Catherine displays excellent farming technique here. Notice the comfortable seat in the shade. Note the proper bottle grasp: high on the neck so as not to warm the beer, but comfortably rested on her knee. But best of all, although you can't see it in this shot, she's watching someone else work!
Look how tall the beans are now! This picture is about a week later than the one in the last post.
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Blossom End Rot
We've been having a problem with blossom end rot in the tomatoes. I checked some references, and the basic problem is low calcium uptake in the growing plant. This can be exacerbated by uneven watering, too rapid growth, or fertilizers high in ammonia-based nitrogen. This is best prevented (by adding lime to the soil at planting time) rather than treated, but it can be helped by watering deeply, pruning, and using compost tea instead of commercial fertilizers. Sources also said it tends to be worst on the first fruits, so it may get better by itself.
The Big Mama hybrids were the worst hit, and our analysis is that those aren't a good choice for our area. However, we all agree that the Sweet Tangerine hybrid tomatoes are a winner, and we'll plant those again.
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This shows the borage and dill we planted down row 6. They are not only pretty and useful, but the flowers also draw pollinators.
This is the galia melon, which I haven't eaten before, but which is supposed to be one of the most delicious. I think a couple of the watermelons are almost ripe.
And! I have a baby pumpkin!
Yeah, I know some of these photos are a little out of focus, but by the time it was shady enough to shoot, we were all pretty out of focus.
What bounty! I need to get cooking. I'm going to make tomato salsa and zucchini bread.
Also, I didn't get a shot of it, but RickC and I went around the back fence and harvested a TON of grapes. We ate all we could, and took the rest home to share.
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