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Five Green Tomato Plants stood in a row. Same as last week. I count that as SUCCESS! And what kind of counting could CROWN that – a faint shadow of orange on four tomatoes!
Only really three of them count – as the eagle-eyed might have spotted that the Ferline has Blossom-end Rot.
But I have slightly lost sight of the fact that I am raising tomatoes to eat. It’s rather that I am now engaged in some Urban Gardener versus the Spores of Blight tussle.
I move forward with probably less hope of serving up a home-grown tomato sandwich from my five than the keepers of breeding pandas are of hearing the patter of little panda paws from their pairs. But as long as they are all here – then Red is what I’m after!
So this week I’m waving a bamboo shoot aloft for the turning orange of Ferline, Sungold and Tumbler.
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You’re well ahead of me this year – yay for traces of red! It’s a shame our old fiend Blossom is back – perhaps she’ll only steal half of your fine Ferline tomato.
There’s no colour changes under the tents – yet – and like you I’m holding out for red, burgundy or yellow rather than black.
This week I’ve snipped off lots of blighted foliage, trimmed back some of the rest and removed sideshoots and two unwilling plants. I was just about to give up after finding a blighted fruit when today, in amongst the foliage, I spied a blushing tomato. And the winner is: Gardener’s Delight – alas Gold Medal doesn’t get its namesake this year.
I have just looked back at my phone to see when the last blight warning was texted for my area – as it seems ages ago and it was – it was the 15th of July. So it really was early this year – and then nothing! My fruit don’t seem to have any blight on them – and the remaining plants seem to be holding out. They are certainly not show specimins! Never were there more messy or unruly plants but given that since July it’s been all about survival not looks I’m not bothered! Also as it’s now not sitting out in the garden weather then they look fine viewed from a little distance from the kitchen.
Very pleased to hear that one variety is living up to its name – although perhaps this year we can rename it Desperate Gardener’s Delight.
And Gold Medal – will have to be Tarnished!
Does anyone near you grow potatoes or tomatoes? My garden backs onto an allotment where several plot holders seem to have abandoned their potato crops to their blight-ridden fate. So now I probably know where it came from – but that doesn’t help. It’s spread to some fruit so I’ve picked off most of the green tomatoes for indoor ripening. The tents, it seems, have failed. It might be a ‘one tomato’ year for me.
I’m glad your remaining plants are still healthy and ripening fruit – it’s really been a rotten year for growing tomatoes – I hope yours taste extra-delicious.
Actually it’s a Black Cherry – the plant must have mingled with the G.D. plants.
The nearest allotments are about a 15 minute walk as the crow flies. There are a few odd tomato plants in front gardens and they all seemed to get blight at the same time. I don’t think the back gardens are big enough for most people to bother growing much veg – esp as lots have extended out the back into the gardens,making it even smaller. But then with the advent of the “grow potatoes in a bag” thing- maybe there are more of them around.And of course the irony is that I bet those people don’t get many potatoes regardless of blight.
So you are right in your summary of the summer – it was far from being a good year for tomatoes. Forget the news crews turning up to Kew when one of those once in a lifetime smelly flowers bloom – they should be there to celebrate the tales of growers that manage to bring to perfect maturity some tomatoes that got sliced, salted and then captured between a couple of buttered slices of a loaf of farmhouse – the tale of the lesser spotted home-grown tomato sandwich.