Garden Challenges

The garden is not taking off like I had hoped, and I think I need to re-think my strategy for the future. R's garden is on fire, her peas and greens are growing like crazy. Meanwhile, I had this vision of tomato plants growing to the clouds, and this hasn't been the case. I grew them for a longer period on the greenhouse thinking they would get big and healthy and then I could put the into the ground with a good head of steam. However, they didn't grow that robustly in the greenhouse, and actually turned out kind of meek and gangly. They were really thin, especially the ones that were home runs last year, the Cosmos. The Romas looked okay, so we'll see.

I put them into the ground on the late side because of my strategy and because it was a really cool, gray and rainy June. Tomatoes like hot sunny weather, I'm told. Either way, I thought I did everything right and after a couple of weeks, they still looked pretty anemic. Very disappointing. While they were getting taller, they were so skinny there was no way they could support any tomatoes, not that any blooms were coming. After some rumination, I remembered what my farmer friend, WM, told me about tomatoes. He recommends laying the plants in the ground sideways and submerging as much of the stem as is reasonable. The stem will sprout roots that will support the plants above ground, making it more robust. This approach was seconded by the KJ, owner of the flower farm. I decided to give it a go.

I also employed the help of the kids, who always do a great job. They are very earnest in their approach to things, which is great. We worked on dozens of plants, so we'll see how it goes. So far the cucumbers, basil, and even the zucchini are growing really slowly. It's disappointing, but what are you going to do? Mother Nature answers to nobody but herself.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Phil Thompson for the pic.