TIMBER!!!!!

I got up this morning around 6:30am, made the coffee and headed out to the garden for the morning critter check. I never know what to expect on these checks. Sometimes its a bunch of little holes all over the backyard from something looking for food in the middle of the night. Other times its a bunch of holes in the garden from something trying to uproot the buried compost.

There's nothing more frustrating than seeing a newly planted tomato seedling all uprooted and dishevelled laying in a pile of dirt. This happened a few weeks ago to my Amish Paste seedling. Fortunately there was enough leaves remaining that I was able to set it upright and get it growing again.

On this morning's check I was somewhat surprised to find one of my Brandywine plants laying on its side like something had taken an ax to the bottom and chopped it down like a tree. Fortunately again, the stem remained attached by a little sliver. I'm not sure how this happened as there is no fresh dirt dug up and I thought the stem was getting large enough that cutworms wouldn't bother it. Tomatoes, however, have the ability to sprout roots from any buried portion of their stem. So, in an effort to try and save this little guy, I stood the plant upright and buried it up to the neck in fresh dirt.

We will hope for the best with this tomato because I'm running out of room for error with this crop!