13th Sept

Well, I haven’t recorded much lately, because not much has happened, but also I have been waiting and watching the tomato plants. It became obvious a few days ago that all the turbo tomato plants had blight and the speed of withering has been surprising. Due to other things and heavy rain, it was not until this morning that I went out to fully assess the damage. One fruit was not blighted so I have put that to one side to see if it comes out. Today I counted 134 blighted tomatoes, most of them a really good size too, so that is 145 in total. Think what I could have done with 145 decent tomatoes (apart from eating them!). It is most disheartening. This is now 2 years running that I have suffered this – well, the plants suffered the blight, not me, but I trust my meaning is clear.

 
I put last year down to a one off bad summer, but the so-called climate experts say that we should expect warm wet summers as more of the norm, and shelling out £10 for 3 plants and seeing their complete harvest literally rot away on the vine is not my idea of time and money well spent. I have been thinking about the possibility of blight and what I would do in the future for a while now and have come to the conclusion that I will not bother with tomatoes next year. Without a greenhouse to protect them, it is not worth the risk. I may grow a cherry tomato plant in a hanging basket as my wife likes them, and I could just buy 1 plant from a nursery. If the summers do get drier again, and these last 2 years turn out to be a wet blip, then I will go for it again.

 
It is hardly horticulture, but I will mention that I spent a fair bit of time beginning to prepare the ground for putting a base down for a play house that the boys’ cousins have handed down to them. Although it will be a big lump in the garden, it will be a place where all their toys can be thrown into thus keeping the garden itself clear and tidy!

 
Later on I weeded the rockery and planted 2 of my lavender plants. I planted out Lavender ‘Blue Star’ towards the back on the right, and Lavender Augustifolia near the front. These two give the usual bush appearance that you see in Provence (or postcards from it in my case).

 
The sweet peas are still providing fantastic flowers. The lower leaves look worse for wear and have powdery mildew, but you wouldn’t believe that looking upwards (7 feet high in some instances), and looking at the higher leaves and the blooms you would not think that it is mid September and time to wind down. The rest of the garden is doing just that. The phlox is more powdery mildew than bloom and is ready to say ‘blow this for a game of soldiers’, the bedding petunias just look tired though not ill, and for some reason the chard which should over-winter with ease, look like annuals. The sweet peppers are still doing fine – I harvested another 3 the other day and 1 a few days before that.

 
I’m not saying that the plants in general look as though they have had a few weeks of autumn, but it just seems to me that they are on the point of turning. Maybe it is my interpretation of what I see. I feel I have come to the end of the productive part of the year. Even though I had high hopes for a good September, the rain of August has just continued on – until today when it felt like June again, so part of me is feeling like it is time to clear the ground and put down a winter mulch. I’m not willing on autumn – particularly with the increased heating costs we’ll have this year – it is simply that after seeing cauliflowers come to nothing, calabrese bolting before harvest, rocket unable to clear the launch pad, and caterpillars faring far more sumptuously on my brassicas than I will, I feel it is time to say ‘enough’, stop fighting the pests that I never had the equipment for, and clear up ready to try again next year, forewarned from having been there and suffered that, and thus being forearmed. I would love to see a swift end to the growing season of weeds so that I can clear the allotment, find enough wood to make raised beds, find money for poles and decent netting as well as a good wire mesh against the rabbits, and spend the winter in unhurried preparation for greater things next year. Raised beds will stop the surrounding weeds encroaching onto the plot, and I have a small supply of top soil from digging out the playhouse foundation, as well as from my brother-in-law who has cleared some land for a summer house.

 

This is not to say all has been lost. I have a good number of crown prince squashes and pumpkins ripening up, I am still harvesting courgettes – another 7 this week, as well as spinach, and the onions, although few and small, have been a good quality, and our 4 year olds’ cucumber plants have done him proud, and the peppers at home have been encouraging. Next year I will concentrate more on peppers than tomatoes. I also have some winter harvests to look forward to. There will be some leeks, a few Brussels sprout plants are doing OK, and I’m hoping that the sprouting broccoli will fight back a bit. So still there is hope, and I remain optimistic and know that I have learnt so much from doing and failing somewhat. Yesterday a seed catalogue came through the post with promises of great produce to work towards next year, and all of a sudden, one is thrust into a time of dreaming and planning and aspiring to succeed. Winter for the gardener is such a time.

 

Next post: 21st Sept