Salute to the Solanum lycopersicum

Tomatoes.. it must be summer!

My first tomato, harvested last weekend: a hefty Japanese Black Trifele. Delicious and worked well in the Piemontese peppers I made for supper on Sunday. Many more on the way.



My second tomato, harvested August 21: a Black Krim, but its shape looks more like a Costoluto to me. Oh well. Mysterious goings on in the tomato patch.



I am waiting eagerly to see what comes of my one Speckled Roman plant as the fruits are shaping up well, but look like they have a little way to go before they reach full heft and start to colour.



Also in process: Roma, Persimmon



and some very vigorous Bearo plum tomatoes. I'm told the plants can grow up to 15 feet, and one of mine is certainly trying, but it's hit that old ceiling and will have to stop and spend some more time cultivating its fruit while the season lasts.



All very happy, but there is a dark spot or two to report. Early blight has hit my tomato patch. I think what happened was that after I'd potted them up (seeded them early March) they grew rapidly but too fast for the unseasonable weather - the spring was so chilly I didn't want to plant them out before I went away for a week or so in late May. So I hit on the idea of rigging makeshift greenhouses out of a plastic compost bin, a wading pool previously used as a planter, and some Reemay (row cover) held on with clothes pegs.



It worked brilliantly: the plants were kept nice and warm and they didn't dry out while I was away. They grew like gangbusters and were busting out of the top of the enclosure by planting time the beginning of June. Unfortunately, the conditions inside my little greenhouses were also perfect for early blight which needs heat, humidity and poor air circulation to flourish. When I planted them I noticed a couple had stem lesions



and others had spotty leaves.



Nothing for it but to watch closely for signs of leaf lesions (note characteristic "bullseye")



and get rid of them as soon as possible (not in the compost). I can spray the plants with compost tea or horsetail tea to boost their immunity, and the tomatoes seem to be developing well,



but I'm guessing the spores are all over the tomato patch now so I will just have to plant something different in there next year.

Nonetheless, they're plucky plants, these tomatoes, with a real passion to grow. I had some very healthy prunings - some with flowers - and was curious to see how they'd do if I stuck them in a bucket of water



and voila! they sprouted generous roots,



and are even bearing fruit in a few cases. I assume the fruit will be pretty tasteless... but will let them go to see what happens. I'd also just stuck prunings into soil to see if they'd root: thought they might given the vigour of anything I've put into my compost in the past, and indeed they did. They rooted even faster than the ones in the bucket, I'd say. But were slower to fruit: could be they didn't have as well-developed stalks as the ones in the bucket. I planted one of the bucket plants and will see what develops of its fruit:

Summer scourges

As ever life is a battle here in the plague garden. The enemies this year are familiar foes, with a few newbies thrown in to keep life interesting.

Last couple of years have seen leaf miner damage on chard, spinach and beets; this year the victim was my new sorrel plantings. Here's what it looks like when the situation gets out of hand:



I finally pulled all the diseased leaves off and sprayed with neem oil and it seems to help, though I do find that neem seems to burn the leaves. Apparently the trick is to spray in the evening. when the good bugs have gone to bed and the leaves have time to absorb the neem and avoid sunburn. Perhaps I need to adjust the dosage.

Codling moths have been at my apples again this year - slackness with tree banding on my part; now I gather I'm supposed to pick and destroy infected fruit - it's edible but doesn't store well once it's been tunnelled. None for the compost, since that would just give them a nice warm place to overwinter. Apparently they have 2-3 generations per year. Here's what the entry channel looks like from outside and in:



Two damp springs in a row have escalated the scab on my poor yellow transparent apple tree. Quite a few more apples affected this year, but such a heavy crop it may not matter. Bordeaux Mix dormant spray is said to help as a preventive measure; I'm also told to use compost tea as a foliar spray to generally boost the tree's immunity, but the tree's very large and I'm just getting up to speed with the tea production this year. And pruning is supposed to help as well, but the tree is so big and lush it's hard to know where to begin, although I've worked at it - summer pruning of water shoots and shaped for easier picking.



The zucchini I bought as seedlings from two different nurseries are both developing blossom end rot. Depending on who I ask, I get the answer that it's either due to lack of calcium, lack of water, or lack of pollination. I've put finely crushed eggshells on them now and hope that will help with the calcium; being in pots they are most likely thirsty too so am trying to be more diligent there.



I don't think there's any question who's been eating the healthy zucchini either:



This year's slug battles have been very hard on a couple of bean plants; this one is making a plucky comeback now the overshadowing pea trellis is gone, and is even producing beans now, though is still embattled.



and these beets which were nibbled down to the stem - probably by birds - are growing new leaves!



But. It's not all bad. My plum tree yielded a fair crop of small, tart plums before it was decapitated (leaning heavily on the fence) - as did the neighbour's - two batches of jam and one of chutney so far. And I made some Rote Grütze with plums and other fruits (cherries, blackberries, blackcurrants, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries) from this year and from the freezer, and canned that to have on my yogurt through the winter. And my zucchini is coming - not too fast



and there are some footsoldiers working hard to keep the ecosystem in balance:

July garden tour

Having ceased our monthly meetings, the Gorge Tillicum Urban Farmers enjoy checking out one another's gardens over the summer. The July garden tour happened just over a week ago, on a particularly warm sunny Sunday. We started off at Peg and Tom's immaculate garden



where the tomatoes were doing exceptionally well



the garlic was recently harvested



and the blueberries were ramping up for a generous crop.



Camomile grows readily



and bees were having a field day in the thyme



Some Welsh onions ready for harvest gave us an impromptu lesson in seed saving.



On to Lorrie & Philip's lush garden



where there was lots to look at for flower lovers



and vegetable growers alike



GTUF is fortunate to have a professional agrologist among its membership, and Kendell did us proud, answering questions large and small.



Happy ecosystem.



And then to Kate's where there was more happy ecosystem:



and potatoes in place of a hedge



and cabbages, pears and asparagus;



a nicely sheltered espaliered peach tree,



a cold frame for the basil



and plenty of flowers.