Catch-up time

"Make hay while the sun shines" didn't originate from Wall Street. It came from those hard-working farmers who weren't sitting still in this weekend's beautiful temps. Catch up is the name of the game and despite all the soaking fields and talk of late blight, our friends at the Nicewicz Farm in Bolton are still hopeful about their crops. The blueberries, apricots, peaches, apples, plums, pears all seem to be thriving and their veggies were looking good amid the soggy paths. They won't be at the farmer's market for a couple of weeks depending on what nature dishes out. Hope for a heat wave to kick the garden into gear.

It was Ken who told us years ago, "If it is so hot you can't sleep at night, your vegetables are thriving." So, even though I dislike the hot, sizzling heat waves of summer (this weekend in my book was a ten) I might have to hope that we have one of those very quickly. We planted some new tomatoes and we removed the ones we suspected had late blight. The fungicide did not come out this weekend because the winds were a little too brisk. We applied this morning Again, read all product labels carefully; every product is different. If you are like us that have a passion for the heirloom tomatoes (our favorite is Brandywine) they have very little resistance to diseases and are some of the first tomatoes to get affected so keep a close eye on them.

Please post or email about your trials and tribulations in your garden. And again, if you are looking for sources, the extension programs are a wealth of information but don't forget about asking your local farmers. They are a heartbeat and pulse away from it all.