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| A rare appearance by yours truly clutching my precious bounty of tomatoes. Having this many makes me so proud |
The time has come for an update on how my numerous tomato plants have been getting on so far this year. Unlike some of my other vegetable crops (ie broad beans and peas) my tomatoes have done me proud. They have ripened really early, producing a nice steady stream for the last few weeks that means I haven't eaten a shop bought one for quite a while.
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| Some lovely medium sized fruits ripening on the vine |
I know they have ripened early because the mother's friend said she didn't have a single red tomato on her plants in the greenhouse when I had already started eating mine which had ripened outside on the patio. I may not have a greenhouse, but my patio gets really nice and hot with the sun baking down, and therefore I don't do too badly with the tomatoes. Last year was a different story, but that was because I had to shift them into a darkened corner of the patio while the roof was taken off. This definitely affected the crop, even thought this year has probably been less warm and sunny overall.
I have about 15 plants of differing varieties, all different sizes and shapes and even colour. Most are from Gardener's Kitchen, a good reliable source of tomato plant in my opinion. I am really enjoying growing heritage varieties and unusual coloured ones. Somehow a stripey tomato such as tumbling tiger and tigerella are just a little more thrilling than a supersweet 100, however good supersweet may be. I am a sucker for unusual-ness, and as you can't buy stripey tomatoes in shops, im sold. Having taken a thousand pictures I will share the varieties I have particularly enjoyed growing in more detail in another post, otherwise this will get very picture heavy!
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| They may not be traditionally pretty but I find a patio full of tomatoes at various stages of ripening really attractive |
Every year I think I will keep detailed notes about how many tomatoes each variety gives and the taste, and I never do. I think all have pulled their weight, except one, which has decided to just grow one whopper that has kept the whole household fascinated. The bigger fruited tomatoes obviously produce less quantity but I get a kick out of watching them grow huge, so I don't mind. Two great big ones I have been watching and waiting for like a hawk split right round the centres just as they ripened because the heavens opened and we had an absolute downpour, saturating them. Unfortunate, but still edible in my eyes. Thats tomorrow's lunch!
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| This shows off some of the different varieties, including a sneaky yellow one, not something I approve of in tomatoes |
Currently I have a whole pot full of tomatoes waiting to be eaten in the kitchen, so things are good at the moment, However there are not that many new flowers coming on the plants so I am concerned that I will get my crop early and they will be over quick. The mother says this is a good thing because it means they will have all ripened, but I like getting some green tomatoes at the end. What will I make my green tomato chutney with if I don't have any?
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| Perfection |
You've got to love it when a tomato plant surprises you. The other day I was watering one of my pots of sweet peas, a job I do every day, when I spotted some leaves amongst the stems which did not look sweet pea-esque. There is only a two foot high tomato plant growing up amongst them. I have never spotted it before, I don't know how, and I literally have no clue as to how it got there. Clearly I did manage to grow one tomato from seed this year, just not quite in the way I had planned! I have got to stop throwing seed compost in too pots im potting up, not that I thought I did on this occasion, because then you have a tomato in your peas!
So part one of the tomato season has been a resounding success, hopefully part two will continue in the same vein.
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