Sad News

The blight has taken another plant. I had to get rid of the 'Sweeties' plant the other day when I noticed it wasn't producing new growth, and most of the tomatoes that were previously growing had stopped. The stems were turning brown and I decided it was time to let it go.

I sprayed the Fertilome again last Thursday. There were new blight spots but it wasn't spreading like before. It's been rainy, so I haven't been able to spray it again, but I plan to maybe do it this afternoon. The fungus has slowed down but it hasn't stopped. I think it's just a humid, rainy year and we planted our tomatoes too close together. Next year we will hopefully have better luck.

Our peach tree has exploded, on the other hand. It's giving us tender, sweet fruit that I can't get enough of. Some of them have been eaten by worms but not so bad they can't be salvaged. I'll just have to be careful and cut out the parts that are worm-eaten. Some of the ones that have fallen on the

ground had somewhat moldy pits, but I've only found a couple like that. I've read where that could be the result of too much rain, but who knows? If you do, please comment below.

I plan to can a bunch of peaches, freeze some and eat even more fresh. I may even make a peach pie or cobbler.

The tomatoes are still coming, I'm just not getting as many as I had hoped. I think that is because the plants are too close and they weren't allowed to spread out. Also, I read where pruning the plants of the suckers helps the plants focus on fruiting instead of producing leaves and stems. I didn't start doing that until later on. Also, the blight seems to be slowing down the process and I only get one good harvest from a plant before the blight takes over completely and I lose the plant.

I've lost two plants completely but two others that were affected are producing new growth. That's a good sign, I think, but I'm not sure either will give me any more tomatoes. One of those plants was the 'Black From Tula' and it had  some big, beautiful, red and blackish tomatoes but squirrels got to them. I went out to pick them and they had already been torn apart from those furry little robbers. I hope they enjoyed them! Next time I won't try to let big tomatoes like that vine-ripen.

Although we've had some problems, it's all a learning experience. I'm having a lot of fun figuring things out, researching and getting my hands dirty. I feel like I can only get better and that makes me excited for next year. I think I'm going to try to get some seeds going inside on my own this year. Ryan and I also have plans to expand our garden and spread it out a bunch. I think I'm going to move my herb garden and plant more of a variety. I love drying them and cooking with them because the flavors are much fresher that way.

I'm excited to get canning this year. Peaches will be first and I'm hoping I'll have enough tomatoes for canning. If not, I plan to get some from the farmers market or maybe friends who have too many. The families I've gotten produce from in the past had way too much rain this year and not enough luck. My mom's friend has an apple tree that will be ready in the upcoming weeks, so I'll have some apples, too. Can't wait!

Taking Care of Blight

I chose the perfect day to prune my tomato plants. It's been 70 degrees and cloudy. I got lucky.

Next year I really need to remember to plant my crops further apart. I definitely didn't give any of them enough room to spread out and really grow. I have a squash plant wrapping itself around a tomato plant, and tomato plants intertwining so much I can't tell which plant is which. Not to mention, you can see the path of the blight.

Before

After reading up about blight, I've found that it takes touching leaves and lots of water to spread the spores quickly, and you could definitely tell by looking at my plants, the path the blight traveled.

I lost most of my "Early Girl" plant because it's in the back, I couldn't see it very well, and by the time I noticed the blight for what it was, it had spread through most of the plant. Luckily, the branches that held most of the ripening fruit weren't affected, but pretty much all of the other branches were sacrificed. Our "Early Girl" is now a Naked Girl. I think we should still be able to get the remaining fruit from the plant, but I'm not sure how much more it will produce. Hopefully I was able to save it and it will continue to produce a bunch of tomatoes.

Because the "Early Girl" is next to the "Black From Tula's" and the "Orange Chef's" Choice, those

After

two plants lost the second-most of all my plants. Also, the "Sweeties" needed some minor pruning at the base of the plant, and when I did that I found a bunch of fruit I didn't know was even there. As you can see from the photos, I took off a lot of leaves, but I didn't lose much fruit. There is still some low-hanging fruit on the "Sweeties" so I left them there. Also, this plant only had minor blight, and I mulched heavily in hopes to prevent future blight outbreaks. If that fruit wasn't there, I would have cut all of that off at the base and probably still will once those tomatoes are ready to pick.

I went ahead and pruned my other tomato plants in the other garden bed to the south. There were minor signs of blight, but nothing like the north bed, but I still wanted to prune to prevent any blight from happening in the future. I went up about a foot of the plant, trying to think about how water splashes when I water. I also mulched that bed heavily, making sure to spread the straw away from the base of the plant a bit to prevent rot or pest from showing up.

The future plan is to get some soaker hoses set up and get them connected to our rain barrels. That's going to take some work, though, so it probably won't happen tomorrow. Soon, though.