This year the weather has been somewhat upside down to say the least. We had a very warm spring which brought all the plants on in leaps and bounds so that they flowered well before the time they should have done but recently it has been rather cool, wet and windy so that other things such as the annual bedding plants and tomatoes have slowed right down.
One of the other problems that I've had with some of the annuals that I bought back in May is the compost. Being conscientious, I bought a bag of organic peat free compost but it is absolutely useless. There were great big lumps of unidentifiable stuff in it and all the plants grown in it have failed to thrive despite being given liquid feed regularly. The tomatoes do have fruits on them but they are very small compared to previous years so next year I will be going back to my usual compost.
So with the weather and the compost, it has been a rather disappointing summer so far. I had visions of being able to potter about and do dead heading then sit outside and relax in the shade on warm, sunny afternoons just watching the bees in the flowers, but that has only been possible on a few occasions. I'm hoping that September and October will be better where the weather is concerned because this year I have a lot of plants that need either digging out completely or dividing because they have got far too big. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
We have so many tomatoes I'm going to have to make some spaghetti sauce and salsa this year. Not that it's a bad thing but seems like they've all ripened at once.
ReplyDeleteI picked a few of my yellow cherry tomatoes today but they are very small despite the feeding and watering. Never mind though, I've found a new fruit stall in town where I can get fruit and exotic veg very cheap. I got a huge quantity of lovely ripe plum tomatoes today which weigh about a kilo all for £1. How I love a bargain!
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