"0tterbot" wrote in message
"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message

What's happening with tomatoes around the country?

We've had limited numbers of decent ones ripening and tis seems to be
common according to what others I've spoken to locally have said.

i'd agree with that, & my tomatoes are shite too! even the ever-reliable
cherry varieties just aren't ripening (we've had a grand total of SEVEN
cherry toms & that is all).

:-)) I went to a 'fibre day' at la weaver's place one road further to the
east from you and the lady there had good toms growing. I hasten to add
that she had rigged up a couple of poly pipe arches with plastic over the
top and had all her veg growing in there, so I noted that just in case we
end up living nearer to where you are. I suspect tha realy reason for the
arch was to keep of the wildlife but ti also worked for evening out the
climate extremes and being on her own, she didn't need a big crop of
anything, just fresh stuff instead of supermarket stuff.

the romas this year are just a dud - i've
stopped watering them & lost all hope for them this year. tomatoes give me
the shits anyway, i don't know why i bother.

Literally the shits or metaphorically?

my cucurbits have been truly awful (& have friends saying the same about
that as well). we finally have a few cucumbers happening at long last, but
NO pumpkin, potimarron, spaghetti squash etc AT ALL, and, (wait for it!)
only two zucchini so far!!!!!!!!! this is unheard of!!!!!!!!

Good Lord! Zucchini and cucumber doing the proverbial strangling of us in
our beds and Golden Nugget pumpkins being given away in copious quantities.
Zucchini cake, zucchini fritters, zucchini loaf.....How long till the first
frost? Perhaps the only good reason to hope for a frost.

i haven't seen
much bee activity for quite a while & i wonder what is going on there.
we've had bees out the wazoo all year round since we came, but not lately.

at my house, it's just been an awful season - too cool to start with, then
an unbelievable heatwave, now it's been too cool again & at no stage has
there been enough rain. hopeless. my basil this year has been all right
though for the first time ever (probably because i stopped trying to
companion plant with tomatoes). then again, the carrots have been very
good as well - i seem to have conquered my carrot problems!

I suspect if we get a rotter of a season for one thing, then we get
compensation for another. A bit like life I guess