06/27/2026 Giant Veggie Gardener Edition

Janine Cavasel, the "Giant Veggie Gardener," has a rule of thumb for tomato blossoms that she repeats every year because, as she says, "I need to drill it into all your minds." When temperatures hit 92 degrees, tomato plants drop their blossoms. Above 92, they keep dropping them. The plant keeps producing new blossoms, but they won't set into fruit until the mercury falls back below that threshold. This is the single most common question she gets — "Why aren't my tomatoes setting fruit?" — and the answer is almost always temperature, not disease or neglect. The monsoon season, which arrived early this year around Santa Fe, brings cooler temperatures that finally allow those blossoms to set. But it also brings a cascade of other problems that require a different kind of patience and a specific set of interventions.

Weather, Shade, and Hail Protection