When we started growing our own, we started with an expectation (and mostly hope) it would account for a small portion of weekly veg intake. We have been blown away by how misplaced we were. And that is saying something because home gardening is not so much about meeting your produce demands as much as as it is about nurturing and experiencing the joy of growing and eventually savouring. Ofcourse, the last step of the journey is important and especially more so when you are a beginner. We are. Because, if we ran too much before we could walk, it could in many ways influence how we saw this whole exercise. Trust me, I started with a fair few losses and this has been nothing but overwhelmingly encouraging. The key is to not let an attempt define your next. It is hard but it is true.
Five days back we started seeing blight on some our tomato plants. Ofcourse I had not used any resistant variety (determined to not use anything that was modified or made of chemicals) and the only feed I used was compost and some manure. While I am not surprised about blight hitting my tomatoes, I am taken by how quickly they consumed my babies. The plants in modest pots and bags gave us a lot, a lot. But regardless of the yield, I had developed a strong love for them and to see them go I front of our eyes has been devastating. 4 empty pots stand bare on our portico. The place where I would start my mornings looking for new babies. I distinctly remember seeing the first babies form on the first of our tomato plants. I distinctly remember feeling impatient at how slow they were to grow, a vague fear engulf me as I wondered if they would fall off in the rains and strong winds we went through.
My fears, I can happily look back now, have been allayed over and over again. We have plucked a lot of tomatoes from the beautiful plants.
And a couple of days back, we plucked our last.
Time and again I realize how much I signed up for when I sowed the seeds. And it was never just about the tomatoes. But I will do it all over again. And take better care.
Life and Times of Piyu 
Hi Piyu…try this out for tomato blight next you plant them. should help. while not completely natural, they are as close to harmless as it gets…
1. a spoonful of baking soda + half a liter of water + a teaspoonful of liquid soap. mix. spray the leaves – undersides too..
better option is –
2. a spoonful of neem oil + half a liter of water + a teaspoonful of liquid soap. mix. spray the leaves – undersides too..
have not tried the baking soda mix at our home cos neem oil is easy to get here. works well but you may have to do this at least once a week or so at least. You can try to get neem oil and if you don’t get it, you can always try the baking soda mix. let us know how it went…
fair warning – neem oil STINKS. If there is a University of Stink, then neem oil is the PhD scholar there…
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Yash! Whaaaaaat? I am so surprised and so glad to see you here 🙂
Thank you for these tips, definitely going to remember and do this next time. We do get neem oil so I think we can try that option else yes will do the baking soda trick. Tumba thaaaanksu 🙂
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