Not Total Devastation

Sorry if I made it sound like all was lost in the caterpillar rampage. My heirloom tomatoes were the main casualties. At the end of the day I did manage to rustle up a tasty meal the first night of steaks and potatoes on the grill with a fresh salad of lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, pepper and herbs like basils and parsley from the garden. Some of the lettuce were a bit old but the tomatoes were so sweet and juicy and the red pepper was not half bad. The herbs was very flavorful and fragant. Unfortunately, the potatoes plants in the garden wilted while I was away so potatoes that night came from the pantry. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to those lovely baby spuds from my own garden later in fall.

Happily, the kumquat flowers I saw before I left had developed into fruits. Should be a decent crop of kumquats if not too many drop. The strawberry guava tree is reliable as ever, masses of fruits, plumping up nicely but no color yet. The persimmons are quite large now and will soon color too.

Had an unfortumate setback with the figs. Must have been some scorching days while we were gone because I had fruit and leaf drops. Some of the figs remaining on the trees were quite dry. Hopefully I can nurse it back and have some fruit for this season. I should be fine next season.

Seem to have lost one side of my mango tree while new leaves are growing on another side. Still trying to figure that out. The pomegranate plants too seem to have suffered from the heat. They had dropped their leaves but now seem to be coming back. The banana, ciku, nona, passionfruit and even the lychee trees seem to be thriving. All in all, I am happy. I always expect some casualties during my summer breaks. It is just those darn Tomato Horn Caterpillars! I do love my Tomatoes.