What a season it’s been in the garden, and continues to be. September traditionally brings a swift shift in weather in Southern Ontario where we live — out with the warm, and in with the cool. Today, we look forward to 32C or 90F with a humidex of nearly 39C or 102F. If one believes the weatherman (and we seldom do), this unseasonal heat wave will continue for at least a couple of more weeks. So there’s just one thing left to do. Beach break anyone? An evening picnic on the warm sand by Lake Erie sounds like a great way to end the day.
Growing heirloom tomatoes is awesome under the right conditions. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line of soil amending and plant buying, we imported disease into the garden. Tomato leaves dying at an alarming rate. The high humidity paired with wind simply made the situation worse and uncontrollable. Happily, none of the fruit was affected, and we continue to have a wonderful crop — albeit on rather sad-looking vines. It is gratifying to see how few fruits have been affected by sun scald even with next to no leaf shade. Nature never ceases to amaze me.
The companion plants were not affected at all by the garden horrors surrounding them. While the tomatoes vines die off, the marigolds and basil continue to thrive and are visited by the myriad of pollinators they attracted all season long. Companions to the very end.
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