Opalka, by nature, looks kinda skimpy and sick, particularly when its planted by a regular leafed tomato. Don't worry.

I too have a terrible time getting seeds to germinate, the soil just dries out too fast. I solved this earlier in the year with my carrots by putting a plank over the seeds, which kept the soil moist enough to sprout. Other than that, they need to be watered 3x a day.

With the rain of the last several days, the earth is nice and moist, and some of the marigolds and a couple of the lettuce are sprouting. The linear zucchinis are growing well under their hot hats, but there's no sign of any of the round zucchinis at all.

I harvested the rest of the garlic and have been pulling dried seed pods off the sweet peas. And I also harvested my very first snow pea pod today! Okay, it's barely an inch long, but it's a harvest. I'll take it.

The brassica I have left are getting bigger, but still no sign of any heads.

I planted half the irises from Schreiners. They're settling in nicely. Again, the cooler temperatures and damp earth help.

The tomatoes are getting bigger. The Black Plum and the Roma are over two feet tall. The Opalka isn't as big but the newer leaves look big and healthy. No flowers yet. I wonder why not.

I'm sitting here right now listening to the crickets. It's a very soothing sound. Add a purring cat and some chocolate, and life's complete.

I haven't been able to go out and look at my garden since Tuesday because I haven't gotten home until after dark. These past couple days, past week really, we've had a lot of rain. My rain gauge shows 3/4 of an inch. We've also had periods of sun, and temperatures ranging from low 60s to high 80s. Nice temperate weather.

And my plants LOVED it! I had four zucchinis. I now have nine. And the older ones are growing pretty fast. I also have nine melon sprouts. And the lettuce, carrots, and marigolds are sprouting.

Now it's a race against time. My plants versus the first frost. At least now I know what they like. Damp earth and not too hot.

My dead potato plant (or maybe the one next to it) is sending up new shoots. My raised bed brassica are getting big, although no Brussels sprouts or broccoli heads yet.

The tomatoes are growing HUGE. Two of them are at least three feet tall, and they look quite healthy.

But no flowers! I can't figure out why they won't flower.

I have some broccoli seedlings growing inside that I'll set out when they're big enough, i.e., young plants instead of seedlings. Don't know when that'll be, though.

This place is beginning to echo. This isn't a thread, it's a diary!

13 zukes, 11 melons, and another potato sprout, this one definitely a Carola.

No tomato or potato flowers yet.

You don't really want your "dead" potatoes to resprout, Lilacs. I don't really know what you should do about it now but you really should have harvested the tubers after the vines had died down.

Perhaps the potatoes will work out okay as we are still (hopefully) a good number of weeks before a frost and they may just grow a new crop of potatoes - don't know.

As best as I understand, the tubers convert sugars to starches as the vines die back. With regrowth, those starches are changing back to sugars. That may mean they will rot just as the seed potato does while the plant is developing thru the growing season.

digitS'

You're just full of good news today, aren't you, digit? :-)

It didn't occur to me that the new-grown potatoes would be the ones sprouting. I didn't think that, after only two months, the plants would have even started producing tubers. I assumed that it was the original seed potato sending up new sprouts, possibly from the old sprouts if they were still viable beneath the soil.

And as you say, it's really too late to do much about it now except just wait and see. There's still probably another two months before harvest time.

Oh, yeah. Gardening is always a learning experience.

Digging potatoes, especially early varieties, usually turns up a black, yucky glob of rot. Late types have time for the glob to more-or-less disappear. I know that the inexperienced are sometimes horrified thinking that their spuds are rotting but no . . .

That seed potato we put in the ground in the Spring will have eyes that grow and the resultant plant develops new tubers. The seed potato will rot away.

Interestingly, we are told that you can take all the tubers out of the ground, every single one, and still have volunteers coming up after a late rain and some warm Fall weather. Probably still have volunteers in many locations the following Spring. The reason is that plant material left in the ground can sprout and grow. A tuber, or a piece of one, isn't always needed. A potato plant is just seriously "determined" to clone and grow.

d'S'
all the news that's fit to pinch

I had two volunteers from last year. Either some plant material was still in the ground, or I missed a couple spuds. One was eaten down by flea beetles. I dug it up and came up with a couple tiny spuds, which I ate. The other is still growing.