft drinks and chat with other gardeners and Barbara McKenna. Bug spray might be a good idea. Donations will be welcome to offset the cost of the flowers.
 
Thanks to all and hope you can make it!

Good Event to Check Out This Sat. 6/25

Let's Talk About Food Chefs at Work

Looks like a terrific event to check out: http://www.letstalkaboutfood.com/

There'll be lots of demos on cooking by Boston top chefs, food court with many different cuisines to eat, activity booths, exhibitor tents and more.

It's next Sat. 6/25/11 from 10am - 5pm outside the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Cambridge Pkwy. near the Museum of Science.

Thought I'd pass it along...

Flea Beetles and Colorado Potato Beetles

Beware the Colorado Potato Beetle!

These are the bane of potato growers in N. America and Europe. Take a look here for more info. Evidently they are starting to appear on our potato crops, so take organic precautions such as insecticidal soap as soon as you see these guys.

I heard from another gardener the other day that her potatoes are getting eaten by flea beetles. I did some looking up of these critters and found this image (notice how small they are):

 The gardener I mention above is also going to use insecticidal soap on these beetles as they're making some holes already in her potatoes. Here are some more natural insect control ideas.  Let me know how this works!

Ken McKenna

Ken D. McKenna, a longtime gardener at Cousins Field Community Garden, and friend, died on May 24th, 2011.  He will be sorely missed by all. I remember Ken because he always wore a smile and had kind words to say to all that met him.

I learned Ken was an avid Lily gardener, and hope that we can soon create a long lasting tribute to Ken at CF Community Garden.

More details on that to come...

Thank you Town of Concord and Hawthorne Tree!

Recently, you may have probably noticed that some "black gold" as some call it (a.k.a. compost) appeared, then a few days later, some wood chips arrived to the left of the Community Garden recently. The compost was compliments of Rod Robison and Dick Fowler from the Town of Concord, and the wood chips of Chester Sadlow of Hawthorne Tree & Landscape.

Please accept our heartfelt thanks to the Town for delivering the rich compost for our gardeners to use to ammend their garden plots and to the local tree company, Hawthorne Tree & Landscape, for donating wood chips after a job, we are very grateful!

Please consider their generosity and think of them if you have any tree or landscape needs:

Hawthorne Tree & Landscape
130 Old Stow Road
Concord, MA 01742-2827
(978) 369-2506
Contact: Mr. Chester Sadlow