Wednesday, August 10, 2011

You Say Tomato. I Say Tomatoe.


How I wish my tomatoes looked like this beauty! The super hot, dry conditions made my plants shrivel and the fruit to develop black rot. Even the resident groundhog passed by my garden this year.

Could more diligent watering have helped my veggie patch? Maybe. Maybe not. Sometimes there are conditions beyond our control when it comes to growing plants.

Like gardening, we nurture our manuscripts, editing them until they shine. Yet, market conditions, the publishing climate, the economy, and subjective tastes can cause the fruit of our labors to fail.

With gardens, we can try again next year and learn our lessons well. Practicing our craft with dogged determination and being wise about the business side will give us a fighting chance with future endeavors.

How is your veggie and writing garden this year?

6 comments:

Linda O'Connell said...

Hi Susan,
I heard that tomato plants need a break from the heat and when the temperature doesn't go below 80 at night and is consistently above normal, they throw off their fruit and wither. Yep, ours too. But on the writing track, I have sent out fifteen submissions this month, and received one rejection back so far.

Jessica Nelson said...

Mine is horrible. At the beginning our green beans grew well, and so did the squash, but the tomatoes didn't do well. We only got a few. Oh well...sorry to hear about yours!

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Linda -

Sorry about your tomato plants. We've had blistering heat here as well. I'm glad the tempertures are moderating. Maybe we'll be able to save a few of those tomatoes.

Fifteen submissions! I'm impressed. The Philly conference starts tomorrow. I'm hoping to meet some editors and agents.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Jess -

It seems like many people are having problems with their tomatoes this year.

Thanks for stopping by. :)

Blessings,
Susan

Kristen said...

My garden is doing okay. While it seems most of the country is cooking, we're just lukewarm over here in western Washington. The wetness has brought plant demolishing slugs to my garden.

In writing, things are going well. I've finished all the scenes I planned, though my word count was about 20,000 short of my goal. After OCW conference I'll be editing and hopefully adding a few more scenes to fill it out. Nurture, nurture, nurture!
Thanks, Susan:)

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Kristen -

Sorry about the slug problem. I've heard putting a pan of beer in the garden helps control them.

You're moving forward with your writing, so don't give up.

Blessings,
Susan :)