Obsessions

    With the national media in a frenzy over the Jeffrey Epstein suicide and Cheetolini's latest ravings about a new horror movie satire about blue state elitists hunting red state MAGA types, there isn't much else to comment on, so I will bore you with a garden report.
     As usual, a nice rain is usually followed by diagnosing problems that were not apparent in drought stressed crops.  The tomatoes are suffering with either stress or early blight, so it looks like a short crop.  This is doubly disappointing because I cut down on the number of plants this year.   The peppers were also stressed, but aside from a little more sunscald than usual, they are doing nicely after the rain.   The late broccoli crop looks like a total loss due to the insidious swede midge.  Although the plants look very healthy, the midge laid eggs in the central growing point and the result is a lot of outer leaves, but no head.    Fortunately the later cabbage, collard and other brassicas are looking like they escaped the problem.  The solution to the broccoli problem is to plant Chinese broccoli.  With small central heads and numerous quick growing side shoots it grows faster than the midge can lay its eggs.