4 minutes | Wednesday, 2 September 2026
The heat has been hard on Swiss vegetable plots, and Hester Macdonald starts with a listener question from Jodie about tomatoes splitting on the vine. She explains why it happens, which fruit to pick straight away and which can be left alone, and what to do differently next year — a split-resistant variety, good mulching, a watering system on a timer.
Blossom end rot gets the same treatment: what causes it, why affected fruit is still worth eating, and which varieties are most prone. There is advice on rescuing pumpkins from mildew and getting them ripening, and suggestions for quick autumn sowings, including tatsoi, cima di rapa and winter-hardy purslane.