Yesterday the postwoman put the latest issue of Cooks Illustrated in the mailbox by the road. When I looked at the cover I was reminded of the differences in growing seasons in this country of ours. In great beauty the cover displayed heirloom tomatoes… On the day that I brought in the last of our tomatoes off the vines in the garden. Now I know, up in Vermont where Cooks Illustrated is born, the tomatoes are just coming in, but down here in the deep south on the Texas gulf coast…They’re done for the summer. The only way we can harvest any more is to wait for the cooler weather of fall. I sometimes find it hard to believe that a fruit (yes it’s a fruit) most associated with summer in most of the country has a cutoff temperature above which it will not set fruit.
Now, my garden this year wasn’t too good. Freshly made, late in the planting season, bought soil. The late planting missed the early rains and the just warm weather. So I was forced to water and fight the hotter days of June and July. My cucumber vines looked good but we picked not a fruit. Most of my tomatoes would split from the summer thunderstorms dropping 2+ inches of rain as they were beginning to ripen. My bell peppers have yet to do more than bloom and the okra is just beginning to develop.
It’s time to rework the tomato vines. I think I’ll try cutting them back to the ground and seeing if they will sucker out for a fall crop.
Right now it’s almost too hot to think about much more than keeping the garden from drying up in the heat… There is a chance of rain this weekend. We both need it.
I just was looking out the window, noticing that the blue skies and searing sunlight are gone, if not the heat. We could use some rain without a name – I’m as interested in that blob east of Florida as I am Ernesto.
On the other hand, Tom Tynan said on radio this morning that he has a “bad feeling” about Ernesto. He’s a bit of a flake and usually laughs off any weather news – which he admitted this morning. Still, his sense of things is that we might get a “lil’ sumpin’-sumpin” from Ernesto. We’ll see.
In the meantime, getting the house cleaned and organized for a storm seems a good idea. At least it’s a good excuse to stay in the house.
Hi Linda. I’ve been following all of those little blips on the radar too. I would just as soon not have to go through another Ike just yet. Rain yes…And like you, I would like the blob east of Florida to do double duty and bring some rain while sucking some of that energy out of the Gulf. While the plywood for the windows is cut and in storage, it’s a lot of windows to have to cover…
We were out earlier and ran through a good shower on the way back home but the ground at home was still dry. The Wunderground is forecasting a greater chance of showers tomorrow and into next week.