8C510F82 F0AE 49DE AF24 5312DF45123B RIP Better Boy

RIP Better Boy

That Better Boy shriveled up and was looking even worse today, so I picked off the 5 green tomatoes it sported and pulled it up. The roots were in good shape, so the foliar disease seems to be what killed it. I had hoped to be able to save it, but I just wasn’t able to. I lost two of the three Better Boys I planted this year to disease.

Dead-er Boy

Also today I looked at my squash — the original squash has rotted on the end. I noticed it seemed to have stopped growing, but I didn’t think it would rot. I guess it was the dampness from the thunder storms this week and the fact that the squash was resting on the landscape fabric which traps the water.

Rotten Zephyr squash. I think this would have been a striped squash.

Luckily the new Zephyr squash is growing upward and is still looking good:

Developing Zephyr squash with typical markings

We picked up some seed starting medium to do the blackberry plants and clematis. I’m excited to see how that works out.

I remembered to water the hay bales. The one that was rotten is warm about 6 inches down. The bale that was less rotten is hot 6 inches down. I think the second reaction is the typical one. We picked up some carrot seeds. My aunt predicts the hay bales will grow weeds. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

The beans are looking markedly better after I fertilized. The foliage is definitely greener. I’m glad I read that suggestion online. I think the beans may survive.

In website related news, I installed a plugin that flags all the broken links. Now that Mormon Share is gone, I am uploading all of my old Seminary stuff here and fixing any images that got broken during the update for future teachers. Right now I’m focusing on Book of Mormon since I know that is coming soon. It’s the first work I’ve done in months, and it was fun. I’ve had trouble getting excited about most everything except the garden, so I’m pleasantly surprised and relieved to have a compelling indoor project.

Posted by Jenny Smith

I'm Jenny Smith. I blog about life on the 300+ acres of rolling farmland in Northern Virginia where I live. I like tomatoes, all things Star Trek, watercolor, and reading. I spend most days in the garden fighting deer and groundhogs while trying to find my life's meaning. I'm trying to be like Jesus -- emphasis on the trying.