I've got tomato plants loaded with green tomatoes. We're within days of canning them... possibly. Unfortunately, the first four tomatoes that ripened from my garden had blossom end rot. I'm not sure if I can avoid it for all of the rest of my fruit, but I am certainly trying.
It's possible that the extreme heat and humidity, along with the daily thunderstorms we experienced last week, took its toll on my garden. Luckily, we've had a small reprieve with a weekend stretch of cooler-than-average, dry weather.
Another part of the problem may have been the fact that I took the tag that came with my "Celebrity Bush" tomato plants too literally. The tag said, "Does not need staking." Ha!! If you don't mind the tomato plant lying on its side once the fruit begins to grow, it doesn't need staking! I've learned my lesson on that one.
I removed the rotting fruit and used string and T-posts to lift all branches as far off of the ground as possible. I clipped all yellowing leaves. I dried the bottoms of the tomatoes that had been touching the ground. My garden now looks like it contains a series of badly engineered suspension bridges, but it may produce edible tomatoes!
The cucumbers are also looking healthy and have produced a few cucumbers -- that are the correct shape! (You may remember that my classic struggle with cucumbers involves the fact that they want to grow in round shapes in my garden.) The cucumber vines are absolutely loaded with blossoms and will, hopefully, yield quite a few pickling cukes in the coming weeks. I will post pictures soon.
We've got another hot and humid stretch coming, so it remains to be seen how successful all of this work will truly be. However, it's nice to enjoy a little optimism for now.
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