Outside

Mid-Summer Disappointment

Here it is, the end of July, and I should be reveling in the summer produce that should be bursting out of the garden. Well, that just ain't so. Since harvesting my garlic last week, I've been seriously disappointed - if not downright p.o.'ed - with my garden.

Last year I was pretty smug about my homemade rabbit fences. I used window screening and wooden posts, and didn't have rabbit problems at all in 2006. Well, this year is another story. Below are my bush beans, almost completely denuded of leaves. Since this photo was taken (on the 15th), the rabbits have finished off any remaining leaves and there are no longer any flowers. I didn't even take a picture of the pole beans on my trellis - the rabbits have nipped almost every vine - I believe I have about 5 (maybe) on the 5' trellis.

As I mentioned, there is also no produce coming from the garden. Last year, I had a lovely first harvest of tomatoes, beans and potatoes on the 18th of July. Well, here it is a day later, and I can definitely say there are zero beans and only green tomatoes.

But, I'm a gardener, so I need to find some postives here. Last night I noticed the first small zucchini, which should be ready to pick in a few days. Considering that last year I harvested exactly one squash - in October - I should be happy about that. Although the Diva cucumber vines are looking anemic, the lemon cucumber vines are flowering profusely and threatening to take over their bed. I have basil seedlings coming up, and my herbs are doing extremely well. And, even though all the tomatoes are green, the plants are lush and healthy, with lots of fruits and flowers.

I think this weekend I'll get out there and plant some fall crops. It might be a little hot, but if I wait too much longer they won't have time to mature. Plus, while I'm doing that I can plan for the new - and permanent - rabbit fencing for the upper garden. Spouse doesn't know it yet, but this fall he'll be helping me dig trenches and nail up fencing in the space between the ground and the wooden fence.

If nothing else, spending some time planting for the future will help turn my garden attitude around.

Rabbits with Halitosis

Who says rabbits don't eat chives? I must have the least-picky rabbits on the planet, because not only do they eat my chives, they also eat my tomatoes, marigolds, creeping charlie, bee balm, etc. etc. etc.

Blossom End Rot!

This photo could be included in textbooks as the perfect illustration of blossom end rot in tomatoes, and I found it in my very own garden. (Peals of ironic laughter follow.)

I'm bummed about this because I haven't had blossom end rot (BER) problems since my first year of vegetable gardening. At that time I learned my lessons about watering on a schedule and have not had the problem again.

The affected plant is the Brandy Boy tomato I have growing in a container. The Brandy Boy in the ground seems unaffected; however, the one in the ground is not as well-developed as the one in the container. So far, this seems to be the only plant affected. I found it this morning before work, so I only had time for a cursory look around the garden. Tonight I'll do some more poking around.

I'm not quite sure why this particular plant has developed BER while the other 13 have not (yet). Fluctuating soil moisture is the most common cause of BER, and it's been very dry - June had only 2.81 inches of rain, which is 1.53 inches less than normal. (Information found at www.weather.gov - cool site.) However, I've been watering deeply every 4-5 days which seems to be enough for the other plants.

Inadequate calcium uptake is the root cause of BER (fluctuating moisture just makes it more difficult for the plant to "consume" the calcium). However, all six of the containers have the same organic potting mixture, and this seems to be the only plant affected.

I searched the web, and just as I suspected, there really aren't any solutions once the plants are in the ground besides keeping the soil as evenly moist as possible.

This weekend I'll pull off the offending tomatoes, give everyone a nice fish emulsion shower, and keep my fingers crossed.