Tomato

Our tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. That pleases my Land Girl, who can then do her land girl activities of putting up produce. That, and the tomatoes are finally catching up with the peppers. Usually, are peppers and tomatoes ripen about the same time, but not this year. She commented that it is nice to be able to put up some of our garden produce.  Prior to this, some peppers were canned, and beans and carrots frozen. 

Some tomatoes

The tomato plants are well loaded with tomatoes and due to some critter that gets in and eats near ripe tomatoes we need to pick the tomatoes when they have some green, and have them ripen off the vine.  We tried placing them in paper bags, placing them in a cool basement, and now we are trying them in the sun.  The internet gives plenty of advice, some of it contradictory. We tried the basement since one source said that cool temperatures ripen tomatoes.  Our day light, for August 26, is about 13.5 hours, which is about equal to what we saw on April 12.  Daylight hours are getting shorter, and night usually means cooler temps. We are still in the dog days of summer. The meteorological summer ends next week. 

Tomatoes

Today, Land Girl finally had sufficient tomatoes for canning.  We had some frozen, and most she used had  ripened over the past days (in various experimental forms) from those we picked over the past week.  With her years of land girl experience, she correctly guessed 7 quarts of home-made tomato sauce from the available tomatoes. She had our large pot almost overflowing with tomato sauce. I suggested she let it cook down more before adding even more tomatoes (that were thawing) and she said she has done this more times than I have; the implication was clear that I should keep my mouth shut.  She used peppers and some spices, such as basil and parsley harvested from our garden. I grow Mariana hybrid tomatoes which are supposed to be for sauces and canning as it is a meatier tomato, but this is the first of the many years I have grown them, that Land Girl found them to be nice and meaty. I start the plants from seed in the second week of March.  

Our summer squash has not been very productive this year, so we have not had to really freeze any zucchini or patty pan. Varied animals, probably turkeys with groundhogs, took out my winter butternut squash plants at a young age.  I replanted with the remaining few seeds, understanding it may have been too late for a crop. Looking at the plants, I realize it is now too late as they are fruit on the vine are not near ripe with less than one month remaining in the growing season. 

Our Herb Garden

We had an abundant crop of lettuce and other greens this year, with the heat finally taking its toll when we got back from a camping trip in July. I now have another crop, for the fall planted, and it may be ready to cut in a week or two. We look forward to fresh garden greens. Fresh produce is the best result of vegetable gardening.

What can beat a gardener down is the weather, diseases or pests.  This year it has, generally, been hot and dry.  We have had some large rains. I have watered the garden a few times, but changed my method this year from that used in the past.  In the past,

I used to use a soaker hose, but that produced inconsistent results in the garden, plus it is difficult to set around the plants as they mature. Using a garden sprinkler tends to require a good length of time since the water sits on leaves and takes a while to get through the plant vegetation and the mulch layer. I mulch with leaves left over from the prior fall, which are used on flower beds, and some pulled off in spring and piled for use on the garden.  By this time of year, the mulch is nearing soil. I watered by taking the hose and turning it part way on and allowing water to flow at the base of each plant. I would move to another plant and back again until it appeared sufficient water was at the base of each plant.  It takes time, but it is probably easier on the water bill, with less waste.  With this method I can avoid water on the plant leaves which can lead to diseases. 

Land Girl making Tomato Sauce

With the varied diseases and pests it can take some work to get fresh produce.  I have not used a chemical spray for pests or diseases on the vegetable garden, and I cannot recall the last time I used a organic spray to control disease or pests. Some vegetables, such as kale, are supposed to be very good for you, but are on the dirty dozen list. I grow my kale organically, and hence, I think mine would not make the dirty dozen list with pesticide or herbicide residue. Another component is vegetable selection, I no longer grow cauliflower since the cabbage worms seem worse in that plant than in broccoli.

Gardening exploded last year during the start of the Covid pandemic. It makes for a good activity in which you can see results. Albeit, at times there may not be such good results, as with the animals eating my butternut squash plants, or my brussel sprouts plants.  Last year my brussel sprouts produced, and come this time of year were eaten clean, leaving only the long tall stalk as a memory of what could have been. Yet, I keep gardening, because we like the fresh produce. That and Land Girl has something to keep her active--like making and canning tomato sauce.