Nick wrote

Bob Hobden wrote:

It never ceases to amaze me that in such a small country people could have
such different conditions and failures. Our Courgettes have been superb
this
year, not able to pick them all before them became too big. The Butternuts
have also done well after a very slow start and the fruit are huge this
year, the problem is, will they get a chance to ripen before the first
frost.

It's not the size of the country, actually - the same is often true
between two gardens a mile away. Microclimate, soil and microflora
and microfauna are all nearly as variable over that distance as they
are over large chunks of the country. That is why we have so many
wild plants that grow in every county, but are local everywhere!

But I agree that it is amazing. I find it particularly so when it
happens over a distance of a mile with no apparent reason - I may
syspect microflora, but that isn't much more of an explanation than
saying gremlins ....



A good example of that is a neighbour at home who still has a superb row of
tomatoes out in his garden covered in fruit and no sign of blight (or
Bordeaux Mixture). Yet on our allotments a mile or so away I am the only one
with any tomato plants still alive (just) everyone else lost theirs months
ago.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK