“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard, are sweeter still.”
-Keats
Colorado Potato Beetle
The Colorado Potato Beetle is a yearly resident here on the farm. It very much likes both eggplant and potatoes. We find them in all stages from eggs underneath the leaves, to tiny black dots, to big fat slimies ready to pop. The adults are the size of a pinto bean with a hard black and yellow shell.
Our method of control has always been to walk the rows and pinch them. This can take a couple hours for five of us 2x per week for a month or so to keep them in check. This year I have about a full acre in potatoes and the beetles are out in force. The recommended organically approved insecticide is Entrust at $459 a qt. This would be enough for several applications on my field and would provide quick knockdown from both contact and ingestion. I try to stay away from even organic chemicals if I possibly can.
My latest strategy is to lower my tractor loader and angle it so that as I drive quickly over a row, the potato plants are whipped by the loader and some of the beetles are thrown into the bucket. After a few rounds I proceed to put my foot into the tractor bucket/loader and squish a hundred or so. In ½ an hour I am through the field and I dump a gallon or two of bugs in front of my chickens to enjoy. I need to do this every couple of days, but it seems to be faster, cheaper, and cleaner than the alternatives.
In a week or two we should have some new red potatoes in the box.
Farmer notes:
- Raspberry patch is again open for member picking Th. – Sat. Give us an email/call to let us know when to expect you
- Summer squash/Zucchini season is upon us and thus is the ‘veggie of the week’. We grilled it with scallions one night and tonight broiled thin slices with oil, mozzarella, salt and pepper
- First green beans of the season should be very tasty – we plant 3 successions of them
- Thyme and Marjoram can be used with a squash dish or hang it in a dry, well ventilated area to dry
- Full shares received cabbages that are more leaf than head. The next 2 boxes will have heads in them. The leaves are tasty in soups, stuffed cabbage rolls or in any kind of a stir fry
- Last of the scallions until late fall
- We are enjoying some of the first cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes
- A general shout out to anyone who may be interested in working here at the farm as an intern for the fall season Sept./Oct./Nov. Maybe you know of someone in transition who would like this opportunity
- We are enjoying these sunny warm days
- Wash all of your produce please
