The year has brought us a lot more rain than we really need. The good news is that I’ve barely had to water.  More good news is that water-loving plants like tomatoes, melons, and zucchini are putting out huge crops. Bad news is the tomatoes are splitting from too much water, and leaf blight, always a problem in Wisconsin is rampant again. More bad news is that the weeds love the rain every bit as much as the veggies. Even more bad news is that the mosquitos have finally realized how wet it is, and I’m having to suit up with long sleeves and netting to protect myself.

Except for Sungolds, all the tomatoes I grow are heirlooms. I’m not knocking hybrids, I just think heirlooms are more fun. Often the yield of open-pollinated tomatoes is not so great, but this year even the big slicers are putting out fruit in huge clusters.  We will have our biggest tomato harvest ever.

The rain is pumping the tomato fruits full of water and they are splitting and cracking. The rain also encourages the spread of leaf blight in the plants. This didn’t use to be much of a problem, but now it’s become serious. I’ve tried various remedies, to no avail. This year, I’m just living with it, other than cutting off any foliage close to the ground, which helps some. The biggest problem is not yield, the healthy part of the plant ahead of the blight keeps on producing, but the loss of foliage means less protection for the fruit and a much higher incidence of sunscald.  We now pick the fruits soon after they start to turn color and let them ripen in the kitchen.

For the last few years I’ve been growing zucchini and squash on mounds I form in the beds. The plants love being up high. Just a few plants produce way more than anyone could need. We’re giving it away.

Melons, of course, love water.  We’ve got dozens in the pipeline. We just have to pick them at the right time.  Find the four melons in this picture.

All the rain makes me appreciate that I found out about open raised bed gardening a long time ago. The drainage in our heavy clay soil is great and the weeds are fairly easy to control in the paths.  All in all, I don’t think the extra rain is going to be a big negative this year.  I’m open to suggestions on controlling tomato leaf blight.