​Bilberry plants prefer loose, loamy, or sandy soil. Being short, wind damage isn’t a problem.
 
Do you have a partially (or fully) shaded area of your yard?
 
These plants prefer acidic soil (4.5-5.5pH), so they may enjoy being tucked under a pine tree for some long-term slow-release acidification. If you decide to install more than one bilberry plant, they should be spaced 18-24 inches (45-60cm) apart. You can also grow them in large containers.
 
To plant bare root stock, dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and just as deep. This allows you to spread out the roots, giving them free rein for their first weeks, and ensures that you install plants to the same depth they were before. Too deep and too shallow are both bad for your bilberries.
 
You can mix some aged compost into the removed soil before you sprinkle it over the roots. Resist the urge to tamp the soil down. This damages root hairs and makes life difficult for your latest addition. Instead, simply water it well. Also known as mudding in, this eliminates air pockets and hydrates the roots, all without causing harm. Finally, mulch around, but not touching, your bilberry to stabilize soil temperature and conserve moisture. Do not overwater.
 
Bilberry pests and diseases
 
Drainage is important to bilberry plants. Soggy soil commonly sets the stage for root rot. And poor air flow can lead to leaf spot diseases, so avoid overhead watering. Aphids and birds are the most common pests of bilberries.

Raspberry ringspot (RRSV) is a viral disease that infects an odd assortment of plants. While raspberries, followed closely by strawberries and boysenberries, are vulnerable, cherry trees, members of the grape family (Vitis), and Narcissus can also be infected.
 
Either way, this is an important distinction because planting raspberries or strawberries near your grapevines, cherries, or adding a little springtime color with some daffodils, jonquils, or narcissus, can significantly increase the odds of your plants becoming infected and spreading this disease.
 
Did you know that the raspberry ringspot virus (Nepovirus rubi) is a close relation to the tomato ringspot virus (N. lycopersici)? They are so closely related that raspberry plants can catch tomato ringspot. I don’t know if tomatoes can catch raspberry ringspot, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
 
But it brings up an important point about raspberry plants. They are rugged once established. Very often, they will be infected with multiple diseases before we notice anything is wrong. It is the older, less virile plants that are more likely to catch raspberry ringspot. Once they catch it, however, it can spread.
 
How to identify raspberry ringspot
 
Like other ringspot diseases, the raspberry ringspot virus causes target-shaped, oval, or abstract rings that can appear on leaves or fruit, depending on the plant and virus involved. [Unfortunately, I could not find an image I could use.] Other symptoms include an overall failure to thrive and crumbly fruit.
 
Managing raspberry ringspot
 
Besides watching where you plant your raspberries, you can reduce the odds of ringspot by keeping wild brambles out of the area and only using certified pest- and disease-free stock. But the problem may already be in your soil.
 
RRSV is carried by dagger nematodes. These tiny buggers move through the soil, spreading disease and mayhem in their wake. OK, it’s a very small mayhem, but you get the idea. Dagger nematodes have a reputation for being the most destructive of their species when it comes to plants.
 
Unfortunately, they are hard to get rid of. While you can apply a nematicide (nematode poison), it won’t kill all of them. Any that are left can reproduce exponentially and asexually, so it’s an uphill battle.
 
The only sure-fire way is to combine the nematicide with two years of leaving the area fallow, or unused. This will starve them out. Crop rotation can help, too.
 
At this time, I am unaware of any resistant varieties, so keep your plants healthy by choosing varieties suited to your microclimate and ensuring they have everything they need to thrive.

How to manage cane borers
 
First, monitor canes for signs of blackened or brown cane tips, dieback, galls, or wilting. If symptoms occur, you can try to save the cane by making a cut two or three inches below the affected area, removing and destroying the infected portion. Continue to monitor those trimmed canes for signs of speedier-than-normal larvae who may have gotten below where you made your cut. It is often easier to completely remove affected canes.
 
Keeping your garden and landscape free of wild brambles can help reduce the chance of cane borers finding your berries.
 
The insecticides used by commercial growers against adult borers are rather nasty and not recommended for the home gardener (or anywhere, for that matter).

Peat v. peat moss
 
First, peat and peat moss are not the same thing.
 
Peat moss is a type of moss. Actually, several types.
 
And peat is a conglomeration of partially decayed organic matter that makes up bogs. Peat moss is a major component of peat, but not always.
 
Peat moss, the plant
 
Peat moss also goes by the name sphagnum. There are nearly 400 species of sphagnum moss. It can grow on pretty much anything.
 
Sphagnum has one rather odd characteristic: it alternates living cells with dead cells. Those dead cells are used to store water. Using this method, some mosses can absorb up to 20 times their own weight in water, which is why it is so popular in gardens.
 
How we use peat moss
 
Being able to hold so much water, peat moss helps keep our plants hydrated. Due to this characteristic, it is a common ingredient in potting soil and when growing microgreens. It is advertised as a soil amendment that improves soil structure and nutrient availability. You can overwinter tubers in a bucket of peat moss. Root cuttings are often stored in moist peat moss.
 
Contrary to popular opinion, adding peat moss (or pine needles) to your soil does not effectively alter its pH. That only works in laboratory settings and large-scale commercial enterprises.
 
Peat moss is used as fuel, in floral arrangements, and in crafts. Dried sphagnum moss has been used as a wound dressing. Note that peat moss can contain the fungus Sporothrix schenckii, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can infect people with rose handler’s disease, or sporotrichosis, a potentially serious condition. As always, wash your hands after working with peat moss or in the garden.
 
But there is another problem associated with peat moss.
 
The problem with peat moss
 
Peat moss is harvested from peat bogs. Peat bogs cover approximately 3% of the Earth’s surface, store significant amounts of carbon dioxide, and are home to countless wildlife species.
 
Technically, peat bogs and peat moss are renewable resources. Some companies harvest peat responsibly, while others do not. [How can we tell by looking at a bag in the store?] It takes one year to generate one millimeter of peat on average. And we are using it at ever-increasing rates.
 
Instead of using peat moss to improve your soil, opt for more sustainable materials, such as aged compost, wood chips, coconut coir, and even shredded paper. These materials can be added to potting soil or used to top dress a garden bed without the drawbacks associated with peat moss.

What are microgreens?

Microgreens are halfway between sprouts and baby greens in the plant development process. Where sprouts are germinated (or partially germinated) seeds without any real leaf development, and baby greens are miniature versions of adult plants, microgreens are harvested just after the cotyledons and first true leaves have appeared, usually when they are two or three inches tall. They are a fast-growing way to add bright freshness to your diet, even in the middle of winter.

While they may be small, microgreens can contain 4–40 times the level of nutrients found in their adult counterparts, according to the USDA Agricultural Research Service and the University of Maryland. In that study, broccoli microgreens were found to contain sulforaphane, known to block DNA mutations that can lead to cancer, as well as compounds that neutralize toxins and reduce inflammation. These little plants are nutritional powerhouses and easier to digest than full-sized greens.

Raspberry fruitworm identification
 
Adult fruitworm beetles are only 0.16 to 0.19 inches long (4-5mm), so you could fit three or four of them across the face of an American dime. They are yellowish-brown with tiny hairs.

Raspberry fruitworm larvae are twice as long as their parents. They are white underneath with light brown segments on top and darker brown lines along the center.
 
Fruitworm larvae get bigger than their parents by eating your young raspberries. But the problem starts much earlier than that.
 
Raspberry fruitworm lifecycle
 
Adult fruitworm beetles spend the winter underground or hidden under leaves, protected against the elements. In spring, they emerge and start eating young raspberry leaves and flower buds. They start close to the ground and work their way up the canes to be closer to developing flower buds. Fruitworm beetles prefer feeding on the tissue found between the veins of new, unfolded leaves. This skeletonization is a clue.
 
After mating, females lay more than 100 eggs on and near developing flower buds. Eggs hatch about the same time fruit is developing. The larvae burrow into the fruit, out of sight and safe from predators, where they feed for a month or so before dropping to the ground to pupate in the soil and begin the cycle again.
 
All this feeding and burrowing can leave your raspberry harvest looking pretty meager. And there’s no guarantee that that raspberry you’re about to pop in your mouth doesn’t contain a guest. Ew!
 
Raspberry fruitworm management
 
The first step in reducing fruitworm damage is to monitor your plants regularly, as soon as new growth starts in the spring. Look for signs of adult and larval feeding. Handpicking adult beetles before they start laying eggs is much easier than dealing with a bigger problem later on. These beetles are most active in early evening, so that’s the best time to look for them. After removing beetles from your plants, simply drop them in a container of soapy water for chemical-free control. You can also use sticky traps near your raspberry plants to monitor for these and other pests.
 
Ladybugs and lacewings are your allies in this battle, so make sure your garden is welcoming and free from indiscriminate chemicals. Fruitworms are more of a problem when weeds and wild blackberries are present, so keeping the area around your canes tidy and clean can help prevent the problem.
 
Serious infestations may call for applications of spinosad or Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). There are several types of Bt. To deal with fruitworms, you will need BtK, which can be found at local garden supply stores. This is best done during warm evenings while the plants are in the flowering stage. Follow package directions carefully and do not spray open flowers.
 
After harvesting your raspberry crop, rake the area around the canes lightly to make life more difficult for overwintering beetles. If you have chickens, let them have the run of the area for a few days. Hens can be powerful pest control, and they are fun to watch.

Fresh-from-the-garden raspberries are a real treat. Once canes are established, they can be relatively maintenance-free. But if you happen to notice that some of your raspberry leaves are starting to crinkle, curl, or change color, you may have a problem.
 
There are several reasons raspberry leaves start curling. Aphid, leafroller, leafhopper, and psyllid feeding can cause leaf curling, as well as chemical overspray and some viral diseases.
 
Raspberry leaf curl is a viral disease carried by aphids.
 
Symptoms of raspberry leaf curl
 
At first, there are no symptoms. This is a slow-moving disease. You will eventually see mild downward leaf curling at the tips. The next year, you will see more pronounced symptoms.
 
As the virus gets serious about reproducing inside the phloem tissue of your plants, canes will become branched, brittle, stunted, or develop into a rosette. Fruits will be small, deformed, and crumbly. Leaves of infected red raspberry plants will turn yellow, while black raspberry leaves turn a dark, greasy green. In both cases, the leaves on young and old canes will curl downward. [Leafhopper feeding causes upward curling.]
 
Infected plants are highly susceptible to winter damage.
 
Managing raspberry leaf curl
 
Unfortunately, there is no cure for raspberry leaf curl. It may take two or three years, but infected plants will die.
 
The only thing you can do once a plant is infected with raspberry leaf curl is remove it. Double-bag and trash infected plants or burn them if you have a fire pit going anyway. As you cut away infected canes, be sure to disinfect your pruners between each cut to prevent the spread of disease.
 
To avoid raspberry leaf curl in the first place, install certified pest- and disease-free plants. If you have any wild brambles growing nearby, you may want to remove them. You can monitor for aphids using yellow sticky sheets, and insecticidal soap sprays can help keep aphid populations in check.
 
Other plants susceptible to raspberry leaf curl include purple raspberries and wineberries, Himalaya blackberries, Pacific coast trailing blackberries, and wild blackberries. Tropical black raspberries, ‘Lucretia’ dewberries, and Alpine strawberries may also be vulnerable to this disease.
 
As of 2023, raspberry leaf curl disease was predominantly found in Canada and northern-tier US states. Of course, high mobility rates and changing climates can make new areas appealing to the small raspberry aphid (Aphis rubicola), responsible for spreading the disease.

Flower mites may be the fastest living things on Earth. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at them. And they don’t exactly run. But they sure do move!

It’s easy to see the big things in your garden: trees, shrubs, vines, and raised beds. And we know there are countless tiny things in our gardens, as well. But flower mites are pretty unique, even at half the size of a grain of salt.

These nectar and pollen eaters hitch rides from one flower to the next with hummingbirds in a behavior known as phoresy.

We used to think that flower mites ran up a bird’s beak and grabbed hold of their host’s nostrils for the flight from one flower to another. We now know that the electrostatic field created by the motion of a hummingbird’s wings helps propel those tiny mites, much like the sock that sticks to a blanket coming out of the dryer.

Note: Research by Carlos Garcia-Robledo has shown that different flower mite species are attracted to specific frequencies related to the geometry, size, and vibration of their host. It’s a crazy world out there!

However they do it, mites also hop onto the bats, bees, beetles, butterflies, and moths that frequent your garden. As their ride pulls up to a flower, mites often have only a split second to decide if the current flower can feed them. Guess wrong and die. [You can see some amazing photos at the Audubon website.]

There are several different flower mite species, including Proctolaelaps, Rhinoseius, and Tropicoiseus. It should come as no surprise that flower mite dietary preferences tend to match their ride. Hummingbird flower mites prefer plants in the blueberry, coffee, ginger, onion, and pineapple families, and these are all big favorites of hummingbirds.

You can usually identify mite feeding with a hand lens after noticing leaf blistering, bronzing, galls, and stippling.

Some flower mites have a one-track mind. They feed on a single plant species all year. This is called monophagy. Other mites have a broader menu, following the bloom cycle of several flower species. This is called polyphagy. But how much nectar do flower mites eat? Does it really make a difference? I mean, these creatures are very small.

It turns out that the answer is yes. Sort of.

Nectar attracts pollinators and protectors. With less nectar, we would expect there to be less food for those pollinators and protectors, resulting in smaller harvests. And in some cases, we’d be right.

According to one study, excluding flower mites increased the availability of nectar by up to 49%! That’s huge in the world of nectar feeders. One would expect that heavy mite feeding would negatively impact the health of local pollinators by reducing their food supply. But the net result might surprise you.

Sometimes, flower mite feeding reduces pollination, resulting in smaller crops. But not always.

In some cases, flowers respond by producing more nectar. In other cases, pollinators work harder, visiting more flowers. By doing so, they actually increase pollination rates.

We have already discussed bulb mites, citrus bud mites, dryberry mites, European red mites, fig mites, spider mites, and more. For the most part, they are microscopic arachnids. Some are worse than others.

While flower mites do not technically carry plant diseases, they do carry the viruses and phytoplasmas responsible for aster yellows, various leaf spot diseases, and potato virus Y.

The bottom line on mites: how you respond to them depends on your tolerance level. If your plants are healthy, you don’t need to do anything about flower mites. If your plants are prone to the diseases mentioned above, you can spray the affected areas with insecticidal soaps or horticultural oil.

We hear the word carbon thrown around a lot: carbon copy, carbon footprint, carbon life forms.
 
But what is carbon, and what does it have to do with gardening?
 
Carbon is an element found in all living things. In fact, carbon is second only to oxygen in our bodies.
 
Carbon can take many forms. It can be the graphite in your pencil, the diamond on a wedding ring, a gas, or a liquid. It is also found in the compost, manure, and plants in your garden. That adaptability, paired with its ability to bond easily with other atoms and molecules, is probably why we find it almost everywhere, including in our garden.
 
How plants use carbon
 
Carbon is fundamental to life as we know it. Plants pull carbon dioxide from the air to use in photosynthesis in a process called the Calvin cycle. Carbon is also used to make cellulose.
 
Cellulose is what gives plant cell walls their structure. Combined with lignin, pectin, and a few other materials, carbon is what holds trees and plant stems upright.
 
Did you know that the cotton fibers in your T-shirt are one of the purest forms of cellulose? I didn’t either.
 
Carbon in the soil
 
Soil carbon is a term used to describe the amount of solid carbon found in soil. That carbon comes from inorganic carbonate minerals. It also comes from all the carbon-based life forms living in and on the soil, like beetles, microorganisms, and worms. When those creatures poop or die, their carbon becomes part of the soil organic matter that plant roots call home. The same is true of neighboring plants. As they decompose, their carbon is stored in the soil. Carbon improves soil structure and keeps plants healthy and productive.
 
It’s been that way for millions of years. Until recently.
 
Commercial farming and deforestation have created problems regarding soil carbon. The use of heavy machinery and excess digging kicks carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, contributing to climate change and reducing soil carbon levels. Reduced carbon levels also impact the effectiveness of nitrogen fertilizers. Or maybe it’s the other way around.
 
Research conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discovered that farmed soils have shown a significant reduction in soil carbon levels since farmers started applying synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in the mid-1950s. The more nitrogen that was added, the more carbon was lost from the soil.
 
Fertilizers cost money. We don’t yet know if adding the fertilizer makes plants grow more quickly than the soil carbon can be replaced, or if it is something else. Too much nitrogen creates nitrogen pollution, as well. For me, this stresses the importance of lab-based soil tests. Our plants need nitrogen, but too much of a good thing can easily become a bad thing.
 
And lost soil organic matter translates into lost water. Healthy soil needs carbon, microorganisms, and time to process and store water effectively.
 
Putting carbon back into the soil is not a simple matter of burying some charcoal or using biochar. These things are delicate chemical interactions.
 
How to retain soil carbon
 
We can help our garden soil retain the carbon our plants need and reduce the amount of carbon lost to the atmosphere with the following tips:

• Add fruit- and nut-producing trees, shrubs, and perennials to your landscape.
• Avoid digging and rototilling when unnecessary.
• Consider transforming your lawn into a meadow or letting the grass grow taller.
• Improve biodiversity in our gardens and garden soil.
• Install more native plants.
• Protect soil against erosion with cover crops and green manures.
• Use compost and aged manure to fertilize your plants and return some carbon to the soil.
• Use fewer or no chemical pesticides and herbicides. They negatively impact biodiversity, and their production generates greenhouse gases.
• Use lab-based soil test results to only add necessary fertilizer.

 
We can improve soil health and soil carbon levels with just a little effort. I think it’s worth it.

Leaf drop is a type of abscission. It can be a normal part of a plant’s life, or it can be a clue to a problem.
 
As plants age, they often lose older leaves. That’s normal.
 
As days shorten and temperatures drop, deciduous plants break down the chlorophyll in their leaves before dropping them. That’s normal, too.
 
But sometimes leaf drop is a plant’s way of telling us something is wrong. Below is a list of the most common causes of abnormal leaf drop:

• Collision damage—high-traffic areas can be hard on plants
• Improper humidity or watering—too much or too little
• Inadequate or sudden changes in light levels (light shock)
• Nutrient deficiencies--iron, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, zinc
• Pest infestations--mealybugs, scale insects, spider mites
• Temperature—drafts, sudden changes, too cold or too hot
• Transplant shock--dividing, repotting, relocating

 
The best way to keep your plants healthy is to start with species suited to your microclimate and USDA Plant Hardiness Zone. Then, place them where they will get the sun exposure (and any wind or traffic protection) they need.
 
Monitor your plants regularly for signs of pests or disease. It’s a lot easier to nip problems in the proverbial bud if they are caught early. And get your soil tested every few years. It’s the only way to see what your plants have on their menu.
 
The Number One cause of abnormal leaf drop is water.
 
Too much water can drown your plants. It can also make them more susceptible to pests and diseases, and generally make them miserable. Leaf drop is a symptom of too much (or too little) water.
 
Give your plants the water they need, and no more.
 
An inexpensive moisture meter can help you prevent overwatering. The easiest rule of thumb for most containerized plants is to wait until the soil starts pulling away from the edges of the pot before watering.
 
If leaves are falling off your plant at the wrong time of year, use these clues to help you find out why. Once you know the cause, you can find a solution to your plant’s problem.

Chipmunks, deer, groundhogs, livestock, mice, rabbits, rats, squirrels, and occasionally voles will also cause leaf damage.
 
Nutrient disorders that cause leaf damage
 
Healthy leaves are deep green, to one degree or another. It depends on the plant species.
When things start going wrong, they may turn into paler versions of themselves. This yellowing, or chlorosis, can be due to nitrogen or potassium deficiencies.
 
Other symptoms (and causes) of nutrient-based leaf damage include the following:

• Burnt or dead leaf edges may mean there is too much salt in the soil for that plant.
• Purple-ish older leaves may indicate a phosphorus deficiency (or low soil temperatures).
• Yellowing alongside green veins (interveinal chlorosis) may indicate an iron or magnesium deficiency. It may also mean poor drainage or high soil pH.
• Yellow leaf edges, combined with weak stems, indicate your plants may need more potassium.

How to grow bramble fruits

Brambles have perennial roots and crowns that grow new canes each year. Most brambles are biennial hermaphrodites. This means they are self-pollinating and produce fruit the second year of each cane’s life.

You can start a lychee tree by air layering. Simply take a young, healthy twig and cover the cut end with growing medium, such as peat, and wrap the medium with plastic. Before long, roots will form, and you can remove the plastic and place your baby lychee tree in its forever location.

You can grow Spanish lime trees in USDA Hardiness Zones 10A to 11. You can also grow them in containers, which can be brought indoors or moved to more protected locations if your winters are less than tropical. These trees prefer full sun and moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil (pH 6.0–6.5). Fragrant flowers appear in late spring to early summer. They are white with four petals and eight stamens. The trees are slow and steady growers.

Fruits start out yellow, then turn green and develop a pink blush as they ripen. Mature fruits are approximately two inches (5 cm) in diameter. The skin is somewhat spiky, so gloves are recommended during harvest.

Common pests of Spanish limes include aphids, citrus leaf miners, and scale insects. You can use insecticidal soap or neem oil to control those pests. The only disease I saw mentioned was citrus greening disease, also known as huanglongbing.

These fruits do not store well unless you can them, so eat them as they ripen. They can be used in margaritas, pies, salsa, and smoothies. See if you have a sunny spot for this lush, productive shade tree in your landscape for planting next spring.

When I first saw the name raspberry horntail, my mind conjured up a ripe, red raspberry with a ram’s horn tail. Of course, raspberry horntails are nothing like that, but it was a fun image. The truth about these parasitic wasps is less fun.

Fragrant white flowers bloom from late winter to early spring and turn into small, green berries. As the berries ripen, they change from red to black or purple by mid to late spring. These are some of the first berries you can harvest each year. When they are dark and fully ripe, they hold tightly to the plant and can be easily squashed, so handle them carefully when picking.

Be sure to consider their growth habits when selecting a site for dewberries. They can easily turn into a thicket that can be challenging to manage.
 
You can grow dewberries from seeds or cuttings. Plants should be installed in early spring and spaced three feet apart. They are best trained up a trellis, protected from strong winds. They prefer full sun but can also be grown in partial shade. This is especially true in areas with scorching hot summer temperatures.
 
It takes a few years for dewberries to start producing fruit, but once they do, you will probably have a lifetime supply. Dewberries can also be grown in large containers. In either case, they will benefit from top dressings of aged compost.
 
Aphids, cane borers, dewberry mites, leaf beetles, peach blossom moths, and spider mites may be attracted to your dewberries. So will chipmunks, deer, fox squirrels, raccoons, white-footed mice, and many other mammals. But these plants are rugged. Overwatering and poor drainage are more likely to cause fungal problems, such as blight, downy mildew, fruit, root, and stem rots. As with other bramble fruits, remove spent canes with a pair of high-quality bypass pruners to improve air flow and promote new growth.
 
Did you know that boysenberries are a cross between loganberries and dewberries? Now you know.

Is it a cucumber or something else entirely?
 
Also known as snake cucumbers, snake melons, and yard-long cucumbers, Armenian cucumbers (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) are more muskmelon (C. melo) than cuke (C. sativus). These are not to be confused with another long member of the melon family, serpent gourds, which also taste like cucumber.
 
Long, skinny, and ridged, Armenian cucumbers taste like common cucumbers, but their skin is thinner and lighter than grocery store cucumbers. There are three types of Armenian cucumber that I know of: regular, striped, and dark green. In each case, these crisp fruits can grow three feet (90 cm) long and they can handle all the heat your summers can dish out.

Seeds should be planted one inch deep, and plants should be at least 12” apart. You can allow the vines to stay on the ground, but they perform best when trained up a trellis. The fruits are very impressive, hanging overhead. You may want to intercrop your serpent gourds with red noodle beans for an especially impressive display.
 
Your serpent gourds need full sun, but a little afternoon shade is fine.

Are plants less nutritious these days?

It ends up, they are.

Before we learn about that, what determines how nutritious a piece of fruit or a salad is in the first place?

The nutritional value or mineral content of food crops is dependent on the following factors:

• Species genetics
• Climate
• Soil health
• Soil microbe diversity
• Soil management practices
• The degree of ripeness at harvest time

Several decades ago, our fruits and vegetables contained significantly more nutrients than they do today. We have traded quality for quantity, becoming overfed and undernourished, something we cannot continue indefinitely.

So, how did it happen? And what can we do about it?

Primarily, it comes down to soil depletion. Modern agriculture grows so much, so fast that the soil does not have time to recover. We may add nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and secondary nutrients, but soil health isn't that simple.

There is an astounding chemical, electrical, and biological dance that happens underground to make plants (and people) healthy. The more chemicals we use, the less likely the soil is to produce healthy crops.

A study published in 2004 in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition at the University of Texas at Austin noted “reliable declines” of the nutrients in our food plants over the previous 50 years. Donald Davis and his team pointed out that produce has been grown with an eye for appearance, disease and pest resistance, productivity, and shelf stability over nutrition for a long time. For too long, in my opinion.

Other studies have demonstrated similar reductions in nutritional value:

• Calcium: 16-46%
• Copper: 20-76%
• Iron: 22-50%
• Magnesium: 10-24%
• Potassium: 14-19%
• Vitamin A: 21%
• Vitamin C: 30%
• Zinc: 27-59%

As noted in the Scientific American article Dirt Poor, you would have to eat eight oranges to get the same amount of vitamin A that your grandparents got from a single orange in their childhood.

So what can we do?

We can start by not encouraging poor agricultural practices. Do a little homework. What sort of reputation does the company growing your lettuce actually have? If they treat their workers poorly, they probably treat the soil even worse.

When shopping for produce, buy organic. Organic farmers meet stringent assessments that ensure they are not using or exposing our food to potentially harmful chemicals. Even if those chemicals can’t hurt us, they do harm the beneficial insects and microorganisms necessary for healthy soil.

And don’t buy more than you need. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Americans waste an average of one pound of food each day, or 30-40% of the total food supply. This waste costs a family of four $2,275 each year.

Finally, grow what you can at home using integrated pest management and other least damaging methods.

When planning your garden, keep the following tips in mind:

• Opt for cereals, fruits, and vegetables that are nutrient-dense, rather than energy-dense.
• Select plant varieties that are suited to your microclimate.
• Compost.

As I said earlier, we still do not fully understand the complexities of soil health. We can help improve soil health by reducing our interference and boosting biodiversity in our landscapes. Remember that soil needs time to rest. It needs to go through natural cycles. We need to give our garden patches permission to go fallow for a season.

It might be good for us to take a breather now and then, too.

If you grow blueberries, be on the lookout for these longhorned beetles.
 
No, we’re not talking about Texas longhorns. Blueberry stem borers (Oberea myops) are in a family of narrow beetles with long antennae (Cerambycidae). Also known as rhododendron borers and azalea borers, they are close cousins to raspberry cane borers.
 
Adult blueberry stem borers are slightly over one-half of an inch long (15mm), light orangish brown, with long black antennae and two black dots just behind the head, on the pronotum. Larvae can be one inch long (25mm) and yellowish.
 
Females lay individual eggs just under the bark and then mark the area by girdling the stem above and below the egg. This damage causes the stem tip to turn brown in early summer.
 
After hatching, larvae burrow lower into the stem, creating an increasingly larger tunnel where they will live and feed for two or three years. Larval feeding weakens the plant, causing wilting, stem damage, and branch loss.
 
If you look closely, you may be able to see tiny holes in the stem where larvae push out light-colored frass (poop) that looks like tiny segmented pieces of sawdust. Unlike currant borers, peach twig borers, and squash vine borers, blueberry stem borer larvae frass holes are oriented upward, so the use of a wire to stab the larvae tends to be ineffective because they stay safely below those holes.
 
Adult blueberry stem borers tend to feed on the underside of leaves, especially on the midvein, causing calluses and leaf curling. While that feeding damage is minimal, you can use it as a tool to monitor your plants.
 
Protected inside your blueberry plants, blueberry stem borer larvae are not affected by insecticides. While you can spray for adults, this is generally not worth the effort. The best control tool is your pruners.

Pruning your blueberry bushes to keep them free of old, damaged, or rubbing stems is your best defense against blueberry stem borers.

Like other flea beetles, tuber flea beetles damage fruit, leaves, roots, and tubers. Adults crawl, fly, and jump from plant to plant to eat the leaves and burrow into the soil to lay eggs. Larvae feed on roots and tubers before pupating into adults. Adult feeding causes tiny holes in leaves, creating a shothole appearance, bare patches on tubers, and leathery areas on fruit.

Fusarium yellows is a disease of the cabbage family.
 
Closely related to Fusarium wilt, Fusarium yellows sometimes goes by that name. More commonly, it is simply called yellows.
 
This disease is caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Conglutinans fungi. It occurs most often in crops grown during warm weather. The disease is at its worst when temperatures are between 80°F and 90°F (27°C and 32°C).
 
The pathogen generally enters damaged rootlets at transplanting time, so be gentle with those babies.
 
Symptoms of Fusarium yellows are easy to overlook at first. Infected plants become a paler version of their healthier selves. They develop a yellowish tint, rather than vibrant green. As the disease progresses, that discoloration becomes more obvious on one side of the plant. The leaves and stems on that side start to curve. Lower leaves, midribs, and petioles eventually wilt and die.
 
Symptoms then move to the upper portion of the plant. If you look at a cross-section of an infected leaf or stem, you can see that the sap has turned dark brown, much like black rot, which turns sap black. The other difference is that symptoms appear in the upper portions of the plant first when black rot is the culprit.

Infected plants should be removed and thrown in the trash.
 
These fungi can live in the soil for many years. The best preventive methods include crop rotation, removing plant debris at the end of the growing season, and growing your brassicas during cooler weather.

In 1905, Byrnes Young crossed “Mayes” dewberries with the “Phenomena” blackberry-raspberry hybrid, which resulted in Youngberries.
 
Youngberry plants
 
Cousin to loganberries, nessberries, olallieberries, and tayberries, youngberry fruits (Rubus caesius ‘Youngberry') are slightly smaller and sweeter than blackberries. They can be dark red or deep purple to nearly black. They start ripening earlier in the season. Canes are moderately thorny, making them a nice choice as a security hedge. Thornless varieties are also available. Both varieties may have tiny prickles on new canes. As with other brambles, fruit is produced on second-year floricanes. These canes can be up to ten feet long and should be removed when fruit production ends. Plants are self-pollinating and can be grown in containers.
 
How to grow Youngberries at home
 
Youngberry canes should be installed in late winter to early spring. They thrive in slightly acidic, fertile clay or loamy soil and benefit from top dressings of aged manure or other compost. Like other cane fruits, they perform better when trellised or trained up a fence. Canes that touch the ground are likely to generate new plants.
 
Be sure to provide good drainage and airflow. Like raspberries, your Youngberries may need shade in the afternoon to prevent sunburn damage. Allow for up to ten canes per plant. Plants should be spaced five to six feet apart.
 
Youngberry plants are not drought tolerant, so regular irrigation is critical during the summer months.
 
Youngberry pests and diseases
 
Youngberry plants are known to be vigorous and highly disease resistant. But excess moisture and poor airflow can result in Fusarium wilt, gray mold, and Verticillium wilt. Fruit flies, spider mites, and thrips may also appear. Birds, grasshoppers, opossums, and other critters can be problematic. Netting may be necessary.
 
You will probably never see these fruits in stores because they do not ship well, but I hope they make it to your garden.