I've reached a critical juncture in the gardening season as my tomatoes start to bear fruit and ripen. I planted three plants and three different varieties: Brandywine (heirloom), Cherokee Purple (heirloom) and a Better Boy (a hybrid) in my small community plot, which unfortunately has a reputation for poor tomato harvests.
The heirlooms have produced several sizeable tomatoes, but they are still green. To protect them from the predators (visitors who cannot resist helping themselves), I posted signs that read "Warning Wasps" as a deterrent to the "help yourselfers." I was not exactly bullshitting since a nest of wasps have taken up residency in the decorative lantern nearby. This strategy—which does not appear in Craig LeHoullier's Epic Tomatoes book— has it's limits since other predators like squirrels are illiterate.
If that wasn't enough to worry about, our community plots are susceptible to tomato wilt which took out one of the plants while I was out of town over the weekend. I even serenaded my plants with "Hang on Little Tomato" before I left, but it didn't help. I guess not even China Forbes from the musical ensemble Pink Martini could have saved my Better Boy.
Please stop our pop-up books booth this Saturday morning, June 24th at the Carter Center Freedom Farmers Market to commiserate and to swap stories. Don't worry if you don't have a story, we sell them.
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