Today's Bounty

The veggie garden is in full swing at least as far as tomatoes are concerned.  Here's a photo of this morning's bounty -- over 40 and that's on top of another 20 picked earlier in the week.  They are ripening so quickly that we cannot consume nor give them away fast enough!

While most of the tomatoes look yummy there have been challenges to deal with.  First was the tomato hornworm.  Thanks to Judy and Rich, who visited over the 4th of July weekend, they were courageous enough to hunt for and terminate the worms that were devouring the ends of the tomato branches.  So far the worms are gone but I am anticipating round 2!

Then some of the tomatoes developed Blossom End Rot (otherwise known as "BER").  BER is due to a lack of calcium and can be caused by a number of factors including drought stress, waterlogged soils and even excessive nitrogen fertilization.  So my little science experiment still needs a some tweaking.  I'll need to retest the soil to determine if excess nitrogen is the cause.  But my instincts tell me the culprit is inconsistent watering.

To deal with that, next year I plan to invest in an Edyn Water Valve which is a new project funded through Kickstarter.  Edyn measures a garden's nutrient and moisture content real-time and even turns on a hose valve when the moisture content drops.  That's a dream come true for a gardener who is not home constantly to keep an eye on the garden.  The company raised its goal of $100k in three days and ended up raising over $380k.  Clearly there is a demand for this type of garden gadget!  If the company sticks to its product development schedule the Edyn devices will ship in March '15.