Ahhh... life is good. True, it rarely rains and the tendonitis in my left wrist from hefting full watering cans has become a complete pain in the tush. And it's unusually hot, too, only magnifying the effect of the dryness.But we have 15 varieties of ripe and ripening tomatoes! And five kinds of basil! Life is very good!
Forget about the news reports of late blight -- the scourge of last year's crops. It's not here in eastern MA. It's been too darned dry since April! Yes, this is the up-side of the lack of rain. That nasty stuff doesn't get a head start.
Why, it's been so dry that early blight (which is normal and present in our soil) got a late start this year! It didn't show up until about 10 days ago, when the lowest leaves of people's tomato plants started looking yellow and spotty. Early blight is in our soil and usually starts sometime in June, not mid-July. Nonetheless, some people panicked, thinking they had late blight and started tearing their plants out of the ground.
Early blight and all the blossom end rot (photo at right) we've had due to the dryness only magnified how sure folks were that "we really had a problem." I'm not going to be cocky and say we will never have late blight again, but so far this year the weather conditions are just not conducive to it. Praise be! Have you ever read seed catalogs and moaned in anticipation at how wonderful the tomatoes you're planting are going to be, only to find them to be bland and uninteresting? Well, it's not just the fault of overenthusiastic catalog writers -- tomato varieties will vary in different places. Like with grapes, terrior (the combination of local soil and climate) will make certain varieties truly shine and others pale.
As always, our "Big Cherry" tomatoes are stunningly delicious. The Rutgers and Martino Roma -- well, this will be the last year we'll grow them if that's any indication. From the new varieties we've tried this year, Marmande is truly a gem. Jaune Flamme, Beam's Pear, Sungold and Amish Paste are delightful. Sasha is nice, but I found it neither particularly early nor fabulous. Costoluto Genevese is a visual work of art, but not as exciting as I'd hoped. The jury is still out in Riesentraub, Aunt Ruby's Green, Polish Linguisa Italian Giant, Goldie and Black Plum. And then there's the mystery tomato I am certain I didn't order: pink with green shoulders, and so susceptible that even if I loved it I don't think I'd grow it again.
Of the basil varieties, they are all going great. Sweet, Genevese, Aromato, Ararat and Thai -- can't decide which are best. Also love them combined. Yes, live is good. Very, very good.
