by Sally on September 2, 2010
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I’m enjoying The Ivington Diaries; Monty Don’s account of creating his personal and family garden. At the moment it’s February and I’m immersed in frost and flood. Which given the weather has thankfully this week, seasonally corrected itself, seems as faraway as a trip through the back of the wardrobe to winter, might.
But of course I’ve also had to peek ahead to see how and when tomatoes feature.
They first appear on April 14th when they get sown (in plugs). By May 13th, when they make their next appearance, they are in 3″ pots and ‘getting leggy and need planting out‘. Just over 2 months later, August 15th they are ripening and the slugs are munching.
And then on September 9th Monty declares, ‘ It’s the high point of the tomato harvest‘. Which I found very comforting. It means that for one of our best gardener’s, the best had – come the beginning of September – yet to come !
I think his tomatoes are all grown in greenhouses. Varieties include:
- Black Russian
- Andine Cornue
- Brandywine
- Costoluto Fiorentino
- Roma
- Shirley ( Ideal for frying)
- Black Plum
- Britain’s Breakfast
- Tigerella ( good, lots of flavour – I agree ! )
- Marmande ( disillusioned with taste)
- Burpee Delicious ( his favourite)
And their curtain call ? November 7th: ‘cleared greenhouses of tomatoes‘. A pretty, long run !
by Sally on September 1, 2010
September 1st seems to represent a step into something different, a date and day to cross over and be on our way to somewhere new.
If it was back to school then that step might be made in new shoes, shined high for new beginnings. In this spirit, I decided to spruce up the tomato plants and give them all a sharp haircut.
With warmth and sun back in the same kind of abundance as is held within the stitched folds of a doubled-over, plenty of room to let-down-for-growth hem, it seemed a good time to ditch the leaf canopy and let the tomatoes ripen in full glare.
I had to wait to do this as it’s the sort of task where my ‘enough’ alarm bell never sounds. I just keep going until the word pruned is scratched and replaced by ’scalped’. So I wanted to wait until late enough in the season when defoliation or even deforestation could occur and the plants get by without.
It also meant I got shot of all the Yellow Balconi leaves that I have so taken against. And with more split stems I decided to protect the whole lot under fleece. Hopefully it will also act as disguise to prevent the return of the slimy squatters, all of whom were evicted as part of the great clear up process.
So now the only game left to play is the ripening one…… and it’s happening in full view !
by Sally on August 31, 2010
I saw this recipe for Golden Tomato Sauce on one of my favourite cookery sites and thought it was perfect for my Yellow Balconi bounty.
I’ve a love/hate relationship with this variety. The downsides are :
- The leaves; they’re fleshy and tend to rot especially close to the soil
- Slugs and snails love to crawl up the pots and hide under the dense leaf canopy
- The tomatoes at the centre of the plant are difficult to get at and pick
- In trying to get to all the fruit I’ve ended up moving the stem around – and then it tends to break. Which is why a couple of the plants are now covered with fleece. I’m hoping a physical barrier will prevent infection entering the split stem.
But on the other hand:
- They don’t take up much room. They only need small containers and sit low in the pot without being given to sprawling - they produce a lot of fruit from a concentrated area.
- They don’t need staking or pinching out.
- So far from 9 plants, I’ve had nearly 6kg of tomatoes. They are givers !
And as I’ve now discovered, they make a delicious and cheery sauce. I left the seeds in and perhaps took a bit longer than the recommended 5 minutes but served with some peas, pasta and parmesan, as I twirled the yella fellas and spaghetti round my fork, all my thoughts were sunny ones.
by Sally on August 30, 2010
The garden is a mess. Each morning it looks like more dissolute partying had been occuring over night, with certain plants not quite able to right themselves after the revelleries. And a whole row of leaning Black Cherries which look as if one man down, and they’ll all follow suit.
Here it is with the shadows which are cast by the morning sun. It’s the time of year when the shadows change in character from a place of retreat, for respite from the heat to a place where chiaroscuro sharp edges hem you in dungeon like darkness.
Still given the weather they’re having to cope with and a blight watch warning text arriving on Friday, I’m just glad everything is still here in some shape and form.
And cropping has been good this week : 6.9kg of tomatoes. So some more sunshine from above and a bit of TLC from me and hopefully there will still be plenty of good tomato days to come.
by Sally on August 29, 2010
The usual operating rules of cooking for the blog are - photograph -upload to check there’s a useable, in focus shot etc – and all being well – then eating can begin.
Today’s dish contravened those rules. The picture may not look much, but therein lies the clue to how delicious this bake is. Drool factor was ’running’ at a level too high to allow pre-scoff photo QC.
Adapted from ‘Real Fast Vegetarian Food‘ by Ursula Ferrigno this is a downy, puffy pillow of a gratin with a red satin sheet edge, courtesy of finely chopped, fresh red chilli.
So for a 2 person gratin love-in you will need the following :
- 1 onion, half a red chilli ( remove seeds) and 1 garlic clove – all finely chopped
- 350g of fresh tomatoes ( remove seeds) – roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 fresh sage leaves – finely chopped and 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 eggs, forked
- 25g ricotta cheese
- 75g parmesan cheese, grated
- THEN:
- Heat the oil in a pan and gently cook the onions, garlic and chilli for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 5. Add sage, oregano, salt & pepper.
- Whilst that’s cooking, mix the ricotta and half the parmesan into the forked eggs.
- Layer the bottom of an ovenproof dish with the onion/tomato mix. Pour the eggy/cheesy mix on top of that and scatter the other half of parmesan over that.
- Bake in 180c( fan)/2ooC/ Gas Mark 6 oven for 20 minutes.
Take out of the oven, sigh and eat.
by Sally on August 27, 2010
It was Jamie Oliver’s multicoloured ‘MotherShip Tomato Salad‘ from his series ‘Jamie at Home’ which prompted me to ‘grow’ mad and sow lots of tomato seeds of many different colours.
So when I saw the latest edition of his magazine Jamie had an article on new tomato recipes it was a must-have.
Wine-Gummy Tomatoes sound good (tomato halves oven-roasted for 4 hours at low temperature) and I thought maybe Orange Tomato & Horseradish Shots might cure me of my aversion to tomato juice. That was before I saw they’re an accompaniment to a little smoked eel on toasted ciabatta. I’ve not had eel – it might be lovely. But if not – then my hope of learning to love TJ will be forever dashed by association.
But whatever I choose to make the good news is I’m growing the right tomatoes. Out of ‘Jamie’s Top Sorts’, I’m growing 4:
Sungold, Black Cherry, Green Zebra, Brandywine, Russian Black and Ananas Noir
So I’ve ‘appliqued’ the photo of ‘Catalan Style Bread with Squashed Tomatoes’ with my own Sungold, Black Cherry and Green Zebra.
by Sally on August 26, 2010
Concern and impatience is rife.
Today my neighbour was lamenting the tomatoes on her sole plant ( Italian plum – exact variety not know as brought home from school for the holidays – although unlike gerbils and stick insects it’s not expected back in the autumn – although from memory it wasn’t always exactly the same classroom pet which made the return trip) show no signs of turning red.
I also received an email from someone wondering if their Lemon Tree tomato was ever going to ripen and how to tell when it was. Exactly the same question I have been asking myself regarding Green Zebra. I keep squeezing the fruit ( gently!) to detect hidden signs of ripening but it doesn’t seem to want to yield – either to softening or ripening !
So I thought I’d post some pictures taken today of the resolutely green brigade. So that if you’re still waiting – you know you don’t wait alone !
by Sally on August 25, 2010
I don’t do online grocery shopping so haven’t experienced the delight/dismay which comes courtesy of substitutions. But right now I’m feeling the dismay that comes with August being substituted with climatic conditions that surely belong to October.
I was in denial but found the temperature there not to my liking – too cold. At the same time appropriating winter garb – fleece of many layers – is not something I’m prepared to countenance until there is at least a hint of russett on the calendar page.
So I’m still in summer cottons but piled on, and I’m still bare foot – but inside sheepskin boots…and so I needed something to eat which offered the same deceit. Light summer textures and flavours, but with hidden heat, courtesy of chilli sauce.
Per person :
- 100g pasta
- 85g ricotta cheese
- lots of thinly ‘quartered’ cherry tomatoes
- handful of torn basil leaves
- teaspoon (plus) of Bart’s Las Iguanas Yellow Chilli Sauce
Boil the pasta, blend the chilli sauce into the ricotta. When the pasta is cooked, drain, return to the hot pan and mix in the ricotta, tomatoes and basil.
Serve and enjoy summer flavours with summer heat, from the bottle !
by Sally on August 24, 2010
I read an article today which introduced a concept I hadn’t come across before. I knew Unesco made awards to structures and places but wasn’t aware of a more recent innovation – an award to be given to things classed as an ‘Intangible Heritage’; defined in the article as ‘cultural treasures’.
Moves are afoot to place the Mediterranean diet on this list. And a quoted key ingredient in the Mediterranean diet – tomatoes !
The decision as to whether status is granted has yet to made – so I don’t know whether I’m just growing the humble tomato in my garden or whether I’m growing an integral part of an Unesco ‘Intangible Heritage’ treasure. And if I am -will that change how I feel about my casual but dedicated consumption of this ‘gem’ ?!
by Sally on August 23, 2010
Today’s photograph could have been taken in sunshine, high winds, driving rain or low grey skies. We’ve had a bit of everything. Which also describes this week’s harvest; which hit a new 2010 high of 3kg.
New to the tomato trug this week were Floridity, Sungold (only 80g but still a big hurrah !) Conchita and 1 x San Marzano ( which actually ripened off the plant indoors).
I’m also now also ripening all the fruit from one of the Elegance plants indoors. I don’t know quite how or why – but the whole plant ‘uncorkscrewed’ itself from the metal spiral and ended up in a heap on the ground. I had ‘squirrel suspicions’ after seeing the ‘shake, grab and scamper raids’ I’ve seen them make on my neighbours apple tree. But the spiral was still upright and wedged in under the fence lap. So maybe not. Nothing had snapped but ‘re-threading’ was never going to be an option! So now I’ve ‘green’ harvest festival like tomato garlands strewn about the kitchen. It looks half still-life painting and half low budget TV cookery programme.
