Tomato Sanatorium

They say pride comes before a fall and I have been very proud of all my seedlings, germination rates and general green fingeredness that gardening at home has afforded me. Of course, it's a different matter up at the allotment but for now I'll conveniently gloss over that.....

So, when I came to unzip the growhouse this morning I was shocked to discover that some of my 30 tumbling tom plants were not looking too great.

A few were positively droopy. There was lots of condensation, there had been a risk of frost last night so the growhouse was cold and some toms were obviously not happy. At all.

We're a food-loving, large family and I need those plants, plus I was planning to give half to the gardening club gang, at the end of term. What was I to do?

I rescued the most sorry looking ones, cut up some small canes, propped them up and moved them to my kitchen windowsill which had been earmarked for my Basil Project (no doubt there'll be more of that later).

A couple of hours in Mrs Be's Tomato Sanatorium seems to have done the trick and I've even untied one, just to see how bad it's drooping. The result? Slight droop but quite upright. Phew!

We are, unsurprisingly, staying in today so I'll be able to keep my over protective eye on them. My three-year-old and I are making focaccia bread, with rosemary from the back door herb garden no less, so I am on hand to administer first aid. Whatever that may be....