The corn has grown so tall! It's not nearly as tall as last year's, and it seems to have stopped growing. But when you stand between two beds, in front of Biseat's old window (and now Serenity's old window), you are completely obscured from view. The beans are winding up the cornstalks - fewer of them survived this year. We planted them a couple weeks later than the corn, right next to the stalks, but some insect came through and attacked them. I tried to replant some, but to little avail. The squash, by contrast, are even more prolific than they were last year! If that's even possible. The B2-side perimeter is filled with squashes, melons, and tomatoes. Yes, melons. A few plants actually made it this year - I've seen four melon fruits already in different places.

I've been doing research on tree pests, and I think I might know what's attacking the prune. My guess is spider mites; I found a suggestion on the Garden Forum for how to treat them. (1) Spray the leaves with an oil and water mixture - it's best to use vegetable oil or something else light; (2) Let sit for a week; (3) Spray a soap-water mixture on the leaves. I did the first part yesterday evening and plan to either wait a week or else reapply it sooner if I need to. Hopefully that will do it. It was so exciting to check for the pests! The site also recommended to take a white cloth and rub the leaves - if there is a reddish residue, then it means that either the mites or their eggs or both are present. I hope this works.

I still have not yet figured out what is happening with the apple trees. I described the look of the leaves to Sean Swezey briefly, a week ago. He suggested watering the trees for 15 minutes daily, as the dwarf stock dries out quickly (I had mentioned to him that I water them once a week for 8 hours). Maybe spreading out the waterings would help. It finally occurred to me, late in the game, that maybe I should have been buying the pheromone traps for the coddling moth ...but that still doesn't tell me whether or not that's what's happening to the trees. I've asked Steve to help me identify what's happening, but he's been very busy. I actually started asking him a month or two ago, but haven't been very good about reminding him. I should see if I can convince Swezey to come over to the Garden and have a look, since he's right there.

I also did some research on our tobacco varieties. Much to my surprise (or perhaps "much to my oblivion"?) the yellow-flowered tobacco, the one I would call "Huichol Tobacco", is the more potent variety often used as a pesticide, formerly used in enemas. For some reason, I didn't realize that it was as valued as it was. Its scientific name is Nicotiana rustica. The white-flowered one, which I would sometimes call "Azteca Nicotiana" is also called Jasmine Tobacco or Flowering Tobacco, Nicotiana alata - I think it's the ornamental one. It smells so sweet when it opens its flowers, which it closes during the day sometimes when the weather is hot. :-) I love to smell. It's good I looked those up, I was getting mixed up in explaining it to people.

Anyway, got to go. More work to do...

~Yvea

P.S. Unexpected joy: now that I have no more wallmates, I can listen to "Once Upon a December" at 12:30 at night, without any inhibitions whatsoever, except that I should probably be saving electricity...

"Far away, long ago
Glowing dim as an ember
Things my heart used to know
Things it yearns to remember...

"And a song someone sings
Once upon a December."