Yes, we have no tomatoes

[ksmith]

There will be no raised bed garden this summer.

I first installed it back in 2009. The first few tomato crops were incredible–I had 6-7 plants, and spent most every weekend from early August through early fall making marinara or tomato casserole or salads with fresh basil (I grew that, too). When the chill weather came, I picked the greenies and stuck them in paper bags to ripen, and had fresh tomatoes into December.

I added compost to the soil and added fresh soil every so often, but for whatever reason–weather, poor choice in plants–the harvests fell off. Last summer’s was the worst–it was so cool that even the farmstands struggled. I managed a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes and some mesclun. Part of me missed the buckets and buckets of harvest, but part of me didn’t care. It had stopped being fun.

I gave the plastic framing to the chimney repair guy, who had a friend who was planning a raised bed garden. That left the dirt, two squared-off mounds of tightly-packed topsoil. Today, I shoveled it into the wheelbarrow and dumped it around the plants near the deck. Over the next few weeks or months or however long it takes, I’ll trim the area with the edger and add more soil and mulch until it looks neat and proper. I have spirea and hibiscus growing there now, and would like to add a few more things. Some of the daffodils in the front yard are putting forth nothing but greenery, which means the bulbs have birthed bulblets that are sucking away the strength; I’ll separate those and stick some near the deck. Look for some shorter shrubs that flower. I am thinking about moving the birdbath garden to the sideyard outside the fence given that the seed that falls to the ground has attracted skunk for the last few years and Gaby has never met a skunk that she didn’t want to harass, the results of which you can guess. If I do that, I can move the astilbes that are growing there now to new homes near the deck….

That will be the outdoor project for the year. Get the backyard in shape.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Comments

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

You may have tomato blight. If you grow them in the same spot, the blight fungus can get in the soil.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I know about blight--I dealt with it the first or second year, and lost the plant in question. At the end of the season, I dug out the top few inches of soil and replaced it, and started using mulch--bark or plastic--to keep spores from splashing onto the leaves when I watered. Planted blight-resistant varieties. So, it may have played a role, but it wasn't the main problem.

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

We put in raised beds last year, but my tomatoes didn't do well. I'm not sure if I didn't get them enough water or something else. This year I'm changing the watering system to a better soaker system, and then I'm going to use bonemeal and some other things to help. I really want some decent tomatoes. Last year I had a lot of blossom end rot or blight.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I'm turning into an old crank--one of the reasons I decided to give up on tomatoes is because the flavor of even the heirlooms disappoints me. Nobody believes me when I tell them that the tomatoes we bought from farmstands when I was in my teens had a scent that filled the car when you opened the bag. The flavors were incredible. All that has been bred out in the quest to develop sturdier tomatoes. I am convinced that once you see a variety in the grocery store, the genetics are pretty much skewed toward shippability and are therefore, frankly, fucked.

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

I picked up heirlooms this weekend. I'm hoping for lovely flavor. I refuse to give up!! :D