Spring Garden Update: Week 7

My small raised bed has turned into a jungle! The eight tomato plants in the back are all above the highest rung on the cages.  The last hold out, the Black Prince, finally sprouted some small fruit.  They are plum shaped, and I am looking forward to watching them ripen.

One thing I have noticed is the tomato cages really compress the plants, especially at the bottom.  This results in the tomatoes at the bottom of the plant not having much room to grow.  I am not sure how this will ultimately impact the fruit, but I may have to pick them early due to space concerns.

On the squash front there is good news and bad.  The good news is my zucchini is producing! There are two small squashes, about 3 inches in length on the plant.  I am pretty excited about that development.

On the negative side, all the small yellow squash had been hit by blossom rot.  Two fell off the vine yesterday, and another is fixing to do so soon.  I am not sure why it is happening, but think it may be due to the plant being rather confined.  Next year I am going to give the squashed 9 square feet a piece instead of the 4 I shoehorned them into this spring.

Also, this past week I made a sun jar for the garden.  I took a glass jar (with a latch) from the dollar store and spray painted it with some frosting paint.  I then took the top off a cheap solar light from Target, and attached it to the inside with some packing tape.  It charges all day and illuminates the ground near the bed for about 6 hours at night.  It’s more art than anything practical. But it looks cool so I am happy with how it turned out!