I have found the pear-shape cherry tomatoes are more prone to splitting than any other variety. It can be really frustrating right about now, as they’re starting to ripen in the month we get random monsoon-style storms. 
Next month, they’ll still be producing, but rain events should be sparse enough that you’ll have plenty to eat. 
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Thanks, everyone! What a great resource we have in each other!
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Forgot to mention- we have so much less splitting now that we use drip irrigation. I think that constant level of water plus a really well drained bed has solved the problem for us for the most part. The tomatoes never get too thirsty and the water from deluges cannot pool for long. We do deep water 2x week most of the time and 3x during the 100+ temps.
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totally! can’t say enough for drip system. that was a game changer in our garden beds. water bills went down and stabilized since turning it on. because we grow year-round, we rotate beds between seasons, replenishing and amending soil in one while the others grow. so that water bill stability is welcome. this year’s aubergines are flawless, blemish-free and beautiful compared to past years (without irrigation) were blotchy, not smooth and sometimes had split skin.
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The drip has really cut down on some of the diseases. Less fungus and molds. It has been absolutely great for my roses. I haven’t had a single rose disease since I planted 3 years ago
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Ever since we expected our second child, I kicked into reverse nesting mode and went crazy in the backyard to get a garden established. Only in year three have things started to settle and feel more established around here. Everything is doing so well now. I have cucumbers trellised on the sunflowers our kids brought home from school… the second year kale that went to seed, which I recently planted for winter kale is already sprouting (first time trying out a winter crop, so we’ll see how that goes)… Have a couple feijoa trees, which took a real whooping in a cold snap, but both now have flowers and will fruit in October. Mulched with woodchips around the raised beds because everything was pure weeds in one off year… and removed a huge english ivy that devoured the chainlink fence… so now some rows of corn can get enough sun and I hope will give us some edible as well as ornamental corn. First year planting tons of Kabocha and some pumpkins for Halloween.
Feel like gardening kept me somewhat sane and insane at the same time, in terms of being obsessed…
At a crossroads of either sacrificing the hobby for a smaller property or moving to smaller community to go whole hog in future garden.
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Kale is a good winter crop, because it actually tastes better after the first freeze, unlike most crops.
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For sure! Takes on that sweetness right?
I guess a head of cabbage and beets are the other options for some borscht…
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A peacock butterfly. I used to grow them in jars as a kid. I used to make my mother keep a patch of nettles in the corner for the caterpillars (small tortoiseshell and peacocks)
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Thanks to y’all, we figured out the yellowing of our potted Meyer lemon really was a soil ph issue. We suspect the water from irrigation is to blame, we have hard water. We’ve also had very little rain to balance things better.
I treated with a very diluted tablespoon of white vinegar and saw improvement in days. Long term, we’re dressing with peat. Next time we repot we’ll probably amend the soil with peat. Drainage really isn’t an issue but we’ll try to balance the peat with some more drain-friendly stuff just in case.
Lemon-san looks much happier. I’d been watching a lot of anime when we named the tree.
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Coffee grounds, oak leaves and pine needles are also less environmentally problematic sources of acidity.
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You have a good point. The unsustainability of peat slipped my.mind 
We’ll use something else to amend with and dress once this bag is used up. We’ll definitely have oak leaves this fall and coffee grounds would be easy.
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On a short trip this week. I took this picture as a “before” shot.
Who knows what chaos I will come home to
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Pickles are starting to come in. I can stick them in the fridge for a few weeks until im ready to process them. Has anyone any other recommendations for keeping them until processing? Keep them in a bucket of brine?
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Went out today and picked all the apples, save for a few. I’d like to let them stay longer to sweeten up but the squirrels have been destroying them.
Most of them have insect damage, bird damage, or squirrel damage. The wind has been knocking them down like mad.
I’m cutting out all the bad bits, then freezing everything for use in pies or applesauce later.
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I’ll put in a good word for cider, too!
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Hoping some gardening mutants will be able to give me some input on this. Pictured is kabocha squash. I’m pretty sure the oldest leaves are starting to show some powdery mildew. I had statrted cutting off the worst leaves, but wondering if anyone has any other suggestions to slow it’s spread?
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I have read about the tablespoon of milk in a pint of water on the clean leaves, definitely removing and binning the infected leaves is recommended.
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we use this on plants susceptible to mildew. it is considered organic, as it iis
“Copper is a metal that, in dissolved form, penetrates plant tissues and helps control fungal diseases”
Read more at Gardening Know How: What Is Copper Fungicide – How To Use Copper Fungicide In Gardens https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/what-is-copper-fungicide.htm
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