It's So Hot!

All of the sudden Mother Nature figured out it was summer this week, and it's coming with a vengence! I was only outside for a half hour, and I had to come in. I've been mindful to be much more faithful about watering now that the heat is upon us. For the most part everything is looking great. My new bed is actually doing well this time. The okra, corn, and swiss chard are all up. I took pictures on Monday, but have yet to post them, either today or tomorrow. I will probably take a few new pics today so, it will be more updated with my happy new seedlings.

I've been having problems with cabbage worms in my greens though. We had mustard greens Monday, and I had to pick a worm off every leaf. At least they left me some. I'm not sure that my collards are going to fair as well. I've got to figure out better methods of row cover, and maybe something I can do now.

I've also been a bit concerned about my tomatoes. They've been needing caging for some time. I was so afraid of pinching the wrong sucker after my Brandywine experience that I just let them go. But now they've sprawled with tons of suckers, so I started pruning them to one main stalk, and putting them in cages. I just have my Brandywine to go. A few of the plants have curled up leaves at the top. I can't decide if that's a problem or not. I read though that a sudden stress like the heat of summer suddenly coming can do that, and then they'll be fine in a week or two. Hopefully that's all it is. I also read on the same FAQ that pruning might not be necessarily a good thing. So, I don't know if I should have or not, but we'll see how they do. My Big Rainbow also has what looks like some black spot on the lower leaves. Can they catch that from roses? I thought planting them with the roses was a good thing. Now I'm all confused. Hopefully I'll figure that out very soon.