I had only two Brandywine tomatoes growing and they were just entering the ripening phase, and then something began to eat them!!! The 1st day I noticed one had been nibbled and the other was untouched. Then the next morning the 1st one was 1/2 eaten and the other had been violated! Resisting the urge to go all “Caddy Shack” on whatever rodent was harshing my mellow, I decided to pick them immediately and salvage what I could by cutting off the molested sections.†
Yum! They are rich in tomato flavor and sweet. The closest thing to Jersey tomatoes I will get out here.
Fortunately new information suggests that my Brandywine plant (now about 5ft tall) is not done but is likely to bear more fruit – as September is actually turning out to be our August – and by the middle to end of October I my have more. I just received some Lady Bug lures from Amazon which are also supposed to attract other beneficial insects, including bees, as a side effect. We’ll see. There is a real world crisis with bees and it seems that I don’t see very many of them. Without bees there’s no, or at least greatly reduced, pollination. I have lots of flowers but not a lot of fruit. Other local gardeners have noticed less crops, and some have not noticed anything. In any case I’m going to try some basic cheating (a.k.a., lures) to boost my chances.
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† This isn’t as bad as it sounds. Once, when I was living in the mountains of Colorado, my girlfriend and I picked up a deer that had been hit by a car; took it back to her place; field dressed it in her back yard in full view of her house guest; hung it in the garage to age for a week or so; then held a dinner party with some prestigious scientists from UC Boulder where we served up a roast carved from said animal. Yes, we were up front about it all and it was quite the topic of conversation. Sometime I will post a fully embellished story about the adventure – i.e., “her”, not the deer.