Week 9 on the Farm: Scouting

Weather Forecast: Tuesday, high of 78 degrees F, 80% chance of rain. Wednesday, high of 75 degrees F, 60% chance of rain.

Weather is going to be a big influence on what we're able to do this week and since the forecast keeps shifting, it's a little hard to plan ahead! It looks like there's a good chance of rain on Tuesday afternoon and a possibility on Wednesday as well. Even though that will interrupt our field work, we'll be grateful for the rain since all of the plants and seeds we've got in the ground need it badly.

As we've moved around the farm these past several weeks, I hope you've observed John & I checking both our vegetable plants and the orchard for insect and disease problems. "Scouting" is a term that's used in agriculture to mean actively checking to see what's going on in your fields and it's particularly important in integrated pest management and organic systems where we are trying to get away from what I've heard referred to as the "nuclear bomb" method of pest control--flooding the agricultural ecosystem with broad-spectrum toxins at regular intervals throughout the season. Instead, we spend lots of time observing and trying to figure out exactly what's going on in our crops so that we can decide what actions we need to take to help them withstand pest and disease pressures.

If rain prevents us from working outdoors, we'll go to a local coffee shop and lead you in a virtual "scavenger hunt" to help you hone your pest and disease diagnostic skills. If you have devices on which you can access the internet, such as smartphones or laptops, please bring them with you. Afterwards, we'll visit one or two garden centers and critically assess their pest and disease control offerings.

If we are able to be outdoors, we'll do some active scouting. Depending on soil moisture, we may be able to do some planting as well. If not, we'll give you a taste of orchard work with a little fruit thinning!

Here's a 3 minute video that gives a nice overview of how to scout a vegetable garden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq4b6gEWEFg