Sunshowers on a Cloudy Day

It was a strange day of intermittent sunshowers. Capricious weather. Mercurial. Jeckyll-and-Hyde. The clouds would part, the sun would burst through, then the rain would come. It’s a lovely time to be outside, actually. The sunlight flashes off the dripping plants and leaves you too dazzled to do any work.

But, since harvesting can hardly be considered work, I picked a couple baskets of tomatoes and peppers, yanked the remaining Little Fingers (baby carrots) and composted the bean plants. I also pulled the cabbages – ahem, the cabbage, and the wannabe cabbages, before the clouds moved in and made it not so lovely.

I’m harvesting like there’s no tomorrow – because the fact is, there may not be. The nights are starting to get significantly colder, so the remaining tomatoes and peppers are having a slow time maturing. One of these days we’re going to get a real frost and the rest of the fruit will be toast. We’re right in the middle of a forecasted two-week period of rain; while it may actually save the fruit from frost damage, the excessive moisture can cause cracking. The Sweeties and Black Krims are the most susceptible (I’ve found). The rain has been so heavy that many of the tomatoes are dropping off the vine; they usually end up with a tiny hole inhabited by one of those tiny curled up worms – bummer.

Back on a high note, though, the ratatouille I made for the babe tonight was entirely from the garden: onions, mixed peppers, zucchini, sunburst squash, tomatoes and garlic. (No eggplant, since I didn’t grow any this year.) It was a hit. Next time, she’ll get basil too.

Related posts:

1. Frost
2. Pepper Pride
3. Critter Ridder
4. Hold the Hoses
5. Tomato Pruning