The battle has begun.
The battle to avoid the Tomato Blight of the Summer of 2013.
I did everything I could to avoid it. My babes were raised
on homemade seed starter containing lots of organic compost. They grew strong
and healthy in our basement under the lights, transitioned to the porch for hardening
off and were planted after danger of frost in our best vegetable bed where no tomatoes had been grown in over three years. They were
mulched heavily in clean straw and on cold nights were blanketed in buckets.
I dutifully snipped off all the branches that neared the
ground. We gave each plant its own cage to protect it from flying feet chasing
baseballs and to later support them as they grew.
We watered only when necessary, using a soaker setting and
being careful not to splash the leaves.
And yet….
