Tomatoes... Fighting the Good Fight

The tomatoes are making a come-back! The older amish paste, cherokee purple, and german stripe tomato vines that I thought were hopeless have greened back up some, and grown over a foot! They have new vines covered with new little flowers and baby tomatoes. I have even gotten a few tomatoes off of the cherokee purple, and one off a german stripe plant. They are amazing! They have produced more than that but something keeps getting to them before I do. It is maddening and so disappointing to watch a tomato grow and check on it every day. Watch it start to ripen, and then just when you think its perfect, you realize that the back half has been eaten and is rotten. Well, maybe I get more upset about it than most people... 

The new cherokee purple, german stripe, and brandywine plants have gotten huge! They are showing such promise! I have been checking them over pretty regularly, to try to catch any problems before they get out of hand. I noticed today that there were holes appearing on the leaves. After a careful inspection I spotted caterpillars! No no no! No eating my tomato plants! I suspect that they are also responsible for half eating my ripe tomatoes too. 

Last year they ransacked my tomatoes and left them vulnerable to the blight that finally took them. I decided then that I wasn't going to deal with that again. I ordered Bt, which is a form of organic pest control. It is a bacteria that kills caterpillars. Only caterpillars! That way I don't have to worry about it killing beneficial insects. I don't like using any kind of pesticide, even organic kinds, but if I want to have any hope for garden fresh tomatoes this year, I have to suck it up and give it a try. I sprayed my plants this evening. I will check them tomorrow and see how they are looking. Hopefully this will work!