Slow Season....So Far

With all the rain and off and on temperatures I figure I will be lucky to get much from my few plants this year. Finally I have one Grape Tomato turning and finally I have more coming on. I even used Blossom Set but a couple of weeks ago we had two weeks or so of high heat and humidity, somewhere in the mid 90's. Then we got down in the lower 40's a couple of nights but mainly the low 50's. Plants don't like changes and they don't like heat, well not tomatoes.

This plant is in a Topsy Turvy, little experimenting on my part. I have a full size tomato also in one as well as a full size in the ground. The two full size are running neck and neck but the in ground plant seems to be catching up. You see, it took a beating when we had small baseball size hail hit the area. Poor thing was on the ground with a partially cut stem. I stood it up and packed some dirt around it and voila, it is growing well.

The other full size as well as the grape type are in the Topsy Turvy planters. They weathered the storm quite well. I think it was due to the fact that they could swing in the wind and thus the plant end was not exposed to the hail. It was the end where put your dirt in. One took a couple of real damaging hits that broke the lid into several pieces. I called the company to try to buy a replacement and they sent me a new one, no charge, not even shipping. Only thing is it the kind that you put a pole through the center and the plants (3) around the side. I have sense then used duct tape, takes six strips, to fix the cracks and to keep it in place.

Busy busy

Strange. I'm retired and feel that I manage my time fairly well yet I seem to run out of time to get things done. I really wonder, sometimes, how I worked 6 and 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hour days plus the 45 minutes it took to drive each way and still get most things done. There are several solutions to this.

First, I was younger and secondly, I moved faster. On the rare days I was off I got up and out sooner. Now it is up by whenever my eyes open A.M. and out the door whenever I get my tail moving after breakfast or after lunch. I would use the excuse that no mater what the project is it has to be done correctly, which we all know perfection can't be rushed.

I use to live 45 minutes from work on 5 acres that had 1.5 of them in grass. A farmer used the rest. I had a garden that measured 35' x 85'. I also used 205' of ground just off the grass line to put out 4 rows of sweet corn. One year my dad and I planted from the grass line to the back property line which was in excess of 500' the 4 rows of corn....4 varieties. Gave a lot away that year. We filled two 21 cu. ft. freezers too.

Since we were there, age then was about 52, we moved to a condo and I retired when a pacemaker took me out of the field of work I was in. I was 55. Boredom set in so we bought a house. Now I can get out like I use to but the huge garden is gone. At 64 and still with the pacer, can't seem to shake it, I have the small yard that I keep perfect...most of the time and I did the raised garden thing but then gave that up. Now I put the plants wherever I want but not as many. No corn of course but I do have chives (anyone need some) and tomatoes. This year I am trying the Topsy Turvy "As Seen On TV". But, as you can see I have the backup in the ground. We'll see what happens in about 54 days or so. These are Big Boys.