Cracks in the Armor

They may not be Jon and Kate or Reggie and Kim, but a good sized bunch of tomatoes are breaking up. Ironically, our problem is occurring just about everywhere except on our celebrity tomato plant.

As you can see, many of the tomatoes (mostly on the heirloom plant) have large tears or cracks in their skins. What causes this problem? There are a few possibilities.

1)Alteration in the growth rate- The fruits may not grow at a steady rate. They can go from a slow rate to a rapid rate. In doing so, the cells in the tomato may not be able to stretch quickly enough for the skin to grow in accordance with the rest of the fruit (kind of like stretch marks on a pregnant woman).

2) Fast growth- With the high temperatures and humidity here to stay, some fruits grow very fast, and again, the skin of the tomato can't stay with the rapid growth.

3)Fluctuation in temperature- In the hot sun the fruit heats up and cools off during the night. If it's a substantial change in temps, it causes a lot of expansion and contraction. This will cause the skin to crack during those cycles.

4)Uneven nutrient levels- Plants with high levels of nitrogen and low potassium are more likely to crack.

5)Change in watering cycles- If there's a dramatic change in the cycle the plant receives water, cracking will occur.I have a feeling that a couple of these could be my problem, but I think the main issue is #5. When I went on vacation, the watering cycle changed from every other day to whenever my neighbors could water. Don't get me wrong...for two weeks of no rain, my garden stayed healthy thanks to their efforts.

But the transition from a very wet spring to a dry summer has altered the water cycle of my plants. It was just a matter of time. If the rains had been even throughout the seasons, we may not have had the problem.

The good news about cracking is it doesn't make the tomatoes any less edible. Good thing because I need a good snack while surfing the celebrity gossip websites for all the new Hollywood break-ups and drama.

The July Monthly Update

The Garden: July 23, 2009

It's a few days late, but I finally have a chance to sit down for the monthly update. This farmer spent the past week back in the homeland of Colorado. It has been a very wet (unusual) year in the Centennial Sate. But temps stayed cool longer and gardens got a late start. All the rain was doing wonders, but a severe storm packed with hail and high winds this week did extensive damage to gardens and crops across the Denver Metro area.

Back here in Virginia, Mother Nature turned off the spicket several weeks ago. The temperatures and humidity have gone up and so has the need for water in the garden. It figures this would happen the same time I leave town. Thankfully, the Mrs. did a great job of watering followed by our neighbors. Was the garden as healthy when I returned? No. But it could have been considerably worse.The Harvest After Our Colorado Trip: Tomaotes, Cucumbers, Jalapenos, Romaian Peppers and NM Chiles

• Acorn Squash-Probably suffered the most in the heat and decrease in water. Many leaves died off and the squash have not grown in size the past few weeks. I'm hoping that the plant recovers and produces great squash in its prime fall harvest season.
  
• Albatross Bell Peppers- See Romanian Sweet Peppers....because it doesn't appear we ever had Albatross Bell Peppers.
  
• Jalapeno Peppers- Wowser. This is clearly El Hefe of the garden so far. The poppers (see previous blog post) have been the hit if the season.
  
• Romanian Sweet Peppers- I thought we had one Romanian plant and one Albatross pepper plant. Well, it looks like someone mislabeled some plants because the "albatross" looked identical to the Romanian. Either way, we've already had some ripe and delicious looking peppers. I cut three off just this morning
  
• New Mexico Espanola Chiles- The chiles are growing nicely and we picked our first batch this morning.
  
• New Mexico Heritage Chiles- Along with their Espanola cousins, the Heritage are putting out a lot of peppers. Being away for a week allowed some peppers to turn red instead of a green-color harvest.
  
• Bush Whopper Cucumbers- No surprise the cucumber plant is doing fantastic. The cucumbers are big and tasty and the plant has maintained a compact growth pattern.
  
• Celebrity Tomatoes- The birds had a field day with the celebrities. With the mesh and Oswald in place, we're getting a chance to eat a lot of big, juicy tomatoes
  
• Mr. Stripey Tomatoes- By the looks of it, the Mr. Stripey's might have been mislabelled as well. The tomatoes are a solid yellow color and appear fully ripe. No stripes in sight.
  
• Patio Tomatoes- Birds had some patio 'maters, too. But the plant keeps putting out some tasty tomatoes.
  
• Supersweet 100 Tomatoes- The name fits the bill. These little red beauties are sweet and delish.
  
• Finger Carrots- I thinned out the carrot box and I think we might have some edible carrots.
  
• Lisbon Onions- Ready to use. The onions are a cool season crop, so they won't last long in the heat.
  
• Dwarf Gray Sugar Peas- After a plentiful harvest (two frozen bags worth), the heat killed the vines quickly. I pulled all the vines off the trellises.
  
• Rutabagas- Thinned them out and looking better. Still pretty small.
  
• Salad Mix- The salads we had were great. But again, the heat does this plant no favors. See you in the fall, Salad Mix.

The herbs are blowing up except for the dill and cilantro. Those are finito. Oh well, they made a good run.

The fruit plants are...well....there. Although the blueberry vines are spreading fast. Could be a great sign for next year.

Pole Positon 'peño Poppers

You have a big NASCAR race party and can't think of a killer appetizer? Have a basketful of jalapenos fresh from the garden sitting around?
Here's a recipe that will qualify you at the front of the pack and quickly lapping the #7-Layer Dip car. I pulled this recipe from a The Food Network, as submitted by some guy named Joe Rao. I changed a couple things to give it a little more horsepower (but not heat).

Ingredients:

• 20 large jalapeno peppers
• 1 package of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/2 cup of shredded mozarella
  
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder (or 4 garlic cloves minced)
  
• Chopped fresh basil leaves
• Pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper
  
• 10 strips of bacon cut in half
  
• Skewers or toothpicks soaked in water (so not to burn on grill)

Preheat you grill. Cut tops off jalapenos and make a slice down one side of each pepper. Do not cut in half. Take a small paring knife and clean out all white flesh and seeds from inside the peppers (this is where all the heat of the jalapeno resides). Combine cream cheese, mozarella, garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper. Mix until creamy. At this point, put the cheese mixture in a pastry bag. Most folks don't have a pastry bag, so put the mixture in a ziplock bag, squeeze out all the air in the bag, and cut a corner off. Voila...a redneck pastry bag. Take slice of bacon and wrap around each pepper. Once wrapped in bacon, take each pepper and fill inside with cheese mixture. Poke skewers through each pepper (I put five peppers on each skewer).
If you have a grill basket, hang skewers on basket so that jalapenos sit upright. Grill on high heat until bacon is cooked. Remove from grill and let cool for 5 minutes. Crack open your favorite brew, devour, and watch Dale, Jr. suck once again (the only place he wins is the souvenir stand).

It's as simple as that!!!

It's The MOTHERF#@&ING Birds!!!

Although he is an accessory to the crimes (seen yesterday eating pieces of tomatoes), it is apparent the main culprit of the tomato killings is not Mr. Squirrel. The bandits are from above. And here is how I know:

Assuming that Mr. Squirrel was causing the problems, I erected 3 ft. high fencing around the plants. This prevented the furry rodent from climbing into the pots and grabbing the tomatoes. But this afternoon I walked out to the garden to see two birds fly out of the patio tomato plant. Sure enough the red tomatoes, untouched this morning, were damaged and clearly done so by a bird beak.After screaming in anger, frustration, and sadness, I rushed back to Home Depot to finish the protective fortress I started yesterday.

Upon my return, I wrapped the tops of the plants with a plastic mesh designed to keep birds away. With plastic ties, I secured the mesh to the plastic fencing and (hopefully) created a barrier between bird and tomato.My security plans do not end there. A good fortress needs a good guard.

Meet Oswald. His wicked stare could give anyone the heebeejeebees. Let's just hope the birds buy into the fact he guards those tomatoes with his life and is willing to take theirs' to do so.

His permanent replacement is almost ready to stand guard....but you'll meet him later.

One more thing: Don't think this crime went unpunished. I returned the favor by destroying the bird nest in our front gutter. Don't mess with the gardener or you'll get the hose.

No More Mr. Nice Gardener

Dear Mr. Squirrel,

To say we don't have the greatest relationship is putting it mildly. Despite the fact there are hundreds of yards in the neighborhood for you to dig your holes and bury your peanuts (from the old lady down the way), you have chosen to do all your excavating in my garden pots this spring. I will be honest, this greatly bothered me when the plants were still young and developing. You've ruined a few carrots, damaged the raspberry plant's roots, and disrupted the basil plant.

As the days grew longer and the plants grew taller, I let my frustrations go. Hey, we all can forgive and forget.

But today, all my goodwill was destroyed. Gone for only three days, I returned to find cold-hard evidence that your holiday weekend feast was several patio tomatoes. We're not even talking nibbles. You devoured most of the tomatoes. And to rub it in my face, you hopped over to the Mr. Stripey tomato pot and dug a hole big enough to bury Jimmy Hoffa..... again.

So consider the truce over, my furry friend. You just purchased a one-way ticket to Youregonnadieville.

Sincerely,

Your Worst Nightmare: A Pissed-Off Produce Grower