Wednesday, August 05, 2009

The Tomato Blight

I have not been writing about the garden because I am so disheartened by this terrible tomato blight that has ravaged my crop during my midsummer absence. Yes, I have fruit, but it is not resting in the arms of healthy plants. Moreover SOME of the early fruit is suffering from blossom TOP rot. I am tempted to harvest it all green and let it ripen on the mantle.But I have healthy potatoes. And my cucumber plants that I held back planting are just now starting to bear fruit as I had planned. The green beans are doing well as is the Swiss chard. So I should not complain, I suppose. BUT ... August is so about the tomatoes.

The beginnings of a summer harvest

The other success is the Brussels Sprouts. Back in March they had gotten very leggy and I had given them up as hopeless, but on a hunch I dumped two of the leggy ones in the ground and they thrived in the ground during a two week absence. When I returned I put the remaining sprouts, by then draped across the seed trays like La Grande Odalisque, deep into the ground and they too are doing very well.

5 comments:

Liz said...

Just know you're not alone, Leslie. I've got late blight here, too, and while I keep clipping off leaves that are infected, I feel it's only a matter of time before I have to pull whole plants.

This growing season has been pretty depressing. And last night it was 47˚, so I feel it's starting to wind down already. Looking on the bright side, it's been the summer for bountiful lettuce all season long!

Leslie said...

Oh, Liz, you make me feel sooo much better. I guess misery loves company. I've been clipping like mad too. The whole tomato bed looks like a dog with a bad case of mange.

Liz said...

update: well, I pulled four Bellstar plants yesterday because seemingly overnight, they were covered with way more blight than I could clip off.
It's just so sad. And I have a bad feeling that the rest of my tomato plants are going to suffer the same fate. No stocking my pantry this year. :(

Barry said...

I pulled all of my tomato plants. No tomatoes this year at Frost Bottom Farm. Very depressing.

Leslie said...

Oh, Barry .... say it isn't so !! Can it really be August without them?