Tootfinder

Bonus points for the person at the allotment who covers their water buckets so that mosquitoes don't leave eggs. #mosquitoes #allotment

First harvest of San Marzanos. But not by me. The usual suspects are squirrels, chipmunks, catbirds, and sparrows. #tomatoes #allotment #garden

With a heavy heart I ripped out one of my tomatoes yesterday. Plenty of flowers but not a single fruit, plus new growth in last week looked stunted and twisted. Assuming some sort of virus. #tomatoes #garden #allotment

Watering the tomatoes. The white PVC tube is 24" long, capped at the end, and has 1/8" holes every 4". If I had to remake I'd probably make the holes 1/16" so that the water was released a bit slower. #tomatoes #water #garden #allotment

Yesterday I found a squash vine borer (Eichlinia cucurbitae) egg on one of my zucchini. I highly recommend examining stems, leaves, and flower stalks several times per week so they can be removed before the larvae emerge. Swarthmore, PA, USA. Zone 7b. #zucchini #squash #garden #allotment #sesiidae #lepidoptera #pests

If anyone needs a gift for a vegetable gardener, I just love my folding Opinel harvesting knife. It's especially useful when the zucchini plant is crowded with stems, flowers, and fruit. #garden #gardening #allotment #zucchini

Sharing my solution to squash vine borers (Eichlinia cucurbitae), the larvae of which burrow into the roots and eventually kill the plant: inject Thuricide Bt into stem wherever you see frass accumulating. This is easier to do if you train your plant vertically so that lower parts are visible. I also regularly police for eggs. #garden #gardening #squash #zucchini #vegetables #allotment #insects #lepidoptera #moths

One of the shelling peas grew up on the wrong side of the bird netting. Sad, but a nice reminder that all the effort setting up the structure was worth it. #peas #sparrows #gardening #pisum #birds #allotment

Backlit corn silk to show off the feathery surface that helps snag falling pollen grains. The stigmatic lobes can grow over an inch per day. #corn #maize #pollen #botany #gardening #allotment #pollination #pollen #stigma

Stilt roots of maize are really creepy when they are reaching out for soil. #maize #zea #roots #corn #botany #garden #gardening #allotment