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Posted by Happy Violas (U13861656) on Sunday, 12th September 2010
With apologies to those who have lost their tomatoes to blight ... I've had the best year for tomatoes since I started growing them! Has anyone else? I've grown 2 blight tolerant varieties amongst other varieties and apart from an early threat all my plants have come through and are still laden with fruit. It's lovely to be able to have such a glut - neighbours think it's lovely too! This is what makes it all worthwhile - and to think after last year I swore never again!
We're new to growing - just started our allotment in March and we've certainly had an amazing harvest of tomatoes. They were slow to ripen but now we're picking kilos every week. We have masses of green ones still and hope we'll have lots more sunshine. We also have two bushes of currant tomatoes waiting to ripen (they were late in) fingers crossed they ripen and don't get added to the green tomato chutney! We've had lots of luck with all our crops so far especially the french and runner beans. Ann
Even though I got blight I am so pleased you have done so well. I will be growing tomatoes next year and hope to do better.
I got my tomatoes off as soon as saw I had blight and now have had quite a lot of red ones so it`s not been all bad though some will be thrown because they were not quite finished growing and are very small.
Have done well with my french beans and cucumbers. peppers are ripening at long last so hope to get some red ones out of this years crop.
Hi
I agree lots of tomatoes...my question is does
anybody know if you can freeze them, would be grateful for any help or advice.
T.
, in reply to message 4.
Posted by Happy Violas (U13861656) on Monday, 13th September 2010
Hiya, yes you can freeze tomatoes but they're only fit for cooking afterwards. I chop the big ones up and freeze in bags of 500g. Cherry toms I freeze whole. I then use them throughout the winter instead of a tin of chopped tomatoes - no thawing, just add extra time with cooking. Soups, bolognese sauce, chutneys etc are all good with frozen toms. Obviously they're better fresh but when everyone is all tomatoed out it's an option!
Having a lovely time with my toms too, after two terrible blighted years. I have had the odd symptom, so sprayed them twice. They are so much nicer though than bought ones, we are eating them twice a day in various guises - beautiful!
Having lost all outside tomato crops the last 2 seasons to blight, I have had a smashing crop this year by growing them under glass.
I experimented by growing them in grow bag compost decanted into large pots, which then went onto a jumbo tray filled with gravel - my greenhouses are on hard standing so beds aren't an option.
I am sure the gravel bed helped keep the watering even, a problem I've always had in the past with grow bags.
Thanks Happy Violas,
Off down the lotty to pick Tomatoes, then buy
freezer containers looking forward to experimenting with the crop and cooking.
Cheers again.
T.
I've had a really good crop this year. Sweet Olives and Gardeners Delight. I picked the first at the end of July. I'm still picking lots and there are more green ones waiting to turn colour. At the weekend I froze some batches of tomato sauce for the winter. I use a Delia recipe. Fry an onion and some garlic in olive oil until softened. Add a pound of chopped tomatoes with salt & black pepper. Cook slowly for about half an hour. It's nice on pasta or as a pizza topping.
, in reply to message 9.
Posted by trialittledream (U14419792) on Wednesday, 15th September 2010
Grew Minibel this year for the first time from free seed with GW Magazine. Loved them, grew them in pots, easy to grow, no stakes, heavy crop, still picking. Will certainly grow more next year.
, in reply to message 10.
Posted by ladynovicegardener (U5368058) on Wednesday, 15th September 2010
I've grown Tomatoes for quite a few years now and this has been a great year for me too. I grew my Grandchildren's favourite Gardeners Delight and Marmande as well. What a wonderful sweet tasting fleshy tomato. I'll grow it again next year.
, in reply to message 11.
Posted by koala_girl (U12702629) on Wednesday, 15th September 2010
I'm very keen on Sweet Olive. They are always small enough to be bite size (handy for lunch boxes) whereas Gardeners Delight can sometimes get a bit big. The main draw back with SO is that the tomatoes fall off so easily. You hardly have to look at the plant to get several tomatoes bouncing to the ground. I usually pick a lot whilst they are orange and let them ripen in the kitchen (about a day later) to avoid having to pick them up off the floor.
, in reply to message 12.
Posted by mummyduckegg (U8437139) on Wednesday, 15th September 2010
Very proud last Saturday to have won prize for biggest tomato at our village Show (1 lb 3 oz) - I reckon it was due to the very enthusiastic twice-daily watering by our neighbour when we were on holiday. I offered to give him half the prize money (all of 50p!) but I think a bag of toms will go down better.
BTW variety was summer cider, a lovely sweet, fleshy orange one.
, in reply to message 13.
Posted by ageing_hippie (U6742113) on Thursday, 16th September 2010
We have such a glut of tomatoes this year! We are also making passata sauce with them because it concentrates down so much that it saves space in the freezer. We had so little time that all we did was fill our biggest cooking pot with tomatoes, larger ones cut in half, boiled for half an hour or so, pressed through a sieve, discarding skins and pips then returned the sauce to a smaller saucepan, brought to a boil and reduced it over a medium heat until it was really thickened and concentrated. If you have time you can add onions and garlic but they're not essential. You can always add them when you eventually use the sauce for cooking.
, in reply to message 13.
Posted by koala_girl (U12702629) on Thursday, 16th September 2010
1lb 3oz is one big tomato MDE. Have you got a photo of it?
, in reply to message 1.
Posted by gardenerphil (U14616062) on Thursday, 16th September 2010
Absolutely gutted, just had to lift 8 tomato plants with blight. I just cant believe how quickly it spread. Its my first year for a few years since I lost my toms to blight so its disappointing.
BTW I'm in north hants
Good luck to all who dont have it
Well Done MDE! How lovely it is to read everybody`s ups and downs.
Thank you to every one who gets stuck into the gardening, and then shares their results with the rest of us.
, in reply to message 17.
Posted by mummyduckegg (U8437139) on Saturday, 18th September 2010
No I didn't take a photo I'm afraid - too impatient to eat it. I had half in a sandwich and turned the rest into soup.
A friend told me tonight her tomatoes are being eaten by wasps.Has anyone ever seen that happen?
So far we've picked just over 39lbs of tomatoes - no problem with them ripening this year either though we do bring them indoors to finish off.
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