This weekend, I sowed the first of my seeds of the season. Five varieties of tomato and two different kinds of aubergine. I’m not one for sowing seeds early, but tomatoes and aubergines need every day of the growing season in this country to offer up the best possible harvest. Last summer, the tomatoes were incredible: they thrived in that mind-bending heatwave. They more than made up for the year before when blight obliterated every plant before even one tomato had dared to ripen. No two years are ever the same in the veg patch.
Gardeners and growers are well versed in the nature of change. Understanding how the shifting seasons and weather patterns affect our plants enables us to determine when our interventions will be most timely. This year, gardeners at the Royal Horticultural Society, who have been studying buds across the country, are reportedly expecting a bumper blossom in spring. The combination of last year’s heat and light with the cold snap this February is expected to produce ideal conditions for flowering.
