I cannot believe that it has been over two months since I posted here. The summer flew by, even when those hot days made if feel like it moved ever so slowly.I put the garden to bed about three weeks ago. I harvested the last of the tomatoes, a few of which continue to ripen on a window sill. The cole crops did not fair well. In fact it was a total loss this year. I suspect the cabbage maggot was the culprit. The leaves shriveled and the plants would not produce – applied more to the cauliflower but also to the broccoli.
Here is the over all report – a sad garden report indeed.
Dill: I planted just one dill and it did fairly well. It has now died.
Bush bean – Blue Lake – plants did not develop as well as expected and not very many beans. Poor showing.
Cauliflower – never did well; stunted at first, then by late August leaves began to shrivel and no true heads developed.
Brussels sprouts – died early one – have no idea why.
Broccoli – grew well, hardy looking plants at first, then shriveled and created strange bolted seed heads instead of tight broccoli heads as desired. Not edible.
Tomato: Roma paste – did fairly well. Got a good crop of them. Fruit was smaller than expected and smaller than last year. Flavor good.
Tomato: Juliet cherry tomato – skins a bit tough; good sized crop; grew well; not as flavorful as in past years.
Tomato: Brandywine Beefsteak – poor plant development; fruit all pretty much too small or misshapen; nearly all of them had end rot.
Tomato: yellow pear – good crop, good flavor, a bit strong.
Tomato: Standard Champion 2 – moderate plant development; fruit was ok but nothing exceptional.
Bell pepper – Red Knight – very poor growth; fruits began to develop but never grew beyond bud size.
Over all quite disappointing. I will be testing soil this next year to see if I have a nutritional problem. Meant to do that this year and never got around to it.
Happy Gardening,
Dan Murphy
My Little Organic Garden 