Tomato Woes

Tomato Woes - Is it blight?

The 2008 growing season was my first attempt at gardening of any type.  The core success of that season were the tomatoes.  They flourished so well, that there placement next to my raised bed dwarfed the rest of the plants inside the bed.  The fruit was abundant, and the plant overgrew the tomato trellis.  We had more tomatoes than we knew what to do with and many of them ended up in the compost heap.

2009, is a very different story as they vines are shorter, skinnier, and just are bearing much fruit at all.  What’s changed from last year, you ask?  I had made several improvements including blending mushroom compost into the soil, moving the plants away from the raised bed, and giving each one more space in between.  There are 2 plants from 3 diferent varieties, and even my Seeds of Change organic cherry tomatoes seem to be suffering.

After listening to the Environment Report podcast today, I believe that I have my answer:  tomato blight.  Apparently, the very same blight that caused the historical potato famine has infected some of the national crops and is being spread through many of the chain stores around the northeast and midwest.  I’ll have to be more careful how I select my crops next year.