I don’t know whether to credit global warming, or my new regimen of growing my tomatoes vigorously pruned and trained to vertical posts, but this is the first time in many years I have made it to the first of July without any sign of late blight. Growing tomatoes trained in this way prevents ground contact and improves air circulation – both helpful in preventing attack by the blight fungus. In the Puget Sound region we invariably have a number of days of cloudy, moist and relatively warm weather in June, which the blight fungus loves. This year my tomatoes survived June unscathed and in phenomenally good shape. The majority of my 120 varieties of tomatoes already have fruit. Shown below is Alicante, a British variety, which fruits early and productively, even in cool climates.
