tomatoes, eggplants and peppers..

So, summer came in with a vengeance this week. It's very hot, sticky, humid; reminds me of NC where i lived for a bunch of years. At the end of the day working in the garden, i don't feel much like a solid anymore, more like a sticky puddle. Still, i'd rather be hot than freezing and watching it snow! The photo above shows one of my beds, in one of my gardens. In the front and on the left are sweet onions, behind them are 2 parsleys, some hot peppers, an eggplant, basil and tomatoes. Some plants need fertilizers more than others. Tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, like some fertilizer, but they like a specific kind. As i mentioned in another post, all fertilizers will have 3 numbers on the bag or bottle. They stand for N (nitrogen) P (phosphorus) and K (postassium), always in that order. If it's an organic fertilizer, it will always say that on the bag or bottle as well, if it doesn't, don't buy it. Tomatoes, eggplants and peppers like a fertilzer high is phosphorus, so you want to look for a high 2nd number, and a low first number. Nitrogen encourages foliar growth, and for all the vegetables i mentioned, you're looking for maximum fruiting, not leaf production. The second photo shows my first ripening tomato. I helped it on by using row covers early and feeding it regularly once the plants were a good size, (at least 8" tall or so). I took this photo on July 4th, so having a ripe tomato in early july here in CT is wonderful and surprising, especially with our cold late spring. If you treat your plants right, they will reward you.