Blight takes over once-robust tomatoes

This is a humbling and heartbreaking tale about the beautiful tomato plants that have been stricken with blight, courtesy of the relentless rain here in the Hudson Valley.
I've lost count of the inches of rain we've had in June and July, but it certainly seemed as though every other day saw a cloudburst that let loose torrents of rain. This past Friday alone, there were 2 1/4 inches of rain, according to the rain gauge outside the kitchen door. And here it is August, the second day of the month, which is a total washout.

I know gardening is a humbling experience, but I am devastated about the loss of the 50 tomato plants I nurtured, most of them started from seed in March. The plants were happy in their raised beds, fed well with compost and nutrients, tucked in with straw mulch, but with all this rainfall, they didn't stand a chance.

The bubonic plague for tomatoes seems to have struck within the last two weeks.

From what I've read, late blight is the result of too much "overhead" watering — OK, you angel gardeners, turn off the faucet, please!

So here is a little photo journal of the highs and lows of one humble tomato patch.

See that lovely photo above? A bumblebee was happily feeding on the flowers of my Reisentraub Grape tomato, which was glistening in the morning sun.

Mind you, most of these photos were taken July 19. You can see the beautiful leaves of a Brandywine tomato, above, were disease-free with the plant producing an abundance of blooms.

The Sun Gold tomatoes were stunning as they filled out a cluster that looked like grapes on the vine. I couldn't wait to pop them into salads, or right into my mouth!

The Costoluto Fiorentino were perky and pretty, turning plump on the plants. Mmmm ... tomato-mozzarella salad, here I come!

One of the Membership Pack of seeds from the Hudson Valley Seed Library was looking like an heirloom plum tomato.

All in all, things were looking pretty good in the tomato patch, as the plants sprouted happily up toward the top of the fences.

Giacomo kept me company as I puttered around the beds. (What's she worrying about?) The basil was growing vigorously next to the tomatoes, enjoying their company, knowing full well how perfectly paired they would be in many a recipe.

Carlos joined his brother in the patch, loving the feel of the warm golden straw beneath them.

And then the rains refused to stop.

The leaves on the tomato plants started turning gray and shriveling up, with gray spots forming on the fruit. These Principe Borghese were prolific at the time, too. I was conjuring up recipes just looking at them.

All the green tomatoes are now rotting on the vine. How sad a sight is that?

Clusters of Black Krim tomatoes are disintegrating before my sorry eyes.

Those once-spunky Sun Golds are looking more like raisins, and the leaves are just crumbling to dust.

Oh, well. Every gardening season is different, this one punctuated by too much rain.
But there have been successes, too, such as the abundant zucchini, green beans, glorious garlic, onions and shallots, greens and more. Like most things in life, you make the best of what you have and learn from what you lost.

Thankfully, there are local farmers markets to fill in the gaps.
So, I will try to look on the bright side, humbled by it all.
Does anyone else have such a tale to share? (You know, misery loves company!)

"I don't know what she's griping about; she'll always have me and the tomatoes from the farmers markets."