Spuds are up

I probably should have done this ages ago, but I finally dug up my spuds.  The fact the foliage had gone brown and crispy, and had almost completely dried to nothing in the summer sun was a fair indication they weren’t going to get any bigger.  So I grabbed my fork and went hunting for potatoes.

This doesn’t bode well – but I refuse to give up hope.

However before the exciting search for buried treasure, I had to do a bit of searching of another kind.  One that doesn’t fill me with delight or joy, just sadness at the potential waste. I’ve been fighting a hard battle for about a week now with blight in my tomatoes.  It is such a devastating discovery, but I think I caught it early.

And to remove all thoughts of horrible things here are some bees in a pumpkin flower.

I’ve stripped away all the infected leaves, and removed blighted fruit, and sprayed with copper.  So far I haven’t seen it in any stems, and each day when I do my rounds checking for and removing any new sources of infection I’m removing less and less material from the plants.  It may seem like it is because there isn’t a lot left to my poor plants, but I think I may be winning the battle.  It may be too early to say this but I’m optimistic.  It is too early in the season to lose all my tomato plants so I won’t let it happen.

You can have a closer look here at what I’m dealing with and see the magnificent haul of spuds:

Come again soon – I hope I’ll have excellent news for you regarding my precious tomatoes.

Sarah the Gardener  : o)