What's Bloomin' -April 2010

Things seem to be growing slowly this Spring. Though the perennials are sprouting, there are not many blooms! But, I have to say that the anticipation of what and when a perennial will start peeking through the earth, and then watching its progress is what makes Spring blooms so special.

Today, I used Keynote on my new computer to make a slide show movie, which I've posted to YouTube, to show the blooms of my garden. You can see it below. Not very happpy with the quality as it appears on YouTube. Maybe because it was set for Mobile? It's certainly a learning curve!

Tomato Blight Destroys Crops in Southern Ontario

This summer I purchased an heirloom tomato plant. It started off great. But look at it now. Very sad. Only two tomatoes. I thought it was me who failed the tomatoes, but it seems there's a blight in Southern Ontario destroying crops, especially organically grown crops, even those grown by experienced farmers.

"Ms. Sosnicki's entire crop of field tomatoes near Waterford, Ont., about 130 kilometres southwest of Toronto, was destroyed this year by late blight – the same fungus responsible for the Irish potato famine. Spores of the fungus have scattered across much of Southern and Eastern Ontario, and the Northeastern United States.

The cool, wet conditions in the last few months has amounted to what agriculturalists call 'the year without a summer.'"

From Thursday's Aug. 20, 2009 Globe and Mail

Being a tomato lover, I was disappointed the heirloom plant became blighted. I just love home grown tomatoes. They have that "umami" flavour that you just can't get from tomatoes purchased elsewhere, unless they're direct from a local farm. I did, however, get a nice tomato surprise. Last year's tomato plants reseeded and those pictured to the right arrived this year. They look much better than the heirloom, but we'll see if they last until they're ready to pick.

For more about blight, this FAQ is an interesting read.