Sunday, August 28, 2011

All Hope Abandoned


Day 319: It is not going to happen. Despite a week of days in the mid-80s, the nights in the Pacific Northwest have been cooler than usual for the season, and of course this follows an unusually cold and damp spring and early summer. My cherry tomatoes are just now coming into bloom, just now when the threat of first frost is less than a month away. Sweet Million has always been a good producer for me, the wisdom being that cherry tomatoes ripen more quickly than their larger cousins. Early Girls and Beefy Boys are out of the question here at the foot of Mt. Rainier. It wasn't that I failed to get them into the ground in time, no. I put them there, and there they sat, not putting on a single leaf in June. I fertilized and cajoled, but still they sat, unwilling to reach toward the sunless sky. For once, I do not have to say I failed for lack of gardening expertise. This time, I can truthfully blame it on the weather. I'll be fortunate if Sweet Million gives me a Tart Ten for ripening on the counter.

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