garden work

I did a lot of work today to remove fungi damage. Squash leaves at the base of plants, especially zucchini and butternut, were white and fuzzy. I removed and bagged these. The pruning made it easier to find and pick squashes and weed under the plants.

My potatoes ares quickly dying back now. I removed the plants from my red potatoes and bagged these rather than composting just to be safe.

I also removed tomato leaves with leaf spot damage. It's a super year for tomatoes - plants are big and leaf spot damage is not bad. Lots of big tomatoes on the plants though it is early in the season and so far I have only picked 3 or 4 tomatoes. The worry is reports of late blight in the area. I heard today that late blight was found on tomatoes at Waltham Fields, 1 mile as the crow flies (as the spores travel) from my garden. I was afraid i might find late blight on my plants today, but did not. I looked at other plots at our garden and was dissappointed to find one or two at the far south side that have damage that could be late blight. After harvesting, I sprayed my tomatoes thoroughly with copper fungicide.

I also watered a bit, especially the bed where I sowed carrots a couple days ago. We had rain yesterday, but the ground was surprisingly dry. I will have to get a rain gauge as I don't think the garden (1 mile groom my house) gets the same rain as my house.

The weather was dry when I sprayed at midday, but by 6 pm rain moved in. The whole area got at least 1 or 2 inches of drenching rain. Was it better to spray the tomatoes before this rain? Should I spray again after? I am finding this a bit confusing, but my understanding is that a regular schedule is best and so I should spray again in about 5 days.