Winchester Farmers Market Newsletter for August 8

Farmers face challenges every year, but all of the rain this year has been especially difficult on some farms. You may have read newspaper reports that many local farms (Lindentree Farm, The Food Project, Drumlin Farm, and Blue Heron Organic Farm, to name a few) have lost their entire tomato crop and at least part of their potato crop to late blight. Although rain does not cause late blight (a fungal pathogen that is dispersed by wind), it thrives in wet conditions. The large-scale loss of an especially valuable and anticipated crop such as tomatoes can be a serious financial blow to farmers and a great disappointment to customers.

The farmers who attend the Winchester Farmers Market have been affected by this year's wet weather. Flats Mentor Farm has had at least half of their one-acre field flooded, at times under a foot of water, and not drying out for most of the growing season so far. They have lost an entire crop of bok choy, lost 25 pounds of pea seeds rotting in the ground, and had fewer crops, which have been more difficult to grow, overall. E. L. Silvia Farm has noticed the need for extra applications of fungicide to prevent late blight, and also one benefit of the cooler, wet weather in having their spring lettuce crop last later into the season. Hutchins Farm has had fewer quantities of some crops, and most crops are taking longer to mature for harvest.

Home gardeners face some of the same challenges that farmers do when it comes to insects or weather conditions. Some gardeners in Winchester have, in the past week or so, seen the sudden wilting of their previously thriving Blue Hubbard squash. The cause is, most likely, activities of an insect, the squash vine borer.

While it favors the Blue Hubbard, the squash vine borer can also attack zucchini, pumpkins, and gourds. For photos and more information about this insect, which is often mistaken in appearance and flight patterns for a wasp, check these links:

Close-ups: http://www.umassvegetable.org/soil_crop_pest_mgt/insect_mgt/squash_vine_borer.html

Good summary: http://www.urimga.org/fact_sheets/Squash%20Vine%20Borer.pdf

Extensive info: http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/squash_pest.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squash_vine_borer

For an update on late blight, the disease that is affecting tomatoes and potatoes, and importantly, information about how to deal with diseased plants, see http://www.umassvegetable.org/newsletters/documents/July302009VegetableNotes.pdf