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The photos above were taken on September 30th and October 7th. This is Week Thirtyone -and there aren’t any tomatoes to take photos of. So Growing Tomatoes 2012 really stops at Week Thirty. Which is a nice round number. But shame it wasn’t a year for lots of nice, round, red or any other shaped or coloured tomatoes.
I’ve enjoyed picking the tomatoes I’ve grown. There really is something unique to picking and eating what’s been grown by you, on your own “land” – whatever that land maybe! Even if some years – like this year – it’s a very meagre crop. It may have been an odd year – but it would be odder still with no homegrown tomatoes.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
a nice ending i feel. mine are somehow still ripening. sorry i haven’t posted all season, but i’ve loved it.
Yay, a plateful of semi-ripe tomatoes is a nice and positive way to end the season. I’m really glad you had a respectable harvest after all your trials with germination, blight and bad weather; growing one’s own food really is satisfying – and more so when its grown against the odds.
My tents came down last weekend and I gathered a few pounds of mostly green tomatoes. Most of those should ripen well indoors and I might even manage to ripen a ‘G.M.’ The rest are now in my Apple, green tomato and raspberry chutney.
I think the tents and the cooler nights after mid-September saved much of my crop from blight. ‘Lettuce Leaf’ was my most successful variety this year – I think it’s a top tomato for adverse weather conditions, and it’s also a rarity. I’ve saved some ‘Sunstream’ F4 lines for next year – I really like the ‘blocky plum’ shape. I might grow ‘G.M.’ again, but next year I’m giving ‘Gardener’s Delight’ and ‘Black Cherry’ a rest in favour of something a little more adventurous. And so I’m off curl up with a few online catalogues and dream about sunny days and ripening tomatoes on the vines…
Sally, I hope and your readers have a lovely, warm and restful winter, thank you for all your posts and pictures and I hope you’ll be back next year.
Oops, that should read, “Sally, I hope you and your readers…
The only varieties to do well here this year were small. The large ones – even ‘Super Marmande’, previously a success, have rotted before ripening. But ‘Sungold’ and ‘Garden peach’ have still thrived. The latter has produced smaller than expected fruits, but they’ve ripened outdoors, and it’s still flowering and growing well – I suppose frost will come eventually though. I’m going to leave it and see how long it can last. I just picked a small, but perfect, ripe, fragrant fruit from it – a tiny joy!
Hi Sally,
I hope you had an excellent Christmas and New Year, and are ready for the new season’s trials, tribulations and joys – especially the joys of home-grown tomatoes! I’ve added a new variety this year – Real Seeds has added a French orange cherry variety called ‘Tangerine’, so I’ll be giving G.D. and B.C. a rest this year, since they don’t need my help to survive. ‘Lettuce Leaf’, ‘Sunstream’ grow-outs and ‘Gold Medal’ will also populate my patch, and I’m planning to use leeks as a companion planting – alliums are supposed to keep pests away.
Last year’s remnant crop did ripen up eventually, though I lost some to mould and blight; I consumed the last B.C. just before Christmas.
Well whatever your plans, here’s to a productive and sunnier season this year!