Yesterday was hot and sticky and crazy humid around our place. Working in the backyard wasn’t especially fun, but I got through it because I had looked at the 10 day forecast earlier in the morning. Not a single day over 75 is predicted and and the coolest night should hover around the 50 degree mark. Not too shabby if you ask me.
This little 7 week window, between now and the end of October, is one of my favorite times of year. The mornings and evenings are cool, the mosquitoes have left town and I can actually feel like I’m making a dent in whatever work there is to be done outside.
The Autumn Joy Sedum is finally in bloom!
And the spinner gourd vines are still climbing.
But I think the lemon queen sunflowers are my favorite thing I planted this year. Just look at those centers! I was planning on selling sunflowers at the vegetable stand this summer, but I just can’t bear to cut them. I’d rather be able to look at out the kitchen window and see them along the fence.
The back 40. The bean tepees make me smile when I think of our resident Peter Rabbit sneaking into the garden for his mid morning snack. Those poor vines, with their little legs all stripped of leaves and no sign of a green bean on the bottom 12 inches of the vines.
The feeling isn’t the same though when I come across a baby pumpkin with a few bites out of it.
Luckily though, we still have at least a dozen or more pumpkins on the vine and he doesn’t seem to have an interest in the more mature one that have already begun to turn orange. Maybe the skins are too tough? I don’t know, I just hope there will be enough to decorate the front porch with and maybe a few extra for carving and to offer the neighborhood kids. We’ll see.
And last but not least, my tomatoes! Almost all the big ones this year have major cracks in them. I blame it on the major rain spells and intense heat we’ve had this summer. I haven’t had any problems with the cherry or Roma tomatoes, but the big ones, they’re just a mess.
How are your tomatoes faring this year?
Are you having any problems? Curious minds want to know.
Have a wonderful Thursday everyone, keep calm and garden on. 😉
~Mavis
dj1973 says
Luckily, you can trim the cracks off and those big tomatoes will be super delicious!
Joy says
To prevent those cracks in your tomatoes, provide steady moisure conditions. When they get too dry, the tomato skin toughens up. Then when lots of moisture becomes available, the tomatoes suck it up too quickly and the toughened skins can’t expand and they crack.
Pam says
We have a bad stink bug problem here in NC, they inoculate all the tomatoes which totally ruins them. The only ones they don’t bother are cherry tomatoes, maybe they know they are too small to feed their larvae. We have pretty much given up gardening, but the cherry’s keep volunteering so we do get those.
Tammy says
I’m in SC and after two years of tomatoes I’m about to give up on them too. The stink bugs are so bad!!!
Mel says
We also had issues with extreme heat and heavy rain. Even our most reliable varieties had some issues, and we still had a great harvest, but it wasn’t as good as usual. The exception was the White Currant tomato. I’d never grown it before, and I only planted one, but it has stretched over 3 raised beds and produced well over 300 tomatoes.
I also need to figure out a better trellis system. I at least kept everything off the ground this year, but some spots are hard to reach. I jut trimmed everything back, so I think we’ll get one more really good harvest.
Andrea says
In southeast Louisiana on 9/05 I got into my 102 degree car. My tomatoes were done mid-June. Only okra and eggplant can stand the July heat in my garden. Enjoy your seasons – ours is hot, HOT, Football and hurricane season!
Eileen says
My summer has been dry and VERY HOT! I have the same problem with my big tomatoes too.I thought it was neglect, since we got into the throws of a BIG move and fix up of ‘old’ place. I carve any spots out of the big toms and eat everything I can on BLT sandwiches. Nothing can possible taste bad with a homegrown tomato and bacon….
Amanda says
Your garden looks lovely! My tomatoes never produced much this year, and what they did produce were small and would not ripen correctly. they would turn from green to rotten in an afternoon!
SandyF says
I saw this house today on Old House Dreams-it looks like yours! I wonder if your house was based on this house…
https://www.oldhousedreams.com/2019/09/05/1763-rindge-nh/
Rebecca in MD says
I am in zone 7a, and my cherry tomatoes did wonderful, but my Roma and slicing tomatoes did not do very well. They developed anthracnose, which is not apparent until they begin to ripen. I read that anthracnose is a result of humid, wet summers, which is what we had here in Maryland.
So, my tomatoes are done and we just finished harvesting the last of the sweet and hot peppers. I have a late crop of green beans, but otherwise the garden is ready to be put to bed.
Tammy says
Epsom salt applied around the tomatoes will help the cracking issue.