Trying To Protect The Tomatoes

Summer has arrived here in the desert and with it, relentless triple digit temps until October.

When it is so hot during the day and does not cool down even at night, the blossoms have a tough time setting fruit. Local experts recommend shading and spraying the plants down to give them a little relief. Others tell you to cut them back and just keep the vines alive until the weather cools and they can produce again.

In a most likely futile attempt to prolong their production,

we wrapped them with some shade cloth.

The sun still shines through, just not so intensely.

The cherry tomatoes don't seem to suffer blossom drop like the larger ones do and they are partially shaded in the afternoon, so no cover for them.

There are four plants huddled behind this cloth.

When you walk behind and into the shaded area, there is a noticeable difference in the intensity of the sun and heat. So we'll see what happens.

From Famine To Feast

I think that feast or famine is a universal theme for home vegetable gardeners. You go from waiting and anticipating your first taste of the fruits of your labors to having more than you know what to do with (almost).

I've been hovering over the melons for weeks now looking for signs of ripening and then, suddenly, while making the rounds last Wednesday we found this Cantaloupe split open on the blossom end. I've been trying not to over water the melons as they ripen, but I guess it was still growing too fast in the heat and cracked. It probably weighed about 4 - 4 1/2 pounds. The ants found it before we did and were really digging it.

After so much anticipation, we couldn't wait to taste it.

It was still a little crunchy so, it probably would have benefited from another day or two on the vine, but it still smelled and tasted heavenly.

First thing the next morning I found that this monster honeydew had slipped the vine.

Since we were still working on the cantaloupe,

he sat on the counter looking pretty for a couple days.

Our 14 year old son polished off the last of the cantaloupe Friday night,

so first thing this morning, I cut up the honeydew.

I suppose I am accustomed to grocery store produce because at first it didn't seem to be very sweet to me but after a little while in the fridge the flavor really developed and it was delicious.

My Last Word On Worms

O.K., so I'm a little obsessed. I promise this is the last time I will subject you to worm photos.

I have learned from the interwebs that my worms are actually Tobacco Hornworms. They are differentiated from the Tomato Hornworm by their red "horn" and their vertical white stripes. Fascinating, I know.

I also learned that the female Tobacco Hornworm moth will lay a single egg on multiple leaves of the same plant. And what do I see first thing this morning?

I found ten or so on my Better Boy.

Oh, and this guy too.

That is the end of the worm pictures.

Even Daisy is bored with them.

Invasion

Seemingly overnight we have been invaded by hordes of Hornworms.

I hose down the deck everyday, so it is pretty easy to tell when they show up.

Some days I will look until my eyes hurt and not find one.

Other days, I can spot a monster like one from across the yard, then I call the macho bug killer of the household to dispose of the nasty thing (with his bare hands!). I do not touch caterpillars unless they are fuzzy, cute Monarch Butterfly caterpillars.

My Hornworm vision was working today and I found at least ten of the little boogers.

They really are beautiful in their own way, perfectly disguised to do their job without being detected by birds or other predators,

like women with scissors.

The Uneventful Garden

It's not that I am a lazy or neglectful garden blogger, it's just that container gardening is pretty low maintenance and there just is not much to report right now.

So here is a picture report card of what is going lately.

The Tomato Hornworms have arrived. If you look closely, you can see the disgusting thing in the dead center of this picture. I try to find them and pick them off before they get this big. But the little buggers have perfect camouflage and I miss some.

The hanging tomatoes are hanging in there. The cherries (the two on the right) are doing fine, but the Early Girl is struggling to set fruit in the heat.

The two non-hanging tomatoes(not pictured) seem to be doing well despite the heat and bugs.

The four varieties of melons are developing nicely. I think that Honeydew in the background is going to go on the Father's Day dinner table tonight.

The Bush Star in the foreground has a way to go.

Cantaloupes are looking good.

Sugar Baby Watermelons are coming along nicely. Only two developed fully though, a few others that started to develop became stunted and eventually shriveled up. I have no clue why.

The Dusky Eggplant is loaded with fruit.

We've eaten a few and they are so delicious grilled or roasted in the oven.

A typical harvest.

The Lemon Cucumbers are a disappointment. The skin is thick and they are very seedy. Picking them small helps but not enough to justify keeping them. I am going to pull them out and plant something else in their container.

Beets, baby carrots and some monster zucchinis. That is lettuce and swiss chard greens soaking in the bowl. I sprinkle new lettuce seeds every two weeks or so for a constant supply. It does fine in filtered shade as long it doesn't dry out.

I don't have the huge glut of tomatoes that I used to get but there is enough for fresh tomatoes just about everyday.

One of my favorite ways to serve tomatoes is to slice them, put fresh mozzarella in between the layers and drizzle them with vinaigrette. Add a few greens and it is a perfect salad.

Happy Fathers Day!

Sweet Fruit/Strange Fruit

One thing I love/hate about container gardening is the lack of maintenance. No weeding or hoeing, not much watering of feeding. I wander around sometimes wishing for something to do while I wait for something to ripen.

I did get to pick a bowl full of tomatoes for this weekend!

And then there was this strange zucchini.

The flower never closed up and the end of the fruit is open with the seeds visible.

A normal flower end compared to the funky one.

My ever-present helpers.