Cool 2009 Summer Delays Tomato Harvest
An Unusually Cool Summer Tests Tomato Crop
The summer's harvest is in full swing. Farmers markets, local produce stands, and backyard gardens are awash in zucchini, sweet corn, the last remnants of salad greens, carrots, beets, and everything else that is good about summer. Yet ask any urban farmer or market regular what's missing and you will hear only one answer: tomatoes.
By mid-August many are accustomed to the tomato tsunami. We rush to eat, can, and freeze as many of these summer treats as possible, knowing that a tomato in January not only tastes mealy at best, but offends every sense of the natural order of things. The very idea of a delay, or even worse, the loss of an entire summer of tomatoes has many a foodie sweating more than normal, even in August.
So, what's the delay with this season's tomato crop and is there cause for concern? The short answer is no, there is no reason for concern- just yet. But, that doesn't mean that it's all clear either. While the answers may satiate impatient eaters and gardeners alike in the short term, there is a very real possibility that we may lose the crop all together this summer.
A Long, Cool Summer
By all accounts this summer's tomato crop is approximately three weeks behind schedule. The main culprit is the unusually long, cool summer gracing most of the Midwest. For tomatoes to transform from ambitious sprouts to fruit-heavy vines aggressively colonizing every free corner of garden real estate they need long, hot days. In Minnesota and Wisconsin the average July temperatures trended about ten degrees cooler--a significant variation as far as plant life is concerned. So why many tomato plants may be flush with fruit, that fruit has languished in a permanent shade of fading green.
Will We Lose The Harvest?
As with all aspects of gardening, the very act is an act of optimism. And every good optimist needs a dose of patience. One good, hot week and those tomatoes currently taunting you on the vine will be ripe, and fast. That said, vigilant gardeners need to be on the look out for rot and blight. Signs for rot and blight include yellowing leaves and vines that eventually turns into a significant mold problem that will destroy even the heartiest of plants.
In The Meantime?
So, for those of you chomping at the bit for a bit of the luscious reward that is the height of tomato season, sit tight. Unless this summer proves to be one long spring that slowly transitions into fall, it will come. And like all good things, it will be worth the wait.
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