Tomatoes: growing and eating

 

It snapped under the weight of its own fruit, Sep 2022

It's been a good year for tomatoes in 2022.  Last year the bulk of my plants were at the allotment and they got blight before any fruit ripened.  Before many fruits had even formed, really.  This year I have them growing both there and back at home, and no blight to be seen in either place. 

I think my stakes were too short, Sep 2022

Most of the plants are a salad variety I've been saving seed from for many years now;  I can't remember the original variety name.  They have been pretty reliable about growing good amounts of fruit, and good size;  though I don't get red fruit every year (this is not an issue, as I have such a good green salsa recipe that one year I was disappointed when all my tomatoes ripened).

I have about four cherry tomato plants growing in planters at the allotment, which have certainly been producing consistently all summer:  enough to pick a few bowlsful every week.  Also at the allotment, I put down about a dozen or more of the salad variety, but these haven't really performed well.  The planters were filled with pure compost, but the plants in the ground have been languishing among too much grass I think.  Not a lot of fruits, and those all have been small-ish.

At home I have a total of six of the salad variety plants, well spaced and sans pasture grass.  I pinched out the growing tips once they reached the tops of their 1.25 m supports, but this did not stop them as seen in the photo above (although the stem is nearly split in two, it's still ripening the fruit that caused it to snap, so heavy they're almost touching the ground).  

Most of these salad tomatoes have been peeled, sliced, and dehydrated for winter use, but some have actually gone into salads.  They have also been very nice grilled on the barbecue:  olive oil, salt and black pepper;  and the same treatment for roasting in the air fryer which hardly takes any time at all.

Corn? Not yet

 

I hope they can ripen! Sep 2022

Despite being in the third (nearly) week of September, some of my corn ears are still just emerging.  As mentioned previously, it was planted late:  the initial batch was destroyed by some sort of animal at the allotment (probably mice/rats) and I sowed the rest of the seed in the packet immediately, with fingers crossed. 

Dahlias in front, Glass Gem popcorn behind, Sep 2022

This is not a sweetcorn but flint corn/popcorn, and the packet warns that it needs a long season.  So I'm still not sure if it will be pop-able when the time comes;  it's supposed to be left on the plant for as long as possible.  Some of the ears do look fairly fat, with dark silks (a sign of pollination).  

Incidently, this is a very tall corn!  The biggest plant is even taller than our grape arbor, shown in the previous post--I would estimate about 3 m tall.  The plants themselves look absolutely beautiful and healthy:  good thick stalks and luxuriant leaves.  And while a few have just one or two cobs growing, most of the plants have three cobs, a couple with four, and there is even one optimistic grower with five cobs.  Wow!

Brassicas in autumn 2022

No grapes worth picking on this vine, Aug 2022

After a caterpillar-ful August, the cabbages are showing signs of recovery, as are the purple sprouting broccoli.  The Brussels sprouts don't look too happy though.  I've never been very successful with the sprouts, and it looks like this year won't be any different.  Even trying different varieties hasn't improved my luck.  Maybe it's time to give up (I feel like I'm just missing something though, as other people at the allotments have amazing sprouts).

I believe the ducks helped keep the caterpillars under control (to some extent), and I know the parasitic wasps have been about, as there are many little dried up caterpillar husks.  I've even seen the regular big wasps out, and watched one sucking out the juicy bits from a big fat caterpillar.  In addition, I think getting the cabbages into good soil--and getting them in fairly early--meant they were big enough to withstand some pressure once the hordes descended.  The sprouts had less time:  maybe I needed to start them earlier? 

I've cleared away about half of the kohl rabi now (the biggest ones), and most of it has gone in the freezer for winter.  I can't believe how well they turned out--not really troubled by pests (thank you ducks) and nearly all of them swelled up nice and fat.  I'll definitely grow some next year.  They are a bit of a pain to peel if eating raw (they make a very nice coleslaw when grated), but to cook I just dump them whole in the slow cooker for several hours, let cool and then peel.  

Speaking of swelling up, the swedes (aka rutabagas) made a good start but then had too much duck for too long I think;  the ducks ate their leaves and that was it--they did the same to the remaining lettuces.  Still, I can't really complain as the ducks have done far more good than harm, and there were only about a dozen or so swedes left after the pigeon had at them in spring.

Food totals August 2022

In an unattended moment, the daughter (age 2) picked all these green!  August 2022

Vegetables

 

18 oz carrots

35.5 oz lettuce

79 oz beets

134.5 oz kohl rabi

18 oz broad beans

4 oz onion

131.5 oz tomatoes (cherry and salad)

2.5 oz kale

8 oz artichoke hearts

4 oz achocha

Total:  435 oz, or 27 lb 3 oz

All vegetables are weighed after preparation:  peeling, trimming, etc.

 

Fruit

 

82 oz figs

16 oz rhubarb

 

Total:  98 oz, or 6 lb 2 oz

We also harvested, counting per fruit (not weighed): 

137 Laxton Fortune apples

12 plums

 

Eggs 

38 eggs from 6 hens and 3 ducks