TomatObession

In the manner of all obsessions, I didn't realize it was happening until it was too late. A little spaghetti here, a bowl of chili there. A BLT for lunch, a zippy pico de gallo as a snack. Before I knew it, french fries, burgers, and dogs all were naked without ketchup; friday night was and is eternally Pizza Night; and every salad is incomplete without fresh sliced tomatoes.

Needless to say, when I prepped my first garden plot last year, tomatoes were at the top of my plant list. little did i know....

tomatoes are very sensitive. Factor in my severe wet and dry seasons and newbie gardener skills, bam: the perfect recipe for disaster.
In my desperation, I have gone so far as to grow tomatoes upside-down, hanging in a bucket. The latest of such experiments ended up with late blight, a yucky fungus that will ultimately destroy your plant and spread to others.

However, the reason i write today is not to whine, oh no. On the contrary, a pledge to persevere. Rest assured: this is not a passing fancy, a forgettable whim. Deliciously homegrown tomatoes remain my fixation and despite discouraging setbacks, I will not be deterred.

Selecting from an impressive assortment of tomato seeds that kind visitors smuggled in for me over the past year, i picked out disease-resistant varieties.
My latest crop has been fortified with preventative measures of every sort:

• To reduce contact with soil, i.e. soil-born fungi, i have mulched with newspaper and cardboard.
• Note that the plants are raised on mounds, allowing the heavy and frequent rains to run off rather than collect in moldy puddles.
• The tomato bed is surrounded by beneficial plants: anti-fungal garlic, nematode-resisting marigolds, & pollinator-attracting borage
• Branches are appropriately staked on string, & low hanging limbs and leaves are removed immediately to prevent mud saturation
  

My efforts are already paying off:

happily fruiting tomatoes!

To the early blight and late blight, blossom end rot, tomato hornworm, leafminers, and creepy red spider bugs: Gracias for humility & first hand experience; the tomato quest prevails!

Fungus: Friend and Foe

Bad news first: some tomates y ayote squash are apparently suffering from blossom-end rot. Caused by lack of calcium, the plants' foliage sucks up all the calcium and the fruit is deprived; the first fruits on the plant develop black rotten spots, as seen here on my poor tomates. Hopefully, with a more regular watering schedule, the rest of the fruit will develop normally and deliciously. I also added more crushed eggshell to the affected tomato plants, supposedly an easy and effective way to add calcium. [I assume rot is fungus, but maybe not always?] Luckily, in other regions of the squash forest, fruit is growing like crazy! I am enchanted by the bright bodacious squash blossoms (and still waiting to harvest enough at once to use them in a recipe). check out the beautiful ayote squash hiding in the leaves!
Anyway, on to the good fungus: Kombucha!
See fotos above of the making of my 5th batch of the mushroom-derived elixir. Kombucha is the flat, round mushroom floating in the top of the bowl. The jar will sit in the cupboard for the next 7-10 days, after which time the té negro will transform into tangy sparkly kombucha tea. I am currently experimenting with flavors. One day I'll be able to flavor with my very own nispero y melon plants! For now, it's jenhibre (ginger), límon, and jamaica. yuuuum!