it does appear that there actually is clear change in weather these last few months…March through today.  I want to note this here so i can remember for the Next Year's gardening.  

Where ordinarily there would be great Wind in March,  there was some and it continued through April and May.   Where ordinarily,  in May and maybe June there would be a few intermittent 100 degree days,  2016 there have been several and the days inbetween staying in the very high 90's.  This month has brought Wind Storms….monsoon like, as in late afternoon,  high Winds,  dry heat,  lightning/thunder but no rain. Every day.  Amazingly,  i didn't write down when i put the tomato seedlings out.  But it was later than usual,  probably mid May.  So these weeks would have been the time for them to establish themselves for producing.  Things looked Great for a while.  They blossomed,  some began fruiting.  But then in the last couple weeks…

 

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this curling in of the leaves.

 

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Curley Top??????   a viral disease that is brought by the beet leafhopper,  1/10th inch insect.  The remedy for Curley Top is to pull the plant immediately and either burn it or bag it and remove from property.   so i read and read and remembered the few times that i DID have Curley Top….and this i'm pretty sure is NOT.  The curling in yes,  but no thickening,  no browning.  The leaves do not become deformed,  just uhhhh, close.   

 

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Down the row where there is partial shade from Doris' Snake Tree,  things are good.  The partial shade and the fact that they are out of the path of Wind.

The thought of pulling plants is heartbreaking.  I can barely  make self do it.  So i wait a little while more.  But what i need to learn from this is that Next Year,  just in case this is a Change and not a fluke,  i need to make frames arching over them with some kind of cloth cover.  Until the summer settles.   Make the arch from top of fence down,  with fencing…anchor at the wood bed frame.

Find a lesson in every failure…who said that?

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through screen door this morning…double click

 

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So wild,  so fiercely FINE ….and says…..Just GO

 

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just a little something more

 

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a short time passing and look at the change.  The first two Cloths i sent to Wendy Golden Levitt were at her request for "curtains"  for the childrens studio windows.  2 of them.  But soon on arriving they became "Window Hangers".  And soon spent more time off the windows and used for wrapping or even once,  a raft in the Tsunami.  I was looking long on Judy Martin's blog at her incredible Cloth of Wind and Light and remembered this.  It immediately connected with this oh so thin piece of linen.  Cloth of Light.   Window Hanger.   This is pinned to the curtain behind the computer screen…a south window.  I'll photograph it as it tracks the movement of Light through a day.  And Window Hangers.

maybe i want to do that for a while?  Things for windows,  things of Light,  things to set our mindhearts loose?

 

 

 

 

 

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10 responses to “Tomato Journal and climate change”

  1. Deb G Avatar

    I’d say that things are unusual here too. Record highs and record rain fall this spring, more sunny weather than usual before July. Things didn’t die down the way they usually do during the winter and everything was early… I’m going to plant more fall plantings this year.

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  2. grace Avatar

    yes…i thought about this too…just playing it by ear.
    Am changing many things…
    Thing about tomatoes is that they take a long time to
    start, so that’s going to be the tricky part.
    More cucumbers going in to big pots today…
    and back to GREEN BEANS…how can i do something with them?????
    it rained last night.

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  3. Mo Crow Avatar

    have the curling tomatoes recovered since the rain?

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  4. debbie.weaver Avatar

    I think your plants may be to dry or/and to hot.

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  5. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Oh it can be so frustrating….last year my tomatoes looked great until I cut into them and they were mushy…too much of something or not enough of the other…I can’t remember. We can only do our best and enjoy what we can…right now I’m putting Kale into just about everything we eat. Just heard that I can freeze it for winter soups so I’ll be doing some of that.

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  6. grace Avatar

    not really…everything is happy with rain, but they are
    what they are.

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  7. vicky aka stichr Avatar

    Try giving them some shade. a chair, a sheet, whatever is handy. will block some of the wind too. don’t know if it will work for tom’s but it would work for me! we had record heat last summer here in rainy WA, now i have record sightings of butterflies…related? dunno….enjoyable, you bet!

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  8. grace Avatar

    the earth is not too dry, i think really that it
    is
    that the intensity of the Sun/Heat combined with those
    harsh late afternoon WINDS is just too much for them.
    Wind just doesn’t blow around, it pushes and pulls and
    turns everything, is Rough.

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  9. grace Avatar

    I often plant chard. Not sure why i decided not to
    this time?
    and YES, freezing for soups….such a joy mid winter

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  10. grace Avatar

    shade…i do think that’s it, but again, has to be well
    thought out and implemented
    it’s WIND that can wreak havoc…knocking a chair over, whipping a sheet
    causing even more damage. So…it’s Next Year that i’m planning for.
    Bless your Butterflies!!!

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