Planting Heirloom Tomatoes/Gardening in the Smoke
Dan‘s Almost Daily Journal-Volume 60-Overcoming Frost, Drought, and Now Smoke-Gardening Has Been a Challenge Thus Far This Season
Welcome back. It’s been a while since my last article. It’s a busy time of the year. For me, May is one of the busiest months. Everything is happening. Lawn mowing, setting up the deck (furniture, flowers, etc.), opening the pool, tending the plants in the greenhouse, and of course, planting the garden.
May and Early June Have Been Very Dry
In my last article, I wrote about what seemed to be the never-ending frost:
I believe May 26th was our last frost and we can say goodbye to that until hopefully late September or early October. However, May was a very dry month after a very wet late April. For May we received only 1.8 inches total. April’s total was 6.7 inches, most of which fell during the last week or 10 days of the month. So far in June, we have about 0.5 inches, some of which we received on the 2nd and some yesterday. This was the only significant rain in about a month.
So needless to say we have been spending a lot of time watering: vegetables and flowers. All things considered, both the flowers and veggies are doing well. Leading up to Memorial Day weekend and thereafter, we also got some very warm temperatures with highs nearing 90 degrees at times. The pool water was 87 degrees on June 1st! It looks like we will be receiving more rain today and getting back to a more normal pattern with some rain here and there.
But hold on.
And Now We Have Smoke
Most of you reading this are well aware of the smoke in the U.S. coming from the Canadian wildfires. Here in central NY, Tuesday and Wednesday (6th and 7th) featured dangerous air quality levels. So much so you can smell the smoke. I only ventured out in the garden for about an hour on the 7th. Wearing a mask did help but I figured I shouldn’t push my luck.
The smoke has also kept temperatures cool with highs only in the 50s and low 60s, much cooler than last week. Although this is not uncommon in some parts of the country, I have never witnessed this in NY State. Hopefully, they can get the fires under control.
Yesterday, however, the smoke cleared out throughout the day and the air was much better by the end of the day. I’m hoping the weather patterns will change to keep the smoke away and more importantly that they can get the fires under control. But I feel sorry for anyone experiencing the dangerous air and of course, am concerned for those affected by the wildfires in Canada. Many have been evacuated and lost their homes.
Before the Smoke-Planting Heirloom Tomatoes-The Main Event
Last week I was able to get the tomatoes planted, after what seemed like waiting forever. I have to remember that conditions are not safe here until the end of May for sensitive plants such as tomatoes, so planting them on June 1st was right on schedule. The plants have done well in the greenhouse and are more than ready to be released into the garden.
Prior to planting, I put down black plastic mulch film to help draw in heat, and also of course to prevent weeds. The film I use has micro-perforations to allow moisture through.
As a reminder of the heirloom varieties I planted this year, below is the article I wrote towards the end of March when I planted the seeds:
I planted 8 varieties. How do I get all of them planted in a limited space? Granted, I have 3 gardens, but they fill up quickly with all of the veggies I plant.
I was able to plant the following quantities of the following varieties:
Old German-1
Blue Beech-2
Cherokee Carbon-3
Japanese Black-3
Caspian Pink-2
Prudens Purple-2
Wild Boar Berkeley’s Tie Dye-2
Matt’s Wild Cherry-4
You may be wondering why I only planted one Old German tomato. Back in April (Easter weekend), my plants came close to freezing in my greenhouse even though I had some heat in there (the temperature went down to 25 degrees). I brought them indoors for a few days and most of them recovered. However, the Old German plants seemed to be more affected and only one survived.
I am looking forward to growing these tomatoes. Three of these varieties are new to me (Blue Beech, Japanese Black, and Prudens Purple).
In My Next Article
Next up I will write about planting peppers. Stay tuned.
