From Anne-Marie - Tomato distraction

I send very warm wishes to all my Argus friends.  It has been lovely to hear your news via the regular newsletters – many thanks to Helen and all contributors for these.  I am fine, working and studying from home and looking forward to when we can come together again. Take care and all the best,
Anne-Marie xx

For one of my distractions during lockdown, please read on....A tomato story (with apologies to real gardeners!)

Like many people, a focus on gardening has been a very pleasant distraction at this time.  For me, a chance spotting of tomato seeds one day in Lidl (11 seeds for £1) has grown into a daily round of care and maintenance never before suspected.
It began in mid-March with the sowing of tiny seeds in pots enclosed in plastic bags on the kitchen window and the excitement when the first miniscule spots of green appeared. Then daily monitoring began as each shoot grew daily and gradually extended inside the bag. A few weeks on, a double taskforce undertook the careful manoeuvres of transferring mini plants into larger pots and the start of weekly measuring – now 5-8 cm tall.  Beautiful leaves began to emerge and up the plants grew to my daily delight.  Then mini stakes were needed and larger pots. Just in time garden centres opened so grow bags and canes could be obtained. 
By late May the nine plants were ready to move into full-size pots and began to take over our extension.  With warmer days they have continued their upwards growth and I have anxiously monitored temperatures and opened/closed windows and blinds as felt appropriate. Amazingly all nine are still alive and today are over 60 cm tall!  We excitedly wait for the appearance of flowers and perhaps the fruit themselves, so the story is not over yet. Little did I know that my trip to Lidl’s would provide so much entertainment!