Rain is Certain

Even with just a 20% chance of rain, it is pretty certain that there WILL be rain the way things have been here lately.  Through at least next Monday we have anywhere from a 20% to 40% chance of more rain according to the NOAA.  Rivers, creeks and streams are still flooding.  More rain will just add to that as the ground is so saturated that any other moisture will run off into the already swollen streams.  This will hamper the rescue/recovery of those still missing.  I pray they will be found, for their family's sake.

I have mentioned before about the rain and what I might expect it to do to my garden.  Usually to much water isn't good at all for tomatoes.  Once they get to much they tend to split before they are ripe.  Once in a while you can salvage one or two of the seal over before the bugs get to them.  I haven't seen any evidence of splitting, yet.  I assume that since I built above ground that there is plenty of drainage, keeping them from being over saturated.  Plus this soil I hauled in doesn't have any clay in it and is pretty loose even with all the rain.  It must be a combination of the two.  Maybe we will get lucky.  As for growth, the plants have gotten to big for the space they have.   

I see some color now on some tomatoes, but there may be more than I can see due to the thick foliage.  

 Yellow Pear Tomatoes.

I did actually find one red one.  It was small and not quite fully ripe but I couldn't wait.

I pulled it off and found this. 

OK, seen that before and can usually cut that out and eat the rest.  Not this one.  Whatever it was got the entire insides, nasty.

Lesson learned.  The tomato plants have been so prolific they have pretty much covered most of my strawberry plants.  I am still not getting much production from the strawberries.  When they are ready to pick, it appears I have waited a couple days to long.  Something gets to them.  This morning the fruit I planned to pick was covered with gnats due to a hole something burrowed in them.  I have about written them off as ever being productive enough anyway.  I can't even see my cilantro.

My daughter in law has been learning to can.  That is great news.  

I had suggested to Kim that we should look into canning.  It has been my experience that when you grow tomatoes, you can never eat them all.  We have given plenty away, but there are always more.  It just seems a big waste to not have some of those canned since we use some sort of tomato product all year long.  If I provide the jars my daughter will can them.  WOO HOO, and I don't have to badger Kim about it.  I also didn't know you had to have a special pressure cooker for canning, and she already has that. 

Happy Trails