Chipmunk strikes again, should the empire strike back?

This is the third time the chipmunk has made a feast of the cabbage. I am trying to grow cabbage for the first time and I planted 8 of them, but only 4 yielded results so far. The chipmunk marked his territory over 3 of them. It’s only a matter of time it attacks the 4^th one.

I have been humoring the chipmunk for a while now with cherry tomatoes and roma tomatoes. But the last 2 weeks I have been too busy to tend to the garden and forgot about “Chippy”. I guess he wants attention. As they say, “be careful what you wish for, you might get it.” But of course,  Chippy is well protected by his allies: my daughter and wife. The rule being if you are not with us, you are against us.

Surviving the odds against heat and pests

As far as the plants go, this summer has been a story of resilience. The 100°+ temperatures, lack of rain, and the occasional bring-down-the-trees-thunderstorm has taken its toll on many gardens.

In my case, the cherry tomatoes couldn’t take the heat. They have stopped flowering now, the leaves have turned yellow and the fruits have begun to crack due to the temperature swings.

Twice a chipmunk attacked the cabbages. Apparently, the chipmunk prefers to eat a fresh cabbage every time and not return to the half eaten one he left behind earlier. Can’t do much about the chipmunk he’s under total protection of my daughter. ;)

Then the beetles decided to take over the cucumber plant and establish their domain. The first signs were the leaves began to rot and the cucumbers turned yellow due to insect infestation. But it was nothing some organic pesticides couldn’t fix. They are back up now and hopefully will be more fruitful this season.

Despite all this, the cucumber yield has not stopped. In all I have about 4 cucumber plants and they have all been very productive.

The 7 green pepper plants have been tough in the face of all adversity. They have been very productive, on par with the eggplants. They are sweet and really make some good tempura.

Two eggplants perform like a factory. There’s something to harvest every other day.

The swiss chards survived the horrible thunderstorm and are back in full bloom.

The roma tomatoes were late bloomers but now they are full of fruits, but they have stopped flowering due to the heat. They should deliver on the 25 lbs per box expectation.

Bolting Broccoli

I knew when I started planting broccoli this season that I would have to brace for the summer. Broccoli is a cold weather crop, and prefers soil temperatures of 65F-75F.

Any warmer than that, and the broccoli will bolt or go to flower. That’s what happened to mine during the heat wave of last week.

It's a little disappointing. I removed the flowers early this morning and am looking at ways to keep the soil temperature below 75F. It’s difficult to do when the tote sits in the sun all day. I will move it to the shaded part of the deck and see if there’s any change.

Rain damage

After weeks of 100˚+ temperature and predictions of thunderstorms, rain finally came. The fury with which it arrived left a mark on all the plants in the garden. The zucchini and eggplant were flattened, I had to prop them all back up with stakes.

The worst hit was the swiss chards. The leaves were pulverized. For a moment, I thought it must have been the work of some animals. But since the plants are on an elevated deck, with very little access for animals other than occasional chipmunks, I had to rule out the animals.

It’s been three days now and the swiss chards are slowly recovering.