What fun I am having! We are still harvesting lettuce, chard, collards, kale and various herbs - including that most important of home grown delights, basil. Those crops are now joined by summer squash, and within a week, cucumbers and snap beans.

The Veterans Healing Farm garden is revealing much as well. The long row of in-ground tomato plants is struggling mightily. The straw bale tomato plants are thriving. Since the ground in which the tomatoes have planted has been used for some years, including growing tomatoes, it is not surprising that diseases are hitting the plants hard. My suspicion is that verticillium or bacterial wilt are the culprits. Happily, all of the straw bale tomatoes are thriving, and fruit set appears to be very heavy. There are instances of early blight and septoria here and there but nothing that isn’t being managed with regular infected foliage removal. I need to get some representative pictures to post.

As for the back yard tomatoes, I’ve had time to be very rigorous with plant care. We are quite dry and warm, so the plants get a deep morning watering and a lighter evening watering to keep the plants as stress free as possible. Feeding happens weekly. I am continuing my strict pruning, and each indeterminate plant that is not caged or a cherry variety has 4 fruiting stems - the main plus 3 suckers.

I’ve had 2 issues emerge - extensive blossom end rot on Cherokee Purple (very rare, from my long time experiences with the variety), and possible pith necrosis on Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom. I’ve removed 20 small BER fruit from the Cherokee Purple plant and will watch to see how future tomato development proceeds. As for Lillian’s, I am rooting a healthy sucker taken from a Vet Farm plant in case a back up is needed.

The plants are growing roughly 2 inches per day, and a few varieties are already reaching the top of the stakes. Fruit set is reflective of the ideal weather we’ve had. I’ve experienced no damage from critters yet. The main disease issue is a bit of early blight, and septoria leaf spot, especially on lower foliage of Sun Gold.

I’ve attempted several crosses. 2 look like they have taken - Sun Gold F1 onto Captain Lucky, and Cherokee Chocolate onto (Dwarf Choemato X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy) F1. I am watching Cherokee Purple onto (Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy) F1, and Lucky Cross onto (Dwarf Blazing Beauty X Dwarf Walter’s Fancy) F1. All of these will be complex, interesting and fun to work with.

I will get better with picture taking. The screen on my Pixel phone cracked, and I’ve been frustrated getting it to do what I want. A new phone should arrive in a few days and I will be back in business.