As I was washing the spinach, a whopping 13 ounces of it, I noticed quite a few had some tiny white eggs on the backs of the leaves. I'm not sure what these are, but I'd bet tonight's dinner that they are the eggs that hatch into leaf miners. They were easily washed off and yes, I examine and wash every single leaf that is brought into my kitchen. You never know what lurks in the crinkles of your veggies!
The top two leaves show leaf miner damage. These were the only two in the entire harvest, but see those little white eggs on the bottom leaf ? I found many of these on the backs of the leaves. All the damage and eggs were on the small leaves that were growing near the ground. The larger, crinkly leaves were perfect.
The 13 ounces of fresh spinach just about overflowed the salad spinner basket!On to the newly planted peppers, where I found this:
You'd think, after all these years of gardening, that I'd learn to put cutworm collars around my newly set out plants. Nuh-uh. I just hope all the rest of them will be OK until tomorrow, because it's too late and too windy to go put collars on everything tonight.The salad fixings, though a bit sparse (I didn't plant enough early lettuce, and the quail ate a lot of what I did plant), were beautiful! The lettuce leaves are nearly as large as my hand now, and the mixed varieties are so pretty together.
The four varieties are, from left to right; Red Sails, Prizehead, Buttercrunch and Red Romaine. I only got three ounces from today's lettuce harvest, but with the onions and radishes that will make a nice salad for me and Mr. H. My entire harvest came in at 1-lb., 2-oz.
Yep, I too have never planted spinach without getting attacked by leaf miners. I've tried Spinosad, which I think is essentially BT, but I don't think it phases them. Mostly I just pick the infected leaves first and rip away the bad parts. /sigh
ReplyDeleteCould be worse, we could have all the pests that EG has...
I had leaf miner on my beets last year and they had the same little white eggs. They must be leaf miner eggs. Your greens are looking great!
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! Looking good, Granny.
ReplyDeleteRotten cutworm.
Sinfonian, if we grew all the different stuff EG grows, we probably would get those pests! One of these days I'll be blogging about wire worm damage, because I'm sure finding a lot of them now.
ReplyDeleteDan, I have always had them in my spring planted beets, too. I guess that's why I never bothered eating beet greens. The beets and spinach I planted in July last year didn't have any leaf miner damage at all.
ReplyDeleteRibbit...yeah, rotten cutworm! I have some backup plants, but not very many, so I'd better get them protected!
ReplyDeleteHey granny....oh yes, go ahead and grow all of the things I'm growing...I wanna see the carnage. Ha! It's hard to believe, but I didn't have a single cutworm or svb last year. Maybe it's because I guard everything so closely? Who knows....That is ALOT of spinach! What are ya trying to do....catch up or something? Hee Hee...
ReplyDeleteEG, that big heap of spinach cooked down to just two servings for our dinner, and it was absolutely delicious! Even the fresh bagged stuff from the store doesn't come close to this "straight from garden to pot" freshness.
ReplyDeleteWow, your lettuce is amazing. Mine is still only about 1/2 inch tall. I had envisioned yummy salads like you are enjoying, but alas and alack.... Maybe next year. It's supposed to start hitting the 90's here this week, and I've heard lettuce doesn't like warm temps.
ReplyDeleteRachel
Rachel, I'm really happy with my lettuce this spring, except for losing most of it to the darned birds! I have bunches growing all over now for eating later, but none of them nearly big enough for harvesting, other than this one very small bed. I think I'll build another small box in a shady area of the garden and try to keep lettuce growing all summer.
ReplyDeleteProvide some shade for yours, and it might not bolt so quickly from the heat.
It's a constant battle isn't it, us versus the bugs and pests, some we win some we lose, that's still a good crop of spinach though Annie. Mine's still at the seedling stage (seedlings which I might add the pigeons pruned because, like you with the collars, I didn't get that over in time). They don't miss an opportunity do they?
ReplyDeleteHeskie, yes it is a battle at times. I always try to plant enough to share with the birds, but the bugs are another matter...I don't want them eating from my table!
ReplyDeleteThat spinach looks so good. I'm sure hoping mine does half as well as yours is doing.
ReplyDeleteCheryl, I just hope mine can stay miner free until I get my fill of it! Like I could EVER get my fill of fresh garden spinach.
ReplyDeleteWhat variety of spinach do you grow? Yours looks kind of like mine-not so crinkly. I like the Babys Leaf Hybrid just for that reason. I like less places for the bugs to hide in. :)
ReplyDeleteGood looking harvest granny! I am letting my overwintered crop of spinach go to seed for seed saving purposes, but my spring crop of spinach is just about ready for harvest, so I am back in business with the spinach again. Woohoo! It's a great green and does particularly well in my growing area.
ReplyDeleteThe lettuces are a nice mix of colors. Salads that have visual appeal as well as taste are doubly nice.
Sue, that's Tyee Hybrid spinach. The large leaves are slightly crinkled, but not as much as some types. I also have Bloomsdale Long Standing planted, which does have the more crinkly leaf. I love the flavor of the Tyee, it's very mild when steamed. The Bloomsdale, however, was six packets for a dollar at the dollar store...I couldn't resist!
ReplyDeleteKitsapFG, Thank you! Do you have problems with leaf miners? I have to grab my spring spinach while I can, before it's all tunneled through.
ReplyDeleteI think the main reason I plant lettuce is for its prettiness! Taste comes second on this crop.
I'll be sure to check my spinach for little white eggs... if the leaves would ever get bigger then a pill bug! I can't believe how much spinach you got too.
ReplyDeleteYour little salad fixin's sure do look tasty!
Jenn, I almost didn't plant that much spinach, but I figured there was at least a foot to spare on each long side of the new raspberry bed, and the berry canes won't need that space for a looooong time...why not take advantage of it? So one side got a double 8' row of spinach and the other side got a double row of bush beans. I'm glad I did, 'cause it takes a LOT of spinach if one is going to cook it.
ReplyDeleteIs there any reliable product to use for leaf miners? I just notices some on my spinach.
ReplyDeleteLuke, from what I can find, they are very hard to eradicate or control. On spinach, I would hate to use any type of insecticide, and on my beet leaves...well, I don't eat those greens so I just don't worry about the damage from miners. On both the spinach and beets, I just tear off the damaged area and dispose in the garbage. I don't even compost them. I don't know if they might still multiply or hatch in compost or not, but I don't take any chances. If you do want to use some type of control, I found the following information:
ReplyDelete"The best recommended control for leaf miners is BioNeem. BioNeem is a multipurpose concentrated insecticide and repellent that is used for flowers, fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals in and around the house. BioNeem can kill or repel aphids, caterpillars, beetles, thrips, whiteflies, and leaf miners, among others. The effectiveness of it can be based on several modes of action:
# The insecticide can disrupt the hormonal balance of insects, which results to death even before they move on to the next life cycle.
# It provides the insects a sense of suppression regarding their desire to eat. The chemical product also repels leaf miners from the fogged area.
These modes of action improve the quality of pest control, while also sparing the precious lives of beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and beneficial nematodes."
http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/pest-control/how-to-get-rid-of-leaf-miners/
Granny - I have not had leaf miner problems. I think it is because I plant the spinach very early and very late in the season. The late season planting is actually overwintered (with some grow tunnel protection). Not sure why I have not had problems - but suspicion it is the cool conditions when my plants are doing the majority of their growing. By the time the warmer temps arrive - the spinach is done and I pull it to make room for the next succession crop. This year it will be the summer planting of carrots (overwintering crop).
ReplyDeleteKitsapFG, I don't get miners in my fall beet greens or spinach, either.
ReplyDeleteI had some overwintered spinach, but it was quite tough. Fine for cooking, but not very good in salads. I got my carrots planted too late....they made good bunny treats, but didn't get large enough for us to fool with. This year I'll know to plant them earlier.
Yeah those little white eggs are the leaf miner eggs. My spinach is under a row cover so it should be safe (unless one gets under). My chard however is a different matter. When I find them I look for the eggs and take them off. That keeps the miners out. It works like a charm, but is time consuming.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, I can take the eggs with no problem, they are easy to spot wash right off. I'm just so happy the leaves are still pristine!
ReplyDeleteI found a cluster of white eggs when harvesting spinach today. I think I got them got them all off and picked leaves without them. If I accidentally ate these eggs is this okay? It's my first year of growing my own food (see my blog) and at the moment trying to learn about all the kind of garden pests. The slugs especially liked the spinach lol.
ReplyDeleteHope you can answer the question, will it be any harm to eat the white eggs if missed them when washing?
Hello Matthew, and welcome to my blog!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure those eggs won't hurt you a bit. I try to watch for them as I'm washing my spinach leaves, and just rub them off, but I'm sure I miss as many as I find! Just don't tell anybody else that they are eating teeny-tiny bug eggs. ;-)
Bugs have really liked my garden this year. More than any other year, I think.
Thanks for the quick comment, and also commenting on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI think i'll save this blog and come back frequently. Trying to learn from people much about gardening stuff. Can't wait to expand my garden and provide so much food.
With experience I guess it'll get better in time, and better harvests :)
You're welcome, Matthew. And please do come back and visit my blog. I'd be glad to help you any way I can. I've been gardening for 50 years, and I still make mistakes and have failures, but I never lose my love of gardening.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first year gardening and i finally figured out what those tiny eggs on the underside of my spinach leaves were. Is it safe to eat the spinach if you wash the eggs off. I wasnt sure and threw all the spinach that i picked away, since almost every leaf had them.
ReplyDeleteNancy, I just wipe the eggs off with my fingers, tear off any part that has been damaged by the leaf miners and give the spinach a good washing. It doesn't bother me a bit to eat it once it's been well cleaned. I find the damage is much less as the spinach gets larger, too. I don't have problems with the leaf miners at all in the fall spinach crop.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your first garden! Believe me, someday you'll get used to the bugs and the worms ;-)
Thanks a bunch annie. I have broccoli,onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, and carrots all growing well.Now that i know what those eggs are i will just wash them off and enjoy the new spinach that grows. ;)
ReplyDeleteNancy
What are cutworm collars? All of my greens always get ravished by bugs, holes on the leaves! So annoying.
ReplyDeleteMeems, anything that will protect the tender plant stem from being chewed by cutworms. I like to take a toilet paper tube and cut it down one long side, then cut in halves or thirds (the other, short, direction), depending on how long the plant stem is. Roll each piece up tight to form a little tube, then slip it over the stem. Now, when you plant, make sure half the tube is above ground and half below. The cutworms cannot chew through it, and it will disintegrate by the time the stem is sturdy enough that it needs no more protection. Any heavy paper will work. Daphne just pushes little hard sticks around the plant like a little fence, up close to the stem. That works, too. If I have used the tiny Dixie cups to start the seeds, I just remove the bottoms at planting time and leave the top part on to serve as a collar. Cutworms usually take a plant off right at the soil line.
ReplyDeleteThe hip skin unction: It's the Hugger-mugger to stock your green coffee so that they stay put tonic. You testament find that most all green coffee draw out is quite inexpensive, so sort of
ReplyDelete