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( The verificiation process is just to make sure that Tomato lovers only get to send mail and not eaters/senders of that unmentionable tinned pink luncheon meat stuff !!!)
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
My truss tomato plants are about 4-5 inches high. Can i transfer them to 9″ pots (1 in each pot) or should I wait longer to transfer them?
Pls respond and thank you
Hello Maris,
Thank you for stopping by .
I would transfer them to your 9″ pots. If you are in the UK then we have such a short summer season to get the most out of our tomatoes and mine really started to take off when I transferred them to larger pots. Good Luck and I hope your tomatoes continue to flourish.
Sally
Good morning Sally from a slightly cooler Zakynthos.
For all the veggie fans out there: a simple Greek meze………….
This starter takes about 20 minutes and is gorgeous.
Pour enough olive oil into a large ramekin to cover the bottom.
Add a couple of thickish slices of feta cheese.
Top with plenty of sliced beef tomatoes.
Season with oregano and black pepper.
Pop in the oven on a high heat and bake for around 20 minutes (until the cheese starts to melt).
Done.
Be careful not to burn your mouth as it stays hot for quite some time. This is Feta sto fourno (feta from the oven)
Enjoy!
Dave
Thank you for this. I love the sound of Feta sto fourno – both literally and mouthwatering wise !
I can see that after Spain yesterday my virtual summer holiday courtesy of the taste of tomatoes will be next stop Greece.
Its a bit cooler here as well – but cooler here is probably not met with quite the same relief as it is in your neck of the woods !
So I shall bring back the sun by putting feta on my shopping list !
I usually roast potatoes with red onion and rosemary, today there were a few green tomatoes in the kitchen so I added 4 small ones to the tray just to try. The result was very tasty so I will not be wasting green tomatoes in future.
What an inspired addition to the roasting tray. I love, love, love roast potatoes -and enjoy all the rituals around par- boiling, shaking and bashing to get fluffy etc – so the idea of adding green tomatoes to the mix and the experience is great. Thank you for letting me know about it !
Your tomato plants are beautiful! I found your site because I was looking for pictures of Totem and Sweet n Neat. Are (were) your plants in full sun? I want to grow them inside. I will have a garden outside, but I really want a few fresh vegetables in the winter. I am going to practice with a few vegetables under a light now, so maybe I can work out the kinks before next winter.
Thanks for posting your wonderful plants!
Hello – Thank you so much for stopping by and for your lovely comments. The photos that I am posting during the winter months are all of tomatoes which were growing in various kitchen gardens that I visited throughout last summer. I post photos of my own plants from March/April through to September – when they are live and in-situ!
If you are looking for a variety to grow on a window-sill then you might also like to take a look at Venus from Thompson & Morgan as their catalogue states it can be grown on one ( and I presume they mean an indoors one).
Whilst I would hate to discourage anyone from growing tomatoes – they do like a lot of light! and warmth! and I’m not sure with fuel prices the way they are now how economical it might be to try and “top” up our winter levels of light and heat to the level your plants would need to flourish! I think enjoy in the summer and make lots of tomato sauce to freeze if you like it and have a freezer!
On a completely different tack – what it might be worth experimenting with is growing mustard and cress, and sprouting seeds. Mustard – use some kitchen roll in a shallow plastic tray and cress some loo roll in the same – and in a week you should have a healthy “lawn” to pick !
And then sprouting seeds – if you put in a transparent bag ( like a ziplock) and rinse with water twice and drain ( either once or twice a day) then again you should get healthy sprouting seeds to add to salads etc.
Pls excuse me if you do all this already – but I just thought I throw them in as a more cost effective fresh food to “grow” indoors.
Anyway whatever you grow I hope you enjoy the process and the rewards!
Thanks Sally!! Thanks for the information!!
I think I can grow a couple of small tomato plants in a sunny window that is close to our fireplace. I am going to experiment with several kinds of vegetables.
I have never tried Mustard and Cress sprouts. I will have to give them a try.
It is so amazing to me that I can sit at my computer and communicate with someone that lives so far away from me. I live in Baldwin City, Kansas USA. Take Care!
Hi there, I am housebound and would love to grow tomatoes, I am a pensioner on pension credit so not a lot of cash, could somebody advise me of the best deals moneywise in West Sussex. I already have two large grow bags…would also like to put in a few other salad plants too…
Hello
Thank you for stopping by and getting in touch. I hope that you are enjoying lots of sun in West Sussex today – and that it’s streaming through your windows. Apart from the dust it shows up! it always lovely when the sun hits a part of the house it hasn’t visited since late last summer.
I’m in Surrey and it’s just me here at tomatolover so your question – whilst a good one – has stumped me in terms of an answer! Plug plants from seed suppliers can be home delivered by post but are expensive to buy because of the p&p charges.
If I were to give some general advice to people looking for good value home grown plants to grow on in grow bags or containers I’d say look out for local plant sales that are often held on allotments or for charity in village halls or as part of open gardens as part of the yellow book scheme.
I’ve found this link which is for horticultural societies in West Sussex and if there is one near to you – you might find that a phone call to them might be a good place to start – at this time of year – generous home gardeners are always looking for good homes to offload young plants on to !
http://www.westsussex.info/gardening.shtml
Hope that helps
Sally
Hi Sally, I am a Health Coach and am going to have a film made of me next Monday at Fittleworth house, I have mislaid the contact details and you came up when I googled the house.
Do you have a contact number?
Kind reagards ,Sandra
Hello – I have just looked up Fittleworth in the NGS Yellow Book directory for 2009 ( the most up-to-date I have!) and their number is quoted as 01798 865074.
Hope that helps!
Kind Regards
Sally
Slug/snail control – from Gardeners World last night
1. Autumn – ensure that garden is clean and tiny and get rid of all rubish that could be hiding slug/snail eggs
2. February – scatter blue slug pellets to deal with emerging youngsters
3. Early spring – spray leaves with a garlic spray which kills eggs and moves slugs elsewhere
crush 1 bulb of garlic and boil for 5 minutes in 1 litre of water. When cool, strain and store in a bottle in the fridge.
to make the spray, add 1 tablespoon of garlic liquid to 1 litre of water and spray plants
Thank you for this – amazing how many things garlic is good for . Wards off snails and colds/sneezes – all the nasty slimy things basically !!
Garlic is also good for eating WITH snails
That is true ! And with lots of butter ! I have to say I have only ever eaten snails in France and really enjoyed them -but I think that had a lot to do with the garlic butter and delicious bread that went with them. For some reason I can’t imagine ordering them in the UK – if I could then I have thrown a great many “dinners” over the garden fence into the wilderness beyond!
Hi Sally,
My Costoluto Genovese tomato has a large mutant flower cluster where the growing tip of the main stem shoud be. I think this is called fasciation. There are conflicting views on what causes this, genetic mutation or a virus. Have you had this happen to any of your tomatoes? Or heard of it? You can see a photo on my blog.
About time we had Sir ships and lordships for Usefull deeds in the community instead of rewarding runners /bike riders and those that play with balls etc How about gold medals for finding a cure for blight.
No ollympic stadium needed
All except 3 outdoor toms are in the burning bin. I have saturated these with bordeaux mix to see if they can be saved. Beetroot & sweetcorn,runner beans,leeks doing well . Why am I unhappy
George
Couldn’t agree more!!!
The inventor could rightly take their place and hold their own in terms of contribution to the sum of any human happiness ( well those that like tomatoes – and the rest don’t count anyway!) at any grand opening ceremony.
We,ve had two tigerella,s from the one healthy plant outside.A third was watched closely by us AND someone else.Yesterday found half of it on the ground badly pecked.First thing this morning all seemed well but by 2pm all changed colour to brown so into the burn bin for them.
and the sorry looking others outside.The greenhouse? I did get rid of a Shirley a Tamina and a St Pierre that looked a wee bit blemished.Perhaps I,m getting paranoid but one cannot help it. If this lot go it will be a years work gone. AND I dearly would like to taste a Sungold and of course the new types Ive planted this season
Oh well runner beans beetroot and sweet corn are doing well so must be thankful for what does well.sad sad sad,woe etc. There,s always next year to look forward to George
The squirrels that squeak and swing in the trees at the bottom of my garden – have in past years – waited until the plants have grown high enough that they can just scamper along the top of the fence and tuck in. This year – given the plants don’t seem to putting on any height – they will hopefully be too lazy to bother and go back to raiding other peoples bird feeders.
I too am a subscriber to the “next year to look forward to” view. I think stoic and tomato must be some kind of anagram of each other!!!
hi there, When I first started tom growing I put them in the soil direct. After 3 years I thought one cannot carry on doing this ,and shovelled out the used soil. this was hard and hot work, so decided to plant future crops in buckets and have done so for the past 10 years. Now I am wondering if its OK to now plant direct back in the soil as its been rested for this long time. this would also stop the little devils from fighting to get out via the vents.I still have an abundance of Shirleys. 2 Taminas 2 Orcado,s and 1 Brandywine I,ve had a good year despite losing all outside to blight,and I am looking forward to next years challenge