Jeez Louise I can't believe how much updating I have to do. I pretty much stopped tracking the rainfall for all of August and I don't even have a photo of MY garden for this post. I need to sit down with my camera (and my conscience) when I get back from my trip to the Pacific Northwest (I leave in about 2 hours) and write a proper blog entry. Bad bad bad.
Meanwhile.....I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with. I AM very happy and pleased and all that. They taste good and I feel like a very generous friend these days (offering enormous heirloom tomatoes, grown with love, to everyone around) BUT.....I still see all the flaws:
The tomatoes are all splitting because of uneven watering and the plants are all toppled over and brushing the ground because I was wimpy at tying the branches to the stakes. I thought they were secure but really, I left them too much room to work with. I must be more stern next time. Oh and I never got a handle on the various diseases (wilt, spot, etc.) so I spent about an hour yesterday trying to clear out all the brown, dried and diseased leaves before they drop on the ground. Have I ruined the soil for next year? Honestly, I think I might just be worrying for nothing because, just about everyone elses tomato plants look about the same but, it sure does seem bad. Someone also told me that the tomato leaves getting wet is part of the problem. How do you prevent THAT? Even if I watered really carefully just at the soil line wouldn't the rain get them wet?
August is a busy month workwise for me and it always is so I just need a better plan for next year. Yes, I am already thinking about next year. I need a whole new layout. My poor parsley got completely shaded out and all my neat paths are pretty much invisible now. Do they have makeover shows for gardener's? "What not to plant?" Oh and I think I need to grow white eggplant. Someone else is growing some nearby and it looks so cool and spooky. I am so jealous.....I must have some.
More on plans for next year later.......
4 comments:
I would SO not be a good candidate to go on "What Not to Plant"! Someone with a whole garden of plants not to my liking would be telling me that my 'Vodka' begonias are "so last year," and then say, "WHERE did you get that cerinthe?!?! From your grandmother's closet--er, garden?!" *grin*
What a fun thought, though...
I always feel my tomatoes look awful by the end of the year. I always vow that next year I will make enough concrete mesh cages for them all and I will woter them correctly and all of that. But you know what they say about best intentions, and I end up with a garden that looks like hell every year. ;) As long as you are getting tomatoes, I wouldn't worry too much.
Hanna - thanks for the sentiment. I try to worry and to be thankful, I really do. Seriously I have had so many tomatoes. I need to stop complaining.
Blackswamp Girl - Someone needs to suggest the show to TLC!!
My tomatoes are a mess right now, too. I need to do some clean up, big time. But, I'm still getting some tomatoes.
If you need to redo your garden and can't find the paths, you might consider boxed in raised beds.
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