Never Too Late For Fresh Tomatoes

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Well that took long enough. Finally, we grew a tomato or two!

With our historic rains this summer, there was just too much water and not enough sun for many vegetables to grow the way they usually do. And although average temperatures and rainfall are just that, averages over the years, this summer's record rains did change the way many plants grew.

Lots of tomato plants ended up with diseases - including Early Blight and Late Blight - which, despite their names can show up just about any time, and because they're both fungal, they thrive in dampness.

I'm happy to say that my tomato plants in pots didn't die, they just sort of sat there waiting - like someone on vacation staring out the hotel window at a storm, hoping the weather would clear. When August came and it got sunnier but not as hot as usual, I pretty much gave up and stopped paying attention to my tomatoes. So, of course, that's when they started to take off and grow, flower and fruit.

The good news is that fresh tomatoes in September taste great too.