On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 22:20:54 +0100, "michael cane" wrote:


Tomatoes seem to be the worse offenders for this - the seeds are notorious
for surviving composting and I've been pulling up tomatoe plants from all
over the garden and flower borders for the last few weeks.

I recently visited a waste water recycling plant (sewage works to you) and
the Igor type showing us around showed us what I can only describe as a
vomiting machine - a tube which coughed and spat a whole pile of grit into a
waiting skip. The machine is the "excreting" end of a process which removes
grit etc from waste water. Now, all around the skip, sprouting promiscuosly
in the soil at its base, were tomato plants which appeared mysteriously
from the grit. Guess where these seeds had come from (or passed through?")

It was when Igor mentioned that that some of the men made a few extra pounds
by potting and selling the tomato plant seedlings to a local greengrocer,
that I resolved never again to buy cheap tomato plants from my local shop.

In the late 40's my mother was in digs with 2 chaps that worked at the sewage works.
The used to bring tomatoes home for the landlady, who made green tomato chutney out
of them. I gather she wasn't aware of their provenance:-)

Liz