It’s been a cool summer out here on the West Coast. We’re all remarking on it. This morning, (on the 10th day of August) I walked about the house thinking about turning on the heat and not for the first time this summer either. Our average high is usually above 80 degrees right now but today’s forecast, like the rest of the week, is looking to maybe clear 73 degrees.
Now if I were not trying to grow tomatoes for the fifth summer in a row, I’d probably be content with the coolness of my days. Wait long enough and the fog will clear and 73 is a pleasant temperature for most of life’s activities. Its better then a week of 90+ which is normal for this month and much much better then the endless weeks of high swelter everyone on the East Coast seems to be experiencing. But highs of only 73 degrees don’t do much for the tomatoes – and the nights are downright chilly. I can hear the tomatoes shivering out in the garden. I should be grabbing pounds of sweet, ripe tomatoes right now but instead it looks like late June, early July. Lots of promise out there but slow to ripen. What does turn red is not packing a lot of taste. The summer heat cooks up the sugars which are currently missing.
The basil, another long anticipated summer feast food, are also dawdling in the ground. I should be pulling lots of leaves for pesto sauce but there is little to be had at the moment.