Farm Update

It’s been almost a month since the hail storm blasted my crops seemingly into oblivion. The alternative to rooting everything up and replanting it all was to let it sit and see if anything would grow back. Thankfully, and surprisingly, almost every single plant regrew itself. Now it remains to be seen how much fruit and vegetables they’ll produce. I have new peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and romaine all growing again.

I have a new, sinister pest I’m trying to deal with too. A little brown beetle thing that sleeps during the day and snacks on my basil and pepper plant leaves at night. We had another freak storm today while I was at work. High winds and blasting rain. When I came home, a bunch of my plants were wind-whipped to the ground. When I pulled one of the basil bushes straight again, a crack at the base of the soil revealed a bunch of these sleeping beetles. I had no idea where they were hiding during the day and now I’ve terminated some of them, thanks to the storm.

My first real harvest of the year has been romaine. It grows like crazy and I can usually fill an entire colander with leaves after letting them grow back after 4 days. The taste is a little bitter but it’s been a great complement on BLT’s and burgers lately.

The photos included here show what the tomato plant looks like a month after the hail storm, a full-grown pepper, growing cucumbers, and a full bowl of romaine. Pictures are a little more interesting when you actually have veggies to show!