As an avid fan of homegrown tomatoes, I’ve been blogging a lot lately about this season’s garden, which so far is doing much better than last year’s. I think it’s because we’re finally getting some heat! Last summer brought late rains and unseasonbly cool weather. My tomato plants responded by putting out lots of foliage and hardly any fruit.
While my garden as a whole appreciated the cool temps. and extra water, some of my warm-season crops, which require sufficient heat for proper growth and development, seemed confused. Especially the tomatoes. Tomatoes won’t set fruit if they experience too many consecutive days of cold (nighttime temps are critical, apparently) or heat (above 90 degrees). Last summer gave me new empathy for cold-climate and coastal gardeners. Sure, I poke fun at coastal growers struggling to grow tomatoes, but that’s mainly sour grapes since I’m firmly established in middle age and no matter how much wishin’ and hopin’ and wishin’ and hopin’ I’ve done, I still don’t own a quaint coastal getaway home. They do. All year long.
Do you think coastal residents fantasize about buying a place in the sun? You betcha. You see we want it all, and frankly, there’s nothing wrong with that. Life is to be lived to the max.
