Pssssst...Bugs!

Note to self:  I sprayed the tomatoes for bugs and blight this evening.  We've had a good rain since the last time I sprayed, and tomato worms are beginning to trim up the plants.  Pssssst!  Take THAT, horned worm. 

Tonight on the local TV gardening show, the questions were about why the tomato plants haven't borne fruit as they should have.  Apparently, I'm not the only gardener with green, bushy plants and not many ripe tomatoes to show for it.  The experts said that we can blame it on the excessive heat of the past couple of months, and that if we persevere (and water regularly), the situation should improve when the weather cools a bit.  They said, "Be patient."

I jumped the gun last week and bought a case of tomatoes from a road-side stand.  (How THEY're getting ripe tomatoes is anybody's guess.)  On Tuesday, the ripest of them went into a batch of salsa.  It tasted good, but wasn't spicy/hot enough to suit me.  By Sunday, the rest had ripened, and I made a second batch of salsa.  I threw the hot peppers to it, and shook in a few dried red pepper flakes for good measure.  This batch is hotter than a firecracker, just the way I like it.