Growing degree days since April 1: 1838 GDD at Springfield (Average (11 year average 1669) (From the Illinois State Water Survey Degree-Day Calculator)
4 inch soil temp: 75.8°F (10 am 4-inch soil temperature under bare soil) (From the Illinois State Water Survey Illinois Climate Network)\
The absence of the Fruit and Vegetable Crop Weekly for the past several weeks was due to the fact that I was traveling in Spain and Europe. I wanted to share a photo of the landscape in Southern Spain - OLIVES, as far as the eye can see. A benefit of all of these olives is that both fresh olives and olive oil (with delicious bread) was served at all of our lunch and dinner meals. Here's a link to information about olive farming in Spain.
Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) have been captured consistently in Illinois as of the first of this month. Small fruit growers should be on the lookout for this pest. The difference between SWD and the common fruit fly is that the pest will attack immature fruit thereby causing crop loss much sooner. If you have questions regarding this pest, please contact me at cvnghgrn@illinois.edu.
Mark Your Calendars for the Vegetable Crop Field Day Monday, August 4th at the U of I Monmouth Research Farm.
Source: University of Illinois at Urbana