A Potato Famine in Your Backyard?

New England gardeners should be on the look-out for late blight, the mold infestation that caused the Irish potato famine, according to the Boston Herald. The disease is rarely widespread in the Northeast, but authorities say that this year's rainy weather has given the mold a boost. The disease affects tomato plants and potato plants in equal measure. Tomato plants have already been pulled from big-box retailers up and down the East Coast, but gardeners should inspect their tomato crop for signs of blight. Blighted plants are contagious. [Herald]