My poor garden. If I’m not sharing tomatoes with the critters…
…the plants are dying on the vine. It’s so sad. It never fails. Just when you think everything in the garden is happy and producing…Wham! Crop Failure. And this time on a huge scale. This was one of my favorite tomatoes–the Black Seaman Russian Heirloom that I got at TomatoMania at Rogers Gardens. It produced the most delicious tomatoes I’ve ever tasted.
I was still thinking about how good those tomatoes were this morning when I ran into Lynn Ross, my friend and fellow gardener. We exchanged gardening horror stories. I was sad to hear she had trouble with her zucchinis (and was on her third planting) but if you recall, zucchinis have also been my bane this season.
After talking to Lynn I decided to share my failures and frustrations, so if you’re having troubles you’ll feel like you’re not alone. And if anyone has any suggestions for me, please let me know.
A couple weeks ago I noticed some of my tomato leaves were turning brown, but this seems to happen later in the season so I wasn’t too concerned. Then overnight…and I do mean overnight…they were dead and dying. At least five of my plants were on life support.
I was heartbroken. Then I felt the soil. Dry as Kansas. The drip system I put in with the new garden (all to conserve water and better irrigate) failed me. I’ve now replaced it was a soaker hose. Hopefully this will work.
But it’s too late to save these cucumbers! They’re a dying mess. How could this happen so quickly? Two nights ago Jake and I were eating dinner in the garden–he even joked that the plants would grow faster with our company–and now…this!
Or how about this view…
Or this one…literally clinging to life.
This is the most pathetic. Notice the tiny little cuke at the bottom of the picture. RIP.
Don’t let the pretty yellow flowers fool you. This is a broccoli plant and should not have yellow flowers. It should have green broccoli!
I could give up right about now. But you know I won’t, mainly because of the Italians.
These Italians–the San Marzano tomatoes. I can always count on an Italian to make things right!
And I’m hoping this new batch of cucumbers will pull through for me.
And I can’t complain about my corn. At least I CAN irrigate, unlike my fellow farmers in the Mid West.
So for now, I’ll just pull out the old and put in some new…what else can I do!
And as always–even when it’s frustrating–Enjoy!
Categories: Gardening Tips, Summer
Tags: crop failure, rogers gardens, Tomato Mania
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Whole Foods.
Remember my last post….Shotgun + Lawn chair + cold drink = dead critters.