Thunder Road, Tomato Slayer

Tomato limb after storm

It is extremely difficult to keep up with a garden. There is always something to do. My lethal mistake this month? I insufficiently supported my tomato vines. After a drenching, violent rain and wind storm I went out to the garden and found three limbs that were completely or mostly severed from their mother stem. I was not happy with myself and the rains that came.

This type of thing has happened before. It was hail last year. Not only did I lose limbs but there were countless hail punctures to many beautiful green tomatoes. Those green tomatoes where not long for this world and soon became rotten. Storms are difficult for any garden.

Unlike last year, I reacted to the downed limbs quickly this time around. I randomly had a pot with soil in it, soaked the soil in the container with even more water, then stuck the branches deep into the soil and water mixture. I even cut off a few branches to get the stem in the soil as far as possible. I tied them to a stake and let the healing begin.

They wilted bad at first, to the point where I thought my experiment was a lost cause, so I sacrificed one of the two stems and uprooted it to see if it was creating new baby roots. Indeed it was! The jury is still out about whether this will truly work, but I figured the experiment was well worth a try.

Rational: I had experienced and read that tomato vines have the ability to create their own roots. (Many gardeners even claim that tomatoes should run along the ground for growth rather then be staked and tied. I do not happen to go with method but know there are many who have success with it.) In order to encourage the root growth I made sure to keep the pot well watered, almost muddy even, and I cut the flowers off so the plant could concentrate on feeding itself and not the fruit.

I will certainly include an update if this experiment succeeds. But for now, I still get to be pissed at that storm.

About Me

Not so angry after the strawberry yield this year, 2014

I am a mother, English teacher, gardener, and athlete. I love exploring in my annual/perennial garden everyday and hope to keep record of my trials, tribulations and successes here. I am nowhere near great in any of the listed trades and responsibilities, but there is reason to explore all of these realms. I hope you can enjoy along with me.

Life is tough. We have all heard that cliche. I just like to approach it with a little bit of spice and a lot of taste (as in good food, taste). I try to do most things organically because if  doing a home garden why not? This might be where the "rage" sets in:  There is a point or two every summer where insects or fungus, etc are taking out crops of hard work and time well spent. At this point I do whatever it takes, and sometimes, yes, I turn to the horrific pesticides and remedies that take out bees and small children. I am not proud of it, just desperate. Here I plan to chronicle the likes of both methods.

 First, I will always engage with the organic approach and if that doesn't succeed I will try-try again with the chemical treatment. I try to avoid the chemical and harmful approach as much as possible and if someone out there can catch me not doing everything as possible organically, please call me on it. I need help as much as any one.

6.30.14 Peach tree borer and other fruit tree varmints

June 30th, 2014. I needed to check on the Peach Tree Borer that I had identified a few days ago. Upon last visit I happened to be checking on each of my four trees when I saw a "text book" looking hole at the base of one of them. The peach tree literally spewed rusty-brown jelly. I thought that I had got the borer the day before, but much to my dismay, and eventually enjoyment (gottcha!), I realized that the bugger was still in the tree. I got a long nail and went to town on the hole.

Weeks back, I watched a YouTube video from a guy who seemed pretty knowledgeable about apple tree borers (as an aside, the video was slow, strange, cheesy, and yet mildly entertaining to see these people fawn over an old tree fluffer). One of the biggest take aways from watching the video was his method of tracking borers. So I went with his method and started following the little bastard through the bark until I literally lifted a chunk off the tree to reveal the maggot--all in his squirmy, nasty glory. I then killed him. He deserved it. A-Hole. I don't know what it is about some insects (japanese beetles included in this rant) but these creepies turn me, a complete pacifist and lover-not-a-hater, into a rabies victim.

These thoughts aside there were a few learning moments here:

 1- If there is a hole at the bottom of a peach or plum tree dig into it without reservation. Most likely the borer is still in there and you can't really do anymore damage to the tree that he hasn't already been done.

 2- Keep a watchful eye on your fruit trees as these guys can take over and destroy at any minute. It took me almost 6 months to track this. By the time I figured out that my tree had been attacked last summer (2013) it was too late to do anything, so I watched and waited.

3- Know when the cycle starts in your area. Here in NH, zone 5-6ish I noticed mine at the end of June. I'm sure that can all change each year depending on weather patterns but at least I have a signs and pattern to go forward with next year.

Any observations or questions that you have? I'd love to hear them. These are tricky, tricky creatures and I in no way claim to be a professional with this topic. Just a gardener tryin' to do her best in the the best way possible.