The tomatoes have been a complete failure this year. The wet, cool weather did them in, they got blight. The situation was not helped by the fact that I planted marigolds along the rows to keep the bugs off. But I got the seeds mixed up and planted tall African marigolds instead of the short French ones. The result: The tomato foliage peeking above the marigolds looked fine, but the bases in the stagnant air were thoroughly rotted, so I had to take them all out. I've sprayed the potatoes with a copper fungicide (bouilli bordelaise) in the hope that they will stay clear of it.
I planted florence fennel, and have had some good plants. However, the good ones are coming from randomly-scattered self-seedings, not the ones I planted. Oh well, they taste good.
If you leave a courgette for a day or so without noticing it, you get a marrow. You can't take your eyes off them for a moment.
The French beans (purple variety) have been a great success; they must have loved the weather. I only planted three one-metre-long rows, and I have been picking enough for two servings, every day for the last several weeks. There's a lot still in the freezer, and plenty more on the plants
Potatoes didn"t do especially well. I have a crop, but mostly small ones. I'm hoping that if I leave the plants alone they will get bigger, but the foliage is starting to die back.
I have good beet root and plenty of carrots.
One lives and learns.
I am a little South of you (Deux Sevres).
ReplyDeleteI agree that the root crops are wonderful this year. No problem with the tomatoes. Onions (both the onion blanche and regular)are growing well. I use the onions blanches as pickled onions. I have experimented with various types and these have proved best (I long to get hold of some English shallots - the French kind are no use).
It looks like a tasty harvest :-)
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