The tomato crop is prematurely over. We had a real nice crop of tomatoes that were in various stages of turning ripe. But the late blight has hit them. It came on very fast. Within a few short days, the initial signs on the fruit went from a few of the fruits to being present on every plant in the patch. So instead of getting another 2-3 bushels for canning today, I took out just a little over half a bushel. When the rain lets up a bit, I will be pulling all of the plants and fruits out of the garden and destroying, not mulching, the remains. I saw the signs of blight on the leaves a couple of weeks ago. I was hoping for the best, knowing that in all likelihood the disease would spread if the weather continued to be so wet . . . and that it was too late to save the individual plants. Hopefully, some good fruit would remain and usable. I have a strategy. Next year we will be better prepared. I will graft my favorite heirlooms onto hybrid root stock that has blight resistance. At the very first sign of a problem, I will remove the infected part, root and branch and keep it from ever touching the plants that are productive. We are grateful for the bounty of the garden and will protect it in every way when we understand the true nature of that which threatens the harvest. How odd that this would happen at this particular time! There are lessons to be learned from the garden which I suspect can be applied directly to various current events.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:17:11 +0000
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