Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Bitten by Blight

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Want an indication of how things are going around here lately? Here you go…

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Ugly blight.

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Miserable blight.

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I’ve just pulled up 9 plants, all of which were Homestead tomatoes, and disposed of the diseased material.

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Fortunately, my other heirlooms seem to be doing well. These are Yellow Jubilee tomatoes.

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This end of the bed is looking okay for now.

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I spotted my first Cherokee Purple tomato.

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And a gigantic Brandywine.

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My yellow crookneck summer squash is looking bad, too. There are signs of black rot… but I’m holding out hope for it yet.

I harvested 3 healthy squashes from it and pruned back some of the wilted foliage.

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The Black Beauty zucchini is doing much better.

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And the Black Beauty eggplants, too.

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The kids are thrilled to have several Sugar Baby watermelons growing nicely.

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But, I am not thrilled to have had to harvest all of these green tomatoes. I guess I should be thankful that I have these tomatoes at all.

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The fruit is fine. It will ripen on it’s on and go into canning jars for us to have this winter.  They’ll be a mere shadow of the glorious tomatoes they would have been if left to ripen on the vine. But, I couldn’t risk letting it spread to the other plants… and they may indeed develop blight before it’s over. Fingers crossed. Prayers said.

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I love this little girl… wearing my glasses and examining my tomatoes. Just like her mama.

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We call her the ‘Chicken Wrangler’… little girl loves her chickens.

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And you’re probably wondering what has gone awry in my garden. We’ve had intermittent periods of drought followed by storms so severe we lost power. Torrential downpours in the evenings which are not good for the health of a garden. We’re making the most of what God has given us, thankful for his many blessings.

I’m off to see my Papa this morning. I hope you’re garden is growing better than mine!

6 comments:

Berit said...

I know it's not what you're hoping for, but I'm entranced thinking of delicious fried green tomatoes! Yum!

Hope all goes well with your visit.

Maura @ Kisiwa Creek Photography said...

Hello Melissa! I'm sorry to hear about your tomato plants...it's frustrating going to all that work and then loosing some. It looks as though you've got a lot of plants left so if all goes well you should still have lots to enjoy. I have one plant that's showing blossom end rot but I understand why...to hot and dry and I need to water twice a day with this heat. All your other veggies look wonderful...that watermelon looks great! I planted watermelons too but they don't seem to be growing very fast...I hope they have time to develop fruit before fall. I'm having fun though and I hope you are too. Enjoy your visit with your Dad! Take care...Maura :)

The Mac's House said...

How much property do you dedicate to your gardens? I want to garden at your house. I don't have anyone here that is willing to jump in and help me out.

The Mac's House said...

Unfortunately my garden isn't as great as yours at all....

We haven't had enough rain around here to make anything want to grow but the blackberries that the dogs keep trying to get after.

yours looks so yummy......

Melissa Price said...

Teri, we have about 3/4 an acre which I garden on. We have 4 raised beds and a large plot that we tilled for corn, peas, and beans. I'm on the verge of planting winter squash. It is ALOT of work. Especially when we haven't had significant rainfall in about a month. You can see my gardens here:

http://sweethomesteadalabama.blogspot.com/2010/05/garden-update.html

My husband was instrumental in getting the garden beds built and tilled, and then he helped plant the biggest garden bed. Other than that, I've been on my own and loving every minute of it. The kids love to help out with the weeding and harvesting. : )

Here's where I gardened last year, before we moved to the homestead:

http://melissasews.blogspot.com/2009/08/kentucky-wonder-goodness.html

I only had two small raised beds. Needless to say, I'm in heaven now!

MAYBELLINE said...

What a heartbreak to lose some of your garden to blight. Hope everything else thrives.