What can I say? I love to share my gardening exploits with you through my blog, but I also feel so drawn to my days in the garden that I can’t seem to sit still with my laptop - hence, the big blog gap. There is actually another reason - in a way, I’ve moved my updates from this blog to my Instagram feed, and, most recently, my regular weekly Friday Instagram Live “shows”. So, a big mea culpa from me to you. I will work to keep this blog current and interesting starting tonight. Goodness knows, there is certainly enough going on out there to share.

It is remarkable to realize all that has transpired since that early May blog. Just looking at the pictures drives home how very different things are now out in my yard vs then. The picture of the just-planted straw bales is a perfect example. The bales are now totally obscured by vigorous growth. The lettuce grew, provided countless great salads, and bolted. The raised bed still contains bush beans and beets, but also watermelon and muskmelon plants. The elevated raised bed gave us a wonderful crop of carrots and spinach, and is now planted with chard and hot peppers. The straw bale indeterminate tomatoes are 4-5 feet tall and loaded with green fruit. We are nearing the end of the green bean crop - it was spectacular - and I am about to pull the plants and replant with some different bush bean varieties. The sugar snap and pod peas were a success (but there are never enough of them) - that bed is now planted with flowers and pole beans. Seedling sales are long completed.

The main garden tasks at the moment are regular tying, watering, feeding of tomato, pepper and eggplant plants. I am removing lower foliage showing signs of fungal diseases (septoria, early blight), and starting to find a few hornworms and stink bugs. I’ve made a lot of tomato crosses, and the vast majority seem to have taken. It is all terribly exciting and engaging and keeps me busy hours each day.

A gardening friend suggested that I use a blog to discuss a bit about crossing tomatoes, some elemental tomato genetics, and fill in some of the information that my Instagram Live sessions can only touch briefly upon. I will get to that very soon as a follow on from this blog - but I really wanted to get my feet wet again and get things rolling here once more.

To end with some news items, I’ve decided to retire from the road. All future gardening workshops (except for very local ones) will be done using Zoom or equivalent technology, upon invitation. (I’ve had wonderful webinar experiences with groups in Oregon, Missouri, Florida, Wisconsin and North Carolina - there are more to come). I am also getting ready to launch my own webinar series that you will be able to sign up to attend - watch for coming details. Finally, please do tune in to my Friday, 3 PM (Eastern time) Instagram Live shows - I am @nctomatoman there - they run for 45 minutes, and I will answer questions that you can ask live. They are fun for me to do, and I hope provide value for those that take the time to watch. You can find them on my Instagram IG TV area.

Last words from me in this blog - tomatoes are on the cusp of ripening. There are 129 plants, all different varieties, and once they start to ripen, it is going to be great fun tasting them and sharing my impressions. The best is definitely yet to come!