Started sowing the first veg

I'm split between 2 plots Dave,one in West Bay,south coast of Dorset & the other 25 Miles inland in Somerset. The Dorset one usually gets less frost but not this year. Both frozen solid for weeks.


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My thoughts too. I don't think there is a truely blight resistant one, but i'm trying this one and trying to get an earlier start.

If I'd had 2 weeks head start last year, I could have had the whole crop in and processed befor the blight took hold.

 

I believe (but could be wrong) that this year has been exceptional, with the arctic conditions reaching everywhere in the UK. Generally though, there is a very noticeable difference between north and south in terms of spring's arrival date.

When I lived in Sheffield, I could set off up home for a visit while everything was still green in Sheffield, and by the time I arrived up here (just 100 miles up) everything would be brown and bedded down for winter.

Its kind of the same now, I work 30 miles north of home. At the back end of Autumn last year everything was still green here, but for just 30 miles difference everything was finished up in county Durham.

I've heard people at work whinging about the weather, saying summer starts in late June and is finished by mid August. When I was in Sheffield (for the sake of about 120 miles between new work and Sheffield) summer was typically mid May to beginning of October. Its amazing what a difference a few miles can make.

 

Last years crop :

 

And what happened to it a few days later :



Managed to process most of the green ones into something useable but I was so close to having a harvest that I could really have done something with.:DOH:

 

Oh Ziggy ! That's terrible. What a shame
But once the blight is in the fruit it has had it .
I go for an early sowing and get the crop before the blight arrives.
I've no greenhouse but I do have a large, heated conservatory and keep my plants in there until they can go outside.
We tend to live in the conservatory but my long suffering husband never complains about the plants taking over. Maybe he likes living in the jungle with me

 

That sounds great. I'd love a conservatory, which I would make into a mini jungle. Maybe one day.

On the blight issue, I know its awful. I've grown many crops of potatoes over the years, and a couple of years ago I got my first ever blight. All that hard work, preparing the ground, planting, looking after, harvesting, all down the pan. It put me off so much that I never bothered last year (apart from a half hearted attempt in a tiny patch of the new back garden). But, when we fall we have two choices, we either stay down and give up, or we brush ourselves down, take a deep breath, and do it again. Chin up.

 

Hmmm - can't wait to see if your 'special' toms Ziggy produce 'golden' tomatoes....phew £3.99 for only 6 seeds! MUST be a VERY special variety but maybe well worth the expense? So what was the variety again?
It is always fun to try something new to grow tho. :WINK1:

 

Have you got a Wyevale [Garden Centre chain] near you? They have a 50p-a-packet sale in September. Might not have that variety / left, but its good for expensive packets. I buy several packets of anything expensive I see to cover me for the next couple of years.

 

I can't remember the variety, i'll have a look when I get home.Its probably something like, tomato, we saw you coming.
As you say, it might be a good thing.
If I had seen the number of seeds then I probably wouldn't have bought them, but that might be where i'm going wrong, sacrificing quality for quantity.

 

Back now, sorry Kristen, missed that post as we posted at the same time.

No, not heard of Wyevale, but will keep my eye open in the autumn

The tomato is,
" Losetto, F1, blight resistant outdoor basket variety. An outstanding, cascading bush variety that has show exceptional tolerance to the devastaing late blight fungus in trials over the last 2 years. Sweet cherry-sized,round fruits are produced in abundance from baskets or containers on the patio."

Should have read that bit first too, no wonder its blight tolerant, they've not grown it near any soil for 2 years:DOH:[hr]
Also bought Tomato, tamina.

Very early outdoor variety, excellent taste & quality, less sideshooting required.

Window sill in mid feb, then greenhouse & out after the frosts.