Weather: Overcast morning, but I caught a beautiful sunrise at 5:51 AM — and a shot of me standing in the garden with that dramatic orange‑pink sky behind me. Low was 74°F, and with possible showers today the high isn’t crossing the 90°F mark. A rare treat: a cool 87°F.
Morning Work
I mixed up Dead Bugs by Captain Jack’s (Spinosad as the main ingredient) and sprayed the eggplants. Next time, ½ gallon will be plenty — I only have ten plants, and they’re still on the smaller side, though they’re finally starting to grow.
Realization About the Mulch Problem
About two weeks ago, while fertilizing the peppers and eggplants with Expert Organics 4‑4‑4, I came to a hard realization: I have been stunting or killing my plants. After comparing my dying tomatoes with the healthy tomatoes in other plots, I started thinking through what could be wrong besides not hilling them for water runoff.
The answer was right in front of me — the four‑inch layer of mulch I put down over winter and the fact that my walkways are now higher than my beds. I unintentionally created a soggy mess. The mulch held in too much moisture, and the raised walkways trapped water in the beds. The roots were suffocating in cold, wet soil. The tomatoes in the Pickle Patch completely died, and the peppers and eggplants stayed puny. It wasn’t the varieties or the fertilizer — it was the environment I created.
First Correction
My first correction was removing that thick mulch layer. I had a wheelbarrow full of pine needles on each bed — I took those off and put them back into my bin. I also had a wheelbarrow full of chopped leaves, and I moved those into the spinning compost bins along with my grass clippings so they can break down quickly into usable compost.
With the tomatoes gone, I’ll adjust the fall planting next week to make better use of the space and start fresh with healthier soil conditions.
The next correction is slated for when it is cooler in October, which involves physically removing the mulch and the landscape fabric under it, so I can move my gardens to a more natural state where the earthworms can move freely.
Learning Patch
I watered the mounds and checked on my purple‑leaf tomato plant — there is only one that has purple leaves. It actually looks a little better today.
I picked a few tomatoes off the purple‑leaf plant and two Big Beef tomatoes.
Then I hopped back into Pretty Blue — my Toyota Tacoma. Doesn’t everybody name their vehicles? Our Subaru Forester is Grayson — he’s gray, and we named him while stopping in Grayson, KY on our Pennsylvania genealogy trip.
Pickle Patch Work
I watered the new seedlings that germinated yesterday — Armenian cucumbers and India cucumbers.
I also watered two volunteer watermelons. I think one is seeded and one is seedless based on how they look. I’ll update once I confirm the varieties.
They originally sprouted in the yellow squash bed, and I moved them to their new spot before my trip.
I added some brown cardboard boxes and grass to the trellis beds that I’m not planting right now, just to keep the soil covered and improve the organic matter.
Tomatillo Observation & BT Trip
As I was heading out for the day, I left at 8 AM to stop first at the Stewart Brothers Do It Center to pick up BT for the tomatillos.
I didn’t do any tomatillo work today — just an observation. The cooler weather might have helped because they didn’t look quite as wilted, but I still have a problem with fruitworms, and that’s why I needed the BT.
Heading to Documents & Gerald’s Tomatoes
After Stewart Brothers, I went on to Documents, where Robert and I volunteer as consultants.
Gerald has 60 Big Beef tomato plants, and he told me to come pick some for Robert and Rudy. That worked out perfectly since I was seeing Robert that day.
Robert loved the tomatoes I gave him. He was already making plans to use them. For us, of course, we’ll have BLTs. While we have homegrown tomatoes, we eat BLTs every other day. We never grow tired of them.
Rudy loves tomatoes and is always happy to have more. With Rudy, I just call and say the produce is ready to be picked up. He has his key and knows I leave it in the shade, covered with a towel, by my little hodge‑podge lean‑to made out of pallets that protects my lawnmower.
A win‑win all around — Gerald has too many tomatoes, and everybody loves homegrown tomatoes.
Gerald planted the real Big Beef Plus, and they are huge — some over a pound. Meanwhile, I was snookered and got no Big Beef Plus at all, just golf‑ball‑sized tomatoes instead.
Next year I will not be purchasing seeds — I’ll buy the Big Beef Plus plants directly from my local nursery.