Produce

 

   

Matchless Spudman IPA:  brewed with hashbrowns in Tumwater for their friends at Spud's produce market in Olympia, for a slightly lighter, brighter IPA with lightly earthy notes.

pFriem Jammy Pale Ale:  notes of marionberries, watermelon, peaches and more, all from the malt and hops, but with less bitterness than you'd get out of an IPA. Enjoy this one last glass of summer as fall approaches.

Ellephant Seven 2017 Cosmic Reflection:  So a bunch of musicians start a winery in Walla Walla, dedicated to low intervention, honest, beautiful wines. This Mouvedre/Syrah blend starts meaty and gamy with black raspberry and licorice and goes into dried flowers, desert herbs, white pepper and minerality. Good acidity and smooth tannins and a great example of just how great Washington Rhone-style wines can be.

You Can Have It All... Sauvignon Blanc:  You still can, but only for a bit. This wine was made for one year only and we have one of the last cases in the state (or anywhere else). If you liked this wine come get it now, because it won't last forever and there isn't anymore.

HABA

 

Host Defense Mushrooms Have Arrived

Host Defense, of Olympia Washington, was founded by one of the foremost experts in the classification and cultivation of mushrooms, Paul Stamets.  Unknown to many, mushrooms can benefit every system of the body.  Humans share more DNA with mushrooms than with plants and because of this connection, we can easily utilize compounds found in mushrooms. They are known as the "original superfood" and science continues to recognize the array of supportive compounds found in mushrooms.

 
Host Defense offers single mushroom capsules and extracts, mushroom blends to support immunity, blends that can be taken daily as whole body support, and synergistic blends of herbs and mushrooms designed to support specific bodily systems. The products are gluten free, organic, sustainably cultivated, harvested at peak efficiency, NON GMO verified, and Bee Friendly!

 
Come check out our selection and keep an eye out for information on an upcoming community event in which Host Defense will present information on mushrooms and how they can be used to support humans & bees and help the planet.

 

Last year at about this time I wrote about powdery mildew on squash and some other plants, with advice from Linda Gilkeson.  Well, it's that season again and since I'm being asked about it a lot again I figure it wouldn't hurt to reprise last year's advice.  I'm going to quote here from what I wrote a year ago:  

"It's a white dusty coating or blotches on leaves, usually on squashes and cucumbers."

Here's the good news.  New leaves resist the infection (that I didn't know) so keep plants growing as vigorously as possible with plenty of watering and some fish fertilizer.

Growing new leaves allows an infected squash to keep ripening fruit even if the old leaves are covered in the fungus.  Picking off the infected leaves won't control the disease since the spores are everywhere, so probably don't bother.  If the leaves are still green under the coating they are still good, yellow or brown ones can be cut of for appearance if you like.  Overhead irrigation and spraying with water can slow the speed on squash and cucumbers.  That's a new one to me too; it seems counter-intuitive.  But I trust Linda, although I don't think I'm courageous enough to do that!  

 

The plant can still produce in spite of the mildew.

N one of my squashes have it, and others report the same.  So I guess the word is, don't trash them yet; there's still life left in the old gals!  If you want to hear this straight from the horse's mouth go to lindagilkeson.ca where there's a link to "Linda's List" which comes to your inbox when you sign up, which you should do.

	This cucumber is in my hoop house.

There you have it.  The mildew has already shown up and with the rain we are getting now it will increase.  It's taken hold on the squashes in the demonstration garden, and some of mine here at home.  Eleanor says she's got it on her cucumbers, and whereas my cukes are in the hoop house and less vulnerable, those leaves are looking pretty funky and it's probably just a matter of time.  The leaves on many veggies are starting to look sorry and ragged, that's what happens at this time of year.

Only one more comment for the week.  Did you get a chance to put the plastic tunnels up on your tomatoes before the rain started yesterday?  Teddy and I rushed home from town just at the last minute.  You might want to consider that for the future, it does protect against late blight.  I might write about late blight next week. 

 

  But it's great that we are finally getting some rain, isn't it?

 

-- Alice Deane