Every once in awhile something really interesting happens in horticulture. Once upon a time new and interesting varieties of corn came on the market falling into categories such as "Sugary enhanced," "Super Sweet," "Gourmet Sweet," "Synergistic hybrids," etc. Flavor improved as compared to the old varieties. Some of these new types had more tender kernels and shelf life improved.
Something new and exciting is out there right now. Have you noticed beautiful strawberries in the supermarkets this week labeled "Product of Atlantic Canada?' This is September and our June-bearing berries are long gone. These must be day neutral berries and they are growing them in sufficient quantities locally to be able to ship them to stores.

Early in the gardening season there were a few glitches, weren’t there? Some early plantings rotted in the ground because it was too wet and then we waded through a crop of slugs, the likes of which few of us has ever seen. Once we got past those things, the season developed into one of the most productive that I have seen in awhile.
Sure, many of my crops were later than I would have liked but that was simply because I wasn’t able to get on the land early. Next year ...
Today I picked my first corn of the season. If you are a novice in this corn growing business, you may be wondering when the corn is ready to pick. Immature and over-mature are equally bad so you have to learn where that ideal mid-point is.

Convincing people that earwigs have virtues is going to be a hard sell these days. I hear all kinds of earwig horror stories but fortunately, we’re presently earwig free. However I could tell you a few earwig stories of my own. How about earwigs in the coffee maker? And to think that less than 20 years ago our whole Island had nary an earwig! Is that right? Does anyone know when they were first spotted?

If your house and yard is crawling with earwigs ,I doubt that you’re too interested in their history, and neither do you care that they act much like birds in that they brood over their eggs in a nest and the adult female guards the young nymphs. The TLC that the young get may help to account for the way in which populations in an area can dramatically increase.

 The following is from Don Stevens of Charlottetown: "We ... appreciated your comments on problems with beans. We have had many problems this year with wax beans but not with green beans. You mentioned that one was covered with something called floating row cover. We have never heard of floating row cover and wonder what exactly you mean by that."

Thanks for your note. Floating row cover is an amazing product with a host of uses in the garden. It’s roughly the weight of a ply or two of facial tissue but very tough. You’ll know why it’s called "floating" if you try to place it in your garden on a breezy day.

I purchased mine at Veseys where they have it in two weights and several lengths and widths. If you have a small garden, you may want to buy one of the longer pieces and cut it up accordingly to suit your garden.