It had to happen sooner or later even on the North Carolina coast in one of the warmest years on record.
When we came back to coast we found our long lasting tomato plants dead.
I figure frost finally got them on the night of December 17. They had been growing behind our coastal home since May 5. I wrote about them in Cinco de Tomato.
We got our first tomato in early July, and we have enjoyed an abundance of tomatoes all season with friends and family getting several bags of them.
In fact these three plants have been the most prolific that we have had in many years.
To the right is a picture on December 11 of tomatoes that I had picked in early December.
I never thought I would get to the point of being tired of tomatoes, but this year I did.
I think the last tomato that I picked was December 9th. I had a bucket of green ones that I was going to ripen in the garage but I decided that I needed a break.
It was a great year, I will trade Roanoke's predatory deer for the fiddler crabs that I battled here on the coast. During the peak season I lost a tomato a day to the crabs and once in a while a lizard would go after one.
The pests on the coast did not come close to the destruction from deer that I wrote about in The bitter tomato harvest.
The horned worms were a little worse on the coast, but I was diligent and defeated them by just plucking them from the plants.
I am looking forward to next year's contest with my friend Mike. He may have gotten the first tomato this year, but I suspect I got the last, and next year is a whole new tomato game.
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