Gangbuster Tomatoes

   We gave up gardening last year and planted grass in the last small patch of our once-huge garden. Yet, I couldn't imagine life without any vegetable garden. So I pulled out the iris I had in a raised bed and turned that into a mini-garden. The first year was not very successful. I only planted tomatoes and they got blight. But I was too stubborn to give up that easily and tried again this year. 

   This spring I pulled out more iris and planted four cabbages, two tomatoes, one small pack of green bean seeds, and candy onions. Things are doing better this year. The soil needs some nutrients and with help in that department could produce a more bountiful harvest next year. We have eaten one cabbage so far and the beans are ready to pick. They were planted later than normal but that short double row of beans is doing great. This is the size of garden I can keep spotless. 

   The tomatoes have not gotten blight this year. Thanks to google and a master gardener, I found the secret to preventing blight. It's very simple and inexpensive. Cut off lower leaves that could touch the ground to prevent blight from starting. Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, two tablespoons of baking soda, and a few drops of dish soap to a gallon of water in a sprinkling can. Sprinkle the plants every two weeks with this solution, or every week if already blighted. It works! My tomatoes grew like gangbusters and shot up above the tomato cages. They got so top heavy they are falling down over the cages. They were a bit late getting started so no tomatoes have ripened yet but they are growing nicely. 

   August is the month of maturity. The corn across the road from our house once again blocks our view of the sunrise. A dry spell threatened their growth but with a few good showers those corn stalks shot up like a growth spurt in teenage boys. They are now topped with tassels and busily forming ears without stopping to sleep at night.

   Canning and freezing the bounty of August is the crescendo of the summer with corn, peaches, apples, and tomatoes all coming to maturity at once. A late freeze destroyed the peach crop but I canned enough last year for two years so we are in good shape. We are abundantly blessed and grateful for another good growing season.