Tomato Trickle

A little over a year ago, I wrote about the red horde of tomatoes that appears at this time of the season.  Even 6 tomato plants is enough to yield bushels of tomatoes.  Not this year.  Our six tomato plants have yielded 5 tomatoes total, it's been that hot and dry.  In fact, I haven't had to hoe the garden for two months and if the weeds won't even grow, you know it's bad!

Last Thursday's Herald-Mail confirmed that this has been the hottest summer on record, breaking the mark set in 1995 and the second driest summer on record coming in at 4.96 inches of rain, just .47 inches behind 1966.  That's a bad combination as illustrated by another number that will put this in perspective:  My friend Kurt, who farms 200 acres here in Williamsport estimates his crop loss at 90%.  If you live in an area where the tomatoes are plentiful, then enjoy them thoroughly and eat an extra slice for us.

Speaking of hot, Oriole outfielder Nick Markakis has reached the 40 double mark for the 4th straight season.  (See what I did there, segue fans?)  The only other outfielders to put together such a string are Joe Medwick with 7 straight seasons and Harry Heilman with 5.  Tris Speaker also put together four consecutive seasons with 40 doubles or more.  Medwick, Heilman, and Speaker are all in the Hall of Fame and the most recent streak was Medwick's which ended in 1939.

Speaking of baseball (there I go again) Winchester Royals broadcaster and all-around good guy Mark Sawyer is now hosting a talk show on WSVG AM790 in Mt. Jackson, Virginia on Saturdays from noon until 2:00.  He'll be talking Valley League baseball, sports, and about anything you'd like to call in and talk about, so give Mark a listen while you're washing the car.  Or canning tomatoes.  (Back to the beginning and done.)

Comments

[Melissa Dodge]

The red horde has moved to my house in the form of cherry and grape tomatoes. Now I know why Bob Lanham laughed as he gave Charlie those plants last summer and muttered something about never having to plant tomatoes again--ever. The really strange thing is Charlie didn't plant Bob's tomatoes there--but 2 blocks down the street...