Tomato Growing 2024

Frost sweetens veg right? . Most will be fine, there are about five that were outside though

Last big harvest, need to pull out about five plants as they are moulding

 

Yes but tomatoes are a fruit!

 

Tomatoes definitely on their last legs now with blight! I've had a good crop for sauces and soups for the freezer.

 

Back garden is getting very little sun now, so I've moved a couple of my bush tomatoes to the front where it still gets sun all day, and they will have the benefit of the heat reflected from the house wall. Sun will eventually disappear from the front garden too; it's south facing but on the north facing side of a hill, so the sun doesn't come up high enough to reach us in the winter. It's a real frost pocket; when there's been snow or ice my street seems to be the last place in town to thaw out again.

I made tomato soup yesterday, including basil and oregano from the garden, plus onions, garlic and a couple of sweet potatoes that needed using up. It's very good, and will be my lunch for next two or three days.

Still got plenty ripening.I pick a few each day as soon as they show a bit of orange, and put them in my porch which gets very warm in the sun.

 

All my honeycomb are now splitting so I've decided not to water the plants anymore and see if it stop happening.
They are on their last legs anyway.

 

Poor season ,no sunshine,but there's enough sitting in a bowl. Time to turn them into relish but that means back to supermarket trash again ? Damn.

 

This next week is supposed to be sunny, so I am hoping a few more will ripen, and the rest will be chutney. Luckily my NDN wants to make chutney also, otherwise I would have gallons of the stuff, and I'm the only one who eats it in this house.

 

Some of my Sungolds and Choc Cherries are still slowly ripening but unless it stays reasonably warm for the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be left with some green ones.
Having already got a stock of Chutneys,Pickles, Relish etc from previous years, I thought I'd try cooking them down with tomato puree and Curry powder and use when making a curry. No doubt it will need some adjustment when I come to use it but thought it worth a try.

 

Blight has finally found my Outdoor Girl tomatoes so I've been picking all the unblemished green ones I can find. I'm not a chutney person so I was thinking curry too. I've seen a few recipes for Green Tomato Dahl which sounds worth a try.

I've had a good crop from the Outdoor Girl so far, and all my bush tomatoes are still looking perky, so I don't have any complaints!