Blight

Well, I thought we had avoided the tomato blight on the fruit we brought indoors, but I was wrong. This week we threw out over 20 gallons of tomatoes, meaning that we won't have enough tomatoes to make the second batch of salsa we usually make. This is the first time in 7 years that we'll be short, and we usually have enough to also can tomato sauce and taco sauce.

Mike and I have been very careful to throw out all diseased plans and fruit, and we've even bleached the tomato cages. Next year I will rotate the tomatoes out of that area so that there is no easy way for the new tomatoes to get infected. I sure hope that will be enough. Only the tomatoes from the back got blight, likely from our neighbors' gardens. Our side beds and front beds were just fine, however the green tomatoes from those beds got infected when we moved all the tomatoes downstairs to ripen. I am worried that blight will flourish in their yards net year and move into mine again.

On the upside, our potatoes have been okay and we brought the rest of the harvest into the basement today. I also picked our edame beans and the girls dug a few more carrots for the week.  It was quite sunny for a lot of the day today, and we all enjoyed some sun while working in the yard. Now only my side bed has anything that is vulnerable to frost.

So far, the spinach and cilantro has not sprouted in the greenhouse, however it has been unseasonably cold and wet. I am hoping that the next few days will be sunny and some sprouting will happen. It will be nice to have something new and fresh. We are still eating basil from the greenhouse and the girls often munch a basil leaf or some fresh strawberries.

Frost

This week I was out at Elkridge for a work retreat when it started to snow and the power went out. I was in a huge outdoor pavilion and everyone was calling home on their blackberries to see their families were fine. I have no cell, but when I made it back to the cabin there was a phone. Mike called to check on me, and I had him check on the garden. He had already covered the tomatoes and I had the poor guy out at 10 pm (luckily he had power and no snow) picking the pumpkins and zucchini. Mike also picked all the tomatoes in the front.

The frost was hard enough that the top half of all the tomatoes, except those in the south bed, was killed. So yesterday I picked everything except the south bed, and we pulled up everything that isn't frost hardy. The end result was a pretty sad harvest really.  Makes me glad that I am not a farmer. Last year, the first frost was Oct. 6th and I didn't pick everything until Oct. 8th when the first hard frost happened. Based on my best estimates, my growing season was 5 weeks shorter this year than last.

Anyway, here is the crop that is now ripening in the basement:

• 3 medium pumpkins and 8 small
• 34 cups zucchini frozen and 3 in the fridge
• 3 more kohlrabi (I only had a total of 12 this year before they got hit by caterpillars)
• 2 large pails of tomatoes. This is similar to what we took downstairs last year to ripen, except we had already eaten and canned a lot. At this point I have only had about 12 cups of full sized tomatoes. That is a lot less than last year. However, many people, including both my neighbors now, lost most of their crop to blight. The bad weather had made many crops really vulnerable to disease and pests, and I am glad that I have some tomatoes.
• 8 spaghetti squash. These are the first of the year, and most are hand-sized. I am not sure what they will be like when we try to open them - same with the watermelon Mike grew.
• 3 cups chili and jalapeno peppers, 4 green peppers.

Still growing in the garden:

• chard
• carrots
• potatoes
• beets
• strawberries 
• rhubarb

I also still have tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers growing in my south side bed. I'll do a complete tally of all crops this year once I have it all in. I did really enjoy having beans right until the frost, and all the cucumbers I got this year. Mike turned the compost yesterday and I got more for my beds in the front, so that will really help next year.

Yesterday I really enjoyed doing some fall tasks. I planted some of my bulbs, although I still need to add a set of tulips and my garlic.  I also pulled up lots of annual plants, although there is still a lot growing. Mike and I bought seeds from broccoli and pea shoots. I also went to a garden architecture shop near the farmers market (Teela would have loved it) and looked around. I have a gift certificate from some former students to spend, but couldn't decide what to buy.