Sunday 3 August 2008

Fingers crossed for the tomato harvest

green tomatoes

I'm hesitant even to talk about our tomato crop. So far we've managed to avoid getting blight and the fruits are swelling. I've managed to harvest two ripe tomatoes so far, both from plants in containers, one by the back door and one from the plants in mini polytunnel. The main crop in the field is growing well, with a little sun it won't be long before we can start picking.

And it's breath holding time because for several years now we've had no tomatoes at all from plants grown in the open. Blight has destroyed our entire harvest. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever have a tomato glut again and I miss it.

The weather, which has been warm and dry, has just taken a turn into stormy rain. Humidity is up and the wind is from the west. We need the rain for all the plants which have been parched for a week but for the tomatoes this has come at just the wrong moment.

The blue splodges on the leaves in the picture are Bordeaux mixture sprayed on as a prophylactic measure to stop the blight spores from getting hold but it's still a poison and I'm reluctant to keep using it, particularly as we need to eat the produce. Its effectiveness only lasts for a couple of weeks at a time - less in wet weather.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us.

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