A note to our customers (August 2, 2012)

My dear customers,

This has been another extremely challenging year for our garden. June was very cold and extremely wet, and warm season crops failed to thrive. We have not had any heat and not much sunshine in July. Everything is far behind, and as of beginning of August we harvested very few early tomatoes. Pepper plants have been suffering from the cold, and I am worried if we get any peppers matured this year.

Late blight has been threatening our tomato crop since mid June, and I have been scouting all beds twice a day removing any suspicious foliage to control the spread. I hope the drier weather will help to avoid it for another few weeks, at least for our greenhouse tomatoes.

The harsh weather also affected pollinator activities. We have had very little fruit set on cucumbers, and almost none on our zucchini and winter squash plants. I am ready to give up on our melon crop, as there is no fruit set, and it is unclear how long the warmer temperatures will stay.

The only exciting news so far is that we have tested a new organic fertilizer mix based on alfalfa meal, rock phosphate and various limes, and it worked wonderfully. Perhaps this gave the plants enough boost and they will still reward us with some ripe tomatoes later in the season. I am keeping my fingers crossed! Another year without our own tomatoes will be tough.

Warmest regards, Tatiana