…. some that I was not expecting. This was a hard week. Many thanks to those who helped get the tomatoes and cucumbers in. I spent the rest of the week getting the remaining greenhouse plants in. Unfortunately I have hit the next hurdle. I was banking on having to keep the weeds down and on cleaning up. I  wasn’t expecting the cucumber beetle plague and the government red tape (which is another story). I have been left with hand-picking the beetle, probably a couple of hundred to date, with no end in site. Abby has taken to calling it my daily bug walk, (depending on the day, it happens twice).  At this point we have lost 30% of the cucumbers and 5% of the squash. I’m going to look into planting a few more cucumbers . My apologies to all those who put in the hard work to get them in. I’m doing what I can but really wasn’t expecting this.

As a friend and I kidded when I started this, “Chris you’ll make this work or die trying.” From sleeping in the greenhouse to chasing little striped beetles all over the fields, I’m still enjoying this and excited by each new development. In between chasing bug and getting the last of the plants in, I took on a couple of new projects. Spent a day, or part of, doing some companion planting, mixing basil and marigolds in amongst the cucumbers and tomatoes. This should, if all I’ve been reading is true,  help ward off some of these bugs.  I also put in a little herb/flower garden at the edge of what will be the parking lot and added some rhubarb that my neighbour asked me to dig up for her.

I’m going to see a organic grower in the next couple of days, to see what else I can learn and have spent some time understanding entomology so I know the good bugs when I see them.  I’m also looking into building habitat for birds, bugs (the good ones) and even bats. If all goes well next year I’ll have a little army of defences and call them The Company of 3Bs to take care of the cucumber beetle and his friends.

I’m up early to pick more beetles, wish me luck. I’ll get over this hurdle and then it’s on to the next one.

Chris Marcucci
Farmer – Sommelier

 

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