How come you didnt spray for the cucumber beetles ? Or did you? I had them bad last year, this year nothing. Very odd.

The growing has been so good here that everyone has early tomatoes. People are buying just a couple tomatoes because their home tomatoes are loaded and they dont want to buy any more than they think will cover a day or 2. The bottom is going to be early and deep here I think. Not sure what im going to do with all my tomatoes. I think I have a bar that will buy cherries and slicers. They buy 5x5 boxes for $16. I think its a 20 lb box, they say 48 tomatoes are in it. Anyone know? they use a box a week.

It has turned dry and hot here. No rain for 17 days. The drip is working like a charm. I dont care if it doesnt rain for 2 months. I would prefer it.

My potatoes are doing the same as yours.

Beans are tough to move now. Sold 6 pounds last saturday. Everyone has them. same with cukes. Sold 2 pounds this week so far..

Muskmelons -Going to have a HUGE crop of very nice muskmelons. Should have some in 2 weeks. Watermelons look real good also. I have made good money on melons in the distant past. Hope that hasnt changed.

I think I have pumpkins that are starting to turn orange all ready. THats how advanced my growing season is. Macintosh apples are starting to ripen, usually are ripe at Labor day. Will be ripe in 2-3 weeks tops.

Joe, I did spray for them, hung lures and sticky traps and they still kept coming. I felt I would kill 100 and 200 would come in an replace them. When you walked through the patch, they would fly off and around and you could see the air "move". They were terrible. They are still around, just not as think. I am kinda happy and depressed about it. I really miss making pickles with the extras, but I don't miss picking the little picklers every day. I guess I got into and out of the market when the prices were high and supply was low. It also allowed me to test market cut sunflowers and zinnias. They are growing nice. It is an experiment with my girls.

I am riding the tomato high. Several guys got hailed out earlier this spring and I am picking their customers. Every market is better than the one before. Other have tomatoes, charging less for them and I am still selling more. Sold about 250 pounds tonight and 51 pint baskets of cherry tomatoes. People keep coming back for more. They tell me I have the best looking and tasting tomatoes of the whole market. They come up and proclaim this to me each week.

Green Beans are sketchy, I have alot, sold most and will can or freeze the rest. It never bothers me to bring them home. Sold around 25 pounds tonight too.

Potato sales are picking up which is strange for late summer.

Melons aren't in yet, but mine are later. I have been growing melons for 3 years now. Not tons, just enough to have a good selection to sell. I try to miss the early rush of early melons. I try to have melons later, when the early rush runs out. I also try to grow yellow, orange, and small varieties of watermelons. It is much easier to sell a 5-10 pound melon than a 25-30 pound one. I am hoping they will be ready for late August. They are loaded.

We had another couple inches of rain today. 101 tomorrow and 115 heat index. Gonna be a scorcher!

Jay

Wow that is like a plague of cucumber beetles. Any ideas on how to control them next year? What did you spray? (im knowledgeable about chemicals maybe I can help)

It really doesnt sound like your a tomato only grower, more like a specialist. Thats where you want to be, everything else is small dollars. High tunnel tomatoes are where its at. People comment in how nice my toms look. BTW.. Bhn 589 is a great tasting determinate tomato. It has beat out/blown away big beef , early girls, better boys in taste trials with friends and family members. People smile when they bite into a slice of bhn 589. Thats my unexpected suprize of the summer.

Might not be as bad as a slump as I thought. I had 2 people today tell me that everyone they know that has tomatoes are starting to be being burned up by early blight or septoria- probably a little of both. They are probably being forced to overhead water with the dry hot humid conditions and aggravated an all ready present fungus.

Well Im a going to try to sell at home this weekend. There is a festival this weekend and my garden is near the main road. Gonna load up the truck throw a sign out and see what happens. I have a lot to move.

Joe

We have some early blight in my area, lucky not for my garden or my farmer/suppliers. One of them is having problems with peppers rotting on the plants. Too much rain???