It's that time of the year here at Struan Farm. The tomato vines are starting to look dead, ratty, depleted. They've done an outstanding job this season and they're tired. They're holding on with some ripening fruit here and there but they're asking me if they can head toward the compost bins, and I don't disagree with that request. I've already pulled out several that finished fruiting earlier than others.
I'll pull them up and put them to rest sometime this week. I've been bringing ripening fruit into the kitchen to finish the job there, especially with some rain forecast for this week. The black cherry tomato plants still have heaps of ripening fruit and don't look quite so awful, so I'll leave them for another week. I've been taking cups of them into the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand each day. Three plants have delivered hundreds of tomatoes, rather incredibly.
Once the tomato plants are pulled out Zack the Scarecrow will be retired to the garden shed for his winter's nap. He'll get a new sunhat next season with fresh veggies for sure!
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