Stress Your Tomatoes

About a week ago I put the shovel tip down a foot from the base of my tomato plant, jumped on it and pulled back. The four foot tall tomato plant and tower leaned away from me and I heard roots snapping. The next day the plant was a little wilted so I knew I had stressed it some..

Three days later the dark green tomatoes started turning light green. I wish I had done this a month ago..

The sun set behind the mountains to the west of us at 7:20 last evening, reminding me that the days are getting shorter. It's a bountiful time for us gardeners, with so many crops to harvest. We really should take some time to preserve our abundance for nutritious winter meals, but spending time indoors for me is burdensome..

Peas and strawberries are about the limit of my preservation skills because all you have to do is spread them on a cookie sheet and freeze them before putting them in freezer bags. Canning is too much work for me and broaching the subject to my wife about doing it would take more tact than I have available to me..

I walked by my tomato plant yesterday and shook it. This is not an endless summer. I'll have no truck with complacency. We gardeners often like to feel like sorcerers, coaxing life out of the rich earth. In reality though it's all about science. Every plant has specific needs at various times during its stages and applying them results in success..

So many lumens, liters of water, molecules of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, humidity, temperature,and support. Lots of math involved but we all wing it because we are enchanted by the mysteries, and enamored by the complexity. The myriad interactions of all the natural processes overwhelms us. We observe and are humbled..

We got ripe tomatoes. I guess I learned to talk turkey to the tomato plant :), and the raccoon only digs up one little spot before he leaves. Must be a Rush Limbaugh talk show. The spinach I just planted is Monstrueux de Viroflay and the seed packet says it can overwinter in sub-zero temperatures if mulched. Sounds interesting. I think I'll give it a try..

The heat wave is over and I'm amazed at how much difference 10° can make in my gardening pleasure. I actually got some weeding done this morning. My water wand has been on all day long for the last three days, up one side of the garden and down the other, one hour per spot. Nothing's wilting today and I had to finally turn it off..