Saturday, September 19, 2009

It's A Jungle Out There

It's amazing how different the garden looks after being away for a couple week, especially in the summer. Coming home, everything looked bigger and fuller, especially the tomatoes that are out of control! I usually grow tomatoes on slim, spiral supports in the flower beds and keep the excess foliage removed so all the plant's energy goes into the fruit. This year with the new vegetable garden beds I gave them their own space and large supports. As big and robust as they look, we haven't gotten many tomatoes off of them. The dogs think medium green tomatoes are tennis balls on a vine and neatly pick them off for play. Raccoons, possums, birds and who knows what else are making meals out of everything the dogs miss, so we are last in line. A garden always gives us lots of challenges and this is one I intend on overcoming next year! It's good to be home!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

They do look lush.

Anonymous said...

With every tomato post I read this summer, I feel a little better about my own pathetic crop. Your plants are wonderfully thick and full, as are mine, but the fruit is minimal. Maybe it was just an off year for them. :)

lynn'sgarden said...

Did you have a garden's helper while you were away, Sheila? Those tomatoes do look awfully lush!

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Hi Sheila! I looked at the picture and it reminded me my tomato plants in 2005. That year, I used composted horse manure. I think, the plants could get too much nitrogen. I also traveled that summer a lot and didn't pinch off plants'suckers. When I came back home after the trip, I saw a jungle. Great plants and very few tomatoes.

Anonymous said...

My tomatoes grew huge too but didn't produce much fruit. I'm always glad to come home and sometimes---I think I have that disorder where you don't want to leave. I've never been one to wander far away from my own bed and my own shovel.