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The Constant Gardner Blog Index
September 24, 2007
Slowing down

I spent the entire weekend at home and spent a total of 45 minutes mowing the lawn and another half hour picking tomatoes and peppers.

We have a few red bell peppers finally, but a lot of them went bad before they turned red. We have had green ones whenever we want.

We have about 18 productive tomato plants this year. I think about two-thirds of the tomatoes get eaten by bugs or varmints or just normally rot before they become ripe.

Is that normal? We have as much as we can eat and have given some away. But many of the tomatoes have little brown spots on them before they are fully ripe and then rot.

I'm looking for advice here -- if not for use in the next couple of weeks before frost, then for next year.

Posted at 03:05 PM

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Tom Atwell has written the Maine Gardener column in the Maine Sunday Telegram since the spring of 2004. He has worked at the Press Herald/Sunday Telegram since 1974, about the same time he started gardening with any seriousness.

He gardens with his wife, Nancy. She not only is the better gardener of the pair, but also knows the botanical names of plants. They have two grown children and three grandchildren.

Tom was born in Skowhegan, grew up in Farmington and graduated from the University of Maine with a BA in journalism. His goal each year is to have continuous compost from his three compost bins, continuous bloom in his low-maintenance garden and more fruits and vegetables on his family table than the garden pests eat in the field.



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