Mulching and Weeding and Bean Leaf Beetles

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The plants have certainly grown since planting day on May 21.  Squash plants are blossoming.  The corn is higher than ankle height.  Eggplant and edamame (a green vegetable type of soybean popular in Asia) are thriving and the tomatoes have tripled in size.  The bush beans have many holes in their leaves from bean leaf beetles.   Since it is early in the season the beetles are probably adults that overwintered in the soil. We will keep an eye on these plants but as the bean plants develop and grow more leaves the plants will likely be more tolerant of the damage.  If you want to read more about bean leaf beetles - click on this link to the University of Minnesota Extension website:   http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/bean-leaf-beetles/

Our volunteers today were a group of Summer Stretch students and their leader from Woodbury Peaceful Grove United Methodist Church.  Our willing helpers put on gloves, took charge of rows and aisles and spread out 12 bales of marsh hay mulch in record time.  We talked about how mulching or putting down a layer of material on the soil surface helps the garden in many ways such as conserving the soil moisture, reducing fluctuation of soil temperatures, adding organic material back to the soil and suppressing weed growth.

Speaking of weed growth, after the mulching our volunteers went after the weeds in the leaf lettuce and the edamame.    It took determination to pull out all the tiny weeds growing amidst the small lettuce leaves but everyone stuck to the job and had at least half of a plastic bag full of weeds when we were done.

Thank you Summer Stretch group for accomplishing so much and helping the Giving Garden get off to a good start!

Contributing Writer -

Deb Lynch
Master Gardener