I am by any fair standard an inept gardener. I usually harvest more heartache than produce.
This year, heartache has brought another bountiful “harvest” – of tobacco hornworms, the caterpillars that ravage tomato plants. I stopped counting at 50. The number, I’m sure, has surpassed 75, including two today.
And my tomato harvest? I didn’t count, because tallying brings only more heartache. Thirty tomatoes, tops.
Caterpillars haven’t ravaged alone. Summer’s endless heat dogged gardeners, even good ones, and my container tomatoes have struggled since July. Over 60 days, they produced a few blossoms but couldn’t muster energy to make fruit.
Until this week. I finally plucked three cherry tomatoes. Prizewinners? Hardly. But for a discouraged gardener-parent, my wan little orbs of imperfection are beautiful.
Even the smallest. It’s little bigger than a single, plump Rice Krispie, so tiny I’d need 400 like it to make a BLT sandwich. Yes, I did the math.
So what. This year, any tomato is a triumph – and a badge of resilience. Mine, maybe. But credit mostly goes to the tomato plants. They never gave up.
Annals of gardening heartache
The Case of the Crazy Bad Gardener
You married a garden killer, dear
Stubborn meets crazy in the garden
Pride goeth before rotten tomatoes
Such sweet smiles on those children. Thank you for starting my day off with a smile. So sorry about your tomato harvest, though. Have you tried using upturned large dog crates, lined with lawn cloth, filled with good loam and nourished w/ organic veg. fertilizer? I never have a tomato worm. No insects, actually. My Sun Golds and German striped tomatoes were abundant. Good luck next year.
I’ve never heard of dog crates, etc., for tomatoes. I’ll try it for 2024 because an inept gardener must always hope for better.