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The Impatient Gardener

Edibles, Garden

The success or failure of this garden comes down to one tomato

August 25, 2020

Large Brandyfred tomato in hand

It all depends on this tomato.

large tomato just picked to be ripened on a windowsillWhether this year’s vegetable garden is declared a success or a failure depends entirely on this lone tomato. It’s the first big slicer that I’ve picked this year, brought in to finish ripening on the windowsill, safe from critters and cracking. 

The tomato is Brandyfred, one of several dwarf tomatoes I’m growing from the Dwarf Tomato Project. Its name gives a glimpse into its parentage, which includes one of my favorite tomatoes, Brandywine. I’ve been picking cherry and so-called cocktail tomatoes for a couple weeks, but this big guy is a real tomato. And by “real” I mean, of course, suitable for that highest of callings for a tomato: the centerpiece of a BLT. 

I’ll be honest, it’s not been a great year in the vegetable garden. The peas were eating repeatedly by rabbits and then by slugs and then by who knows what. I know what it wasn’t, which is me. The kale was similarly decimated. The potatoes are minuscule, although flavorful in the way that only homegrown potatoes can be. But I’d say for the $30 I spent on seed potatoes and shipping, I got approximately one bag of potatoes. So I’m down about $27 on that. 

The peppers don’t seem great and the onions are a lot less prolific than last year. (I’m still sold on the multisowing technique, but maybe I planted more last year.)

The lettuce grew well and another sowing has been done for the cooler weather, the garlic harvest was good, and the cucumbers are pretty good. The herbs are doing great and I have great hope for the winter squash, although so far we’ve had ONE zucchini despite a very healthy plant. Have you ever heard of such a thing? It’s absurd.

The tomatoes looked great until about a two weeks ago and since then there’s been leaf spot and I think late blight. I just keep cutting diseased leaves off and hoping for the best. 

I have no explanation for the state of the garden. The fact is, I was late planting and that’s on me. I’m making notes for next year and I’m hell bent on prioritizing the veg garden during the crucial planting times.

So it’s been a mixed bag (so far, I just planted some things for a late harvest last weekend so we can still salvage this thing). But if a perfect, big tomato were to emerge from that garden, well, then this summer’s garden moves decisively to the success column. 

That’s a lot of pressure on one tomato, but it’s got bacon as a backup.

bacon tomato veg garden vegetable garden
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
16 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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Comments

  1. lynda davis says: August 25, 2020 at 12:16 pm

    I completely understand. Tomatoes are the reason we do vegetable gardens! Good luck.

    Reply
    • Wanda Mathias says: August 27, 2020 at 10:02 pm

      Tomatoes, be warned, are the gateway drug to gardening.

      Reply
  2. Linda Brazill says: August 25, 2020 at 3:52 pm

    Bacon as a backup saves any situation. We have not had rain for a month and the temps are too high again. Garden is sad, as am I.

    Reply
  3. SHANNON says: August 25, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    What were your plants f choice to put in late? I’m curious.

    Reply
  4. Lisa at Greenbow says: August 25, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    This was not a good garden year here. Weather was particularly annoying. Wet, then dry,then hot on top of all that. Bah humbug.

    Reply
  5. Victoria says: August 26, 2020 at 6:39 am

    Erin, I retuned to vegetable gardening this year after my son built me a 3’ x 3’ x 8’ raised garden bed for Mother’s Day. I also got my plants in late and then there was a major frost in late May. My plants are growing so SLOWLY. I fear that it will be October before anything is ready. I am sure I made mistakes along the way. The trouble is that I have to wait for next Spring to try it all again. Your blog and videos have been so helpful and provide lots of inspiration. I’m so glad you are a gardener in Zone 5 like me!

    Reply
  6. Mabel says: August 26, 2020 at 12:51 pm

    I feel your pain ! We can always count on next year … Hoping for the best. ??

    Reply
  7. Carina Paredes says: August 26, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    My tomatoes are doing ok. My zucchini and squash plants have only produced one zucchini and one winter squash ugh. They now have powdery mildew. My watermelon plant is half dead for no reason I can figure out and the pepper plants have grown exactly 2 peppers despite healthy plants. Fortunately my flower garden has been amazing this year.

    Reply
  8. Collette Bernard says: August 27, 2020 at 4:29 pm

    As we say, every good Gardner is already looking forward to next year’s garden!

    Reply
  9. Naomi Lowman says: August 27, 2020 at 5:49 pm

    Love hearing that mine is not the only sad producing garden. He’s me to know that it is not just me. Bell Peppers, only 1, on vene now, about 3″. We will see. 1 Yellow squash, about 2″, still on vine. Picking cakes, did well, Julian toms did good. Only about 8 beans to speak of. I do have about 10 Big Boys , still green on the vine. I’ve been fighting slugs all season. Now a bit of the powder mildew, and some other, leaf eaters. Ugh. Rain almost daily through the summer. This is my first year of gardening. So excited, but much spent, alot of fighting bugs and learning, not much in the fridge. Just canned with Mrs. Wages the cucumbers that did come in, and tried them today. Way to sour. Any suggestions welcome.

    Reply
  10. jodi goodman says: August 27, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    I had a problem with my young zucchini dropping off last year. I got looking around and there weren’t any bees to pollinate the flowers! So I started pollinating in the morning with a q-tip , flower to flower and my zucchini stop dropping . Lots of zucchinis! I also I have learned that I can dramatically increase the number of tomatoes by rapidly fluttering my fingers on each yellow flower cluster. This year I left my spring radishes and spring turnip greens go to seed. Flowers on them has greatly increased my pollinators to my garden!

    Reply
  11. Sari Salkin says: August 27, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    Thank you for your honest evaluation of your season. I start off with good intentions, but, as you described there are so many obstacles. If it was our main food source, it would get all the attention it deserves. Where we live any kind of food garden, almost always has to resemble a prison yard or there will be little to harvest…

    Reply
  12. Michelle Jackson says: September 2, 2020 at 7:03 pm

    I live in California which gets no rain from May to November, we irrigate. And we have had 25 days in August over 100 degrees and fires and smoke, which dries out the tomato and bean flowers. So I got 2 cucumbers, 10 zucchini (from 4 plants) no edible corn, and about 2 quarts of tomatoes–finally. It has definitely been a really weird year.

    Reply
  13. P hawley says: September 11, 2020 at 9:10 am

    Just discovered you. Thank you for the education and inspiration.

    Reply
  14. Lori Heling says: September 14, 2020 at 12:27 pm

    It makes me feel better that others are also having a not-great vegetable garden this year. My failure is a mix of terrible soil (thanks HUBBY!!), bad weather, and rogue chickens who have hopped a 4 foot fence to peck to death anything that was doing well. Ah 2020 garden, it’s time to break up. But like a true gardener, I haven’t given up hope and did a fall planting to turn this shitshow around.

    Reply
  15. Maresedoats says: October 11, 2020 at 3:29 am

    It is a bummer to here you struggled but you are not alone! I am a Ca. Central Valley gardener. This years garden was terrible! It is my first year gardening here though, it’s a very hot climate . I have never had difficulty in my gardens over the years but this year was a dosey! It has become a science of soil health, proper fertilizing and compost piles. Here’s to our next year’s bumper crops! Cheers!

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
Get your dahlia engines running. All the dahlia th Get your dahlia engines running. All the dahlia things are happening very soon. I actually started dividing my dahlias last weekend, about two weeks earlier than I usually do because the weather kept me cooped up inside. I’m glad I did it because I had some (not unexpected) losses that I’ll have to adjust some plans for. So stay tuned: we’ll be talking lots about dahlias soon. 😀
Want to give a gift to your future self? This fall Want to give a gift to your future self? This fall plant snowdrops and winter aconites and I guarantee you that it will bring you happiness the next spring. They are tiny blooms of joy.
A favorite groundcover and a favorite reseeder. Fi A favorite groundcover and a favorite reseeder. First off, you should know that I really love groundcovers. I would rather see a plant than bark mulch any time. Ajuga is a favorite because there are several forms (my favorites are ‘Black Scallop’, shown here, and ‘Chocolate Chip’) and because they can handle most conditions from sun to shade. Popping up next to it is Talinum paniculatum ‘Limon’ (Jewels of Opar). It reseeds around the garden and I just move it around where I want the chartreuse, succulent foliage. Tiny flowers in red and pink bobble on with stems, looking a bit like peppercorns. Then they drop their seed and come back the next year.
Make this the year that you grow a plant you know Make this the year that you grow a plant you know very little about. If you love your garden that’s all that matters. BUT I promise you’ll find even more joy it it when you broaden your horizons. I feel like I’m starting to see the same plants in gardens over and over again. By all means appreciate and love those plants, but also add something you have to learn about. There is great reward in getting to know new-to-you plants. 

Here are two good candidates you might consider: Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) ‘Crested Surf’ and Persicaria (or Bistorta, thanks to the taxonomists) amplexicaulis ‘Golden Arrow’.
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