Tanya White

We had a terrible year with early blight (tomatoes and potatoes). It has been an incredibly rainy July (and now August). In fact, it has rained every day except 2 at our house for the past 45 days. Next year, I am sticking with early blight tolerant varieties for both. The only potatoes that survived were Masquerade which I hear are more tolerant - that says a lot. I have been following all of the environmental measures like mulching, but you can only do so much when your garden is pure mud and it pours every day. And it is not possible to spray either. Unfortunately, too much rain is hard to fix. We did have terrible drought this spring (when it should have rained) and it was almost as bad.

On the bright side, good mushroom year here.

As far as your rhubarb, are you sure this is not normal? Our dies down around this time of the year and comes back reliably. Unless you are growing it as an annual which is usually done in cooler months (?) I thought.

Just keep working on picking varieties that work for you locally. Better yet, make your own (landrace) if you can.

-Any flowers that are full of pollinators buzzing around (even radishes in bloom, so popular)!
-Big tall huge sunflowers. So cheerful.
-First flowers/plants to emerge in the spring. That first snowdrop, daffodil, early bloomers like forsythia.
-Things that I thought were dead, but are coming back.

I have grown these before more as a cover crop. From my understanding, there are varieties bred to be edible-ish or at least sold commercially. I saw some imported from Italy for sale.

Never tried to eat the ones I grew. From the etsy shop (Plantiful Farm) description:

"Lupini Bean (Lupinus albus): A mix of several different lupini bean varieties all in one packet! A nutritious and ancient legume perfect for adventurous gardeners. Unlike other beans, lupini beans have a distinctive firm texture and require boiling and soaking over several days to remove alkaloids. Wait until the pods are dry and rattle when shaken, then harvest and dry further. Use in Mediterranean-inspired dishes, such as hummus or stews. Or grind into flour for use in baked goods. Or dry roast for a protein-rich snack. Cooking time is longer than other beans, but the nutty flavor and high protein content make it worth the wait. Lupini beans have a protein percentage even greater than soybeans! Lupini beans also fix nitrogen in the soil, making them a great companion plant. Try this unique and rewarding legume in your garden!"

Edit: I am not sure of what the difference is in these 2 species. I guess I had the albus.

I recently read Grow a Little Fruit Tree by Ann Ralph which advises summer solstice pruning to keep tree size in check (but not too close to fall as this type of pruning promotes growth, same as winter pruning). I did this (the solstice prune) for the last 2 summers and it worked well for the cherries that got too tall. I still winter prune for all the usual reasons. I tend to underprune anyway.

I am not a dermatologist. Malassezia yeast thrives in warm, moist environments. If you don't already dry your scalp immediately, definitely don't leave a towel on top of your head for a long time. Realistically, there is not a "cure" yet, but longterm management.

It often improves at the beach due to UV light which is antifungal and anti-inflammatory (in this context) and saltwater does have some antimicrobial properties and helps break up the scale. Saltwater also has other minerals compared to store salt (depending on the kind). De-stressing also helps. The condition often flares up during periods of stress. They do use UV therapy as a treatment option (usually for more extensive involvement not just scalp).

For a medicated shampoo (antifungal) to work, it is best to first loosen the scales with coconut (not olive) oil, salicylic acid, or tar shampoo. Dermatologists can prescribe a higher strength shampoo. Natural remedies that seem to have the most "proof" are coconut oil, tea tree shampoo, apple cider vinegar, diluted raw honey, aloe vera gel, antifungal essential oils like rosemary.

Not sure if getting a difficult case checked out (once) professionally would be worthwhile. I do understand the reluctance, especially with needing to renew prescription over and over.

We have this exact scythe. We are not experts at all or good at sharpening. The handle is too short for my partner to use also and not as ergonomic as I wish. If I could go back in time, I probably would have bought a better scythe. In the end, if we replace it later, we still lose money. But the lee valley one does work relatively well. I haven't used a different scythe, so can't really compare. But I can tell you it didn't fall apart or break in half, so the quality is not terrible.

We have a tough "lawn" that keeps reverting back to a forest. For a while, we strayed and got a brush cutter. It worked pretty good until we realized we have turtles that live in our lawn - they make these holes and stay there. So we are back to scything after trying 4 other methods of cutting grass.

I should expand a bit on the steamer... Steaming food is quick and healthy. I also use it to reheat foods without drying them out. I can cook a protein with veggies in a plate on top of a grain and call it weeknight dinner. I couldn't be happier. And yes, not strictly necessary as you can improvise to make a steamer. But I truly love it! The Tatung specifically only has one button to push, the amount of time things cook depends on how much water you add to outer pot.

Okay, I have many. And some even single-use. Mostly, no regrets.  
Things I have owned in the past an no longer do include a instantpot, microwave, electric kettle, rice cooker, garlic press... and many others.

Gadgets that get a lot of love:
-large mortar and pestle (technically a molcajete)
-Tatung steamer (my new absolutely favorite purchase); I use it to cook grains as well
-Food mill (few uses, but useful nonetheless)
-All the sourdough bread paraphernalia
-instant thermometer and kitchen scale
-tortilla press (not strictly necessary but we have tortillas so much more often now)
-small cabbage shredder (which essentially is my mandolin). Not strictly necessary, but when processing a lot of stuff (even a bunch of radishes which I like to quick pickle), it really helps
-cast iron spice grinder. No electricity needed. Actually use it more than I thought. I like to buy/grow whole spices.
-toaster oven (we do not have a microwave)
-wooden bean masher/pickle tamper - whatever you want to call it
-small battery operated frother/whisk for matcha, whipped cream, sauces
-vitamix
-microplane
-fermentation crocks
-slow cooker --- not as much use as I hoped for us, but still useful

Joao Winckler wrote:The sun and airflow angle is real. I've noticed black rot is always worse on the shaded interior growth where things stay damp longer. Aggressive thinning of the canopy mid-season made more difference than any spray for me, just keeping the clusters exposed.

I am trying to prune more aggressively this year. Fingers crossed. Already lost some to black rot. Perhaps this is the most important cultural control?
I am not sure how anyone is able to grow grapes organically in a humid climate!