Fall Tomatoes

I never get them planted early enough it seems and this year was no different. They need to be in the ground by June 30th and while I was two weeks earlier than last year, I still didn’t get them planted until right around the middle of July this year. The brutal summer stunted some growth it seems throughout August and into September. I also picked out a crappy looking plant along with two decent ones at Home Depot, too lazy at the time to drive to my local nursery. However, the two good plants really turned on the growth mid-September and are now 3-4 feet high. They don’t have many tomatoes on them and with only 30 days left in the growing season, it doesn’t look like I’m going to get a great harvest.

I dumped 2 gallons of diluted fish fertilizer on them this morning which will hopefully increase the yield a little bit. It had the unfortunate effect of turning a beautiful 58 degree morning in the garden into a scene from Cannery Row. Hopefully the dog doesn’t decide to lick the plants.

We got three quarters of an inch of rain early this week which kept the rain barrels full. The ones that got rebuilt this summer are holding water but there is a small leak in one that keeps it at about half full even after a rain. Probably a project for this weekend. The garlic and fava beans have not germinated yet so I’ve got my fingers crossed.