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of course - a really cold snap will set in at the end of February for two or three weeks and finish us all off. I daren't check the weather forecast.Nonetheless I'm starting to grow tomatoes from seed this week. They always take such a long tome to get going

. I potted on my peppers and tomatoes, as they kept drying out in no time, their root systems filling the tiny pots. They're now potted into 2 litre pots and should grow nicely. I only grow a few tomato plants on the allotment, as we seem to get quite

of the weekend did give me the perfect opportunity to settle down with a few seed catalogues and start my list for this year.I need to get on with it really, as the purists will say I should be sowing tomatoes by now. But it won't take me long to sort out what I

to my tomatoes, which I grew at home in an attempt to keep them clear of the dreaded tomato blight. No chance! They've succumbed to the horrible fungus yet again. What's worse is that the fruits on 'Marmande' were looking so lovely and swelling so

and are so welcome in these cold, long winter months.Tomatoes have been a total waste of time for the past couple of years due to blight so I'm not bothering any more - I'll grow a couple of plants at home instead!I still haven't mastered the art

will admit to sneaking the odd strawberry when I'm picking.Anna, my assistant at work and fellow allotment holder, is a Grazer. As soon as a tomato turns even vaguely red she starts giving it a sly squeeze to see if it's ripe. She munched her way through her

, tomatoes, beans and peas. Ornamental plants, especially roses and delphiniums, are also affected. This abnormal growth has been attributed to a weedkiller, which is widely used by farmers on grassland to kill broad-leafed weeds, such as chickweeed, fat hen

aminopyralid, which distorted and sometimes killed crops. Plants most affected included potatoes and tomatoes, peas and beans, carrots and lettuce. Aminopyralid is slow to break down, so it seems likely that it could cause problems for some years.So, to give