"Ed Adamthwaite" wrote in message
Hi Farm1,
it's been a disaster season here in the Dandenongs east of Melbourne for
tomatoes. Early on we had a plague of aphids sucking the life out of
everything green. Applications of white oil hardly made a dent in their
attack. Then we had practically no rain and weren't allowed to water them
more than twice a week. The white oil residue nearly suffocated the
plants and it was only the new growth that kept the plants going. The old
leaves died and had to be cut off. Once the aphids died out later in the
summer the new growth managed to get ahead and flower. I have had less
than 5% of the harvest that I had last year. The one redeeming feature is
that the tomatoes that have ripened so far have few seeds and liquid but
have more than 90% flesh. They are the best flavoured tomatoes that I have
ever had. If only had enough extra to put into the dehydrator....
Regards,
Ed.

Geeze Ed, although you sound like you have had a rotten year for toms,
you've actually managed to cheer me up considerably.

We haven't had nearly your run of incidents - just not up to par or as good
as they should be.

I hope you got compensatory better returns for other crops like we've done
with cucumbers and strawberries.