I have officially given up growing tomatoes ...

About five years or so ago I first tried growing my own veg ... I didn't have a garden at the time, just a very small patio area. I had one large plant pot, a tomato plant, a courgette plant, a pepper plant, an aubergine and some basil. All in the one pot. My mum had seen an article in The Times called the "one pot garden" or something like that ... and I gave it a try. I had a whole summer of beautiful ripe tomatoes and other veg ....

In 2007 me and Mr Plum bought our flat with a garden! Yes ... A GARDEN! In 2008 Mr Plum bought me a greenhouse for my birthday ... and the growing began!

But .... I have not had a very successful time with my tomatoes .... here is most of this year's crop ... I still have a few more to pick.

If you look closely you will see three ripe tomatoes ...woopie!

Green tomato chutney, again, anyone?

No ... I couldn't face it again, either! I still have a fridge full of jars from last year! So I have chopped them up and stuck them in the freezer. I don't think that I will bother growing tomatoes next year!

Veggies

I have just been out to give my tomatoes a bit of a trim and tie them in ... I have been neglecting them for the past week as it has been too wet to venture out into the garden ....

Here are the peppers and aubergine ... they are doing really well! Looking forward to picking some of the veg in the next couple of weeks!

I am very excited to report that I have a ripe tomato!! Finally ... I was a bit worried that I wasn't going to get anything, and I am still a bit worried as I only have a handful of green tomatoes growing on 8 plants ... hmmm - maybe I am being too impatient! I begrudge having to buy tomatoes from the supermarket when I have so many plants in the greenhouse! Anyway, have a look at this beautiful "Golden Sunrise" tomato ...

Here's my little veggie patch ... courgettes are taking over!

Lovely peas!!

What's occurring in Victoria Plum's Garden?

Lots of lovely things growing in the garden!! Have a look at a previous post here to see how things have come along in the last month!

Mmmmmm .... purple spouting broccoli ....

Peppers and aubergines in the greenhouse (it was 35 degrees Celsius in there this morning - phew!)

Pretty aubergine flowers ....

Broad beans!!!

Tomatoes!!!

Potato barrels!

The plot .... from left to right ... broccoli, red onions, carrots, fennel, leeks, courgettes and squash with broad beans and peas at the back.

Today's harvest! Ha Ha Ha ... two pods of broad beans, eaten raw with our bbq this evening - delicious!!

Courgette is looking a bit sad, but have plenty more healthier ones on the plant!! It's not a lot - but it's homegrown and that's all that matters!

Busy in the Garden

I have spent this lovely bank holiday Monday pottering in the garden and tending to my veg ... my parents-in-law were visiting over the weekend and drove us to a nearby garden centre to get various plants (we don't have a car so are somewhat limited in how much we can carry back from our nearest B&Q!) ... here we go, a little update on what I've got growing in the garden this year .... I'm not sure my father-in-law was ready for me to load the car up with 4 bags of compost, a grow bag, some orchid compost and pretty flowers to attract bees!  Oh well, they did offer to take us out!

From left to right we have got ... fennel, sunflowers, squash, cucumber and some lettuce on the top shelf ... 

and on the bottom we've got some peas, peppers, a tub of rocket and a propagator with some pansy seeds in.

Here we have various tomatoes (due to the gales I am not sure what variety is which ...), aubergines, marigolds and propagators with violas, lupins and stocks ... on the bottom shelf there is a grow bag with 4 strawberry plants in ....

Three potato barrels! 

And finally, the "plot" ... from the left we've got purple sprouting broccoli, red onions, leeks, broad beans, courgettes and some parsnip and beetroot seeds .... when the peas are a little bigger I will transplant them outside.

What have you been up to this bank holiday?

Seeds!

In anticipation of the Spring (!) I have just ordered my seeds for next year - how exciting!  I have spent ages looking through Alan Titchmarsh's "The Kitchen Gardener" (a birthday present from Mr Plum) and "The Greenhouse Expert" and have chosen the following to be planted next year:

February/March: 

Aubergine

Courgette

Leeks

Onions

Peppers

Potatoes

Tomatoes (4 different varieties!)

April:

Cucumber

Fennel

Petty Pan Squash

Green Tomato Chutney

Regular readers will know that I had quite a few green tomatoes this year.  I have used up the remaining tomatoes (about 1lb) and made a lovely (I hope!) green tomato chutney.  I used a recipe of my mum's and adapted it a little bit....looking forward to having a dollop with some nice cheese!  I didn't make a lot - only two jars, but that's enough to keep us going til Christmas!

1lb tomatoes, chopped

Half a red onion, sliced very thinly

1 apple, peeled, cored & chopped

1/4 pint of balsamic vinegar

4 oz chopped dates

tsp salt

4oz brown sugar

1.  Put the tomatoes, onion and apple in a large, heavy-based pan with the vinegar.  Bring to the boil and then simmer until tender.

2.  Add the dates and cook until the mixture has thickened.

3.  Add the salt and sugar and stir well until the sugar has dissolved.

4.  Pot and seal.

Harvest Time

I have spent the last 4 days resting a sprained foot and haven't had the chance to get out in the garden and check what is occurring. Today I ventured out in the Autumn drizzle and spotted slightly pink tomatoes - finally! I have given the tomato plants a good trim and picked a few fruits which I will put on a sunny window sill to encourage ripening. Hopefully the rest of the fruits will naturally ripen on the plants.

I also picked all my chives which I will chop up and freeze, 3 green peppers (I will leave the rest to go red on the plant), the entire crop from my peas ... (3 pods!), some very small spring onions and a handful of rocket. I'm not sure whether I will use a grow bag again next year as I thought I would have more luck with my salad by using one.

Next year, I will plan what I am going to plant and where I am going to plant it with more care. Rather than shoving as much as possible into my greenhouse, I will utilize the outside space better. I will be reading Alan Titchmarsh this afternoon and planning what to plant this Autumn....

My first Courgette!

What a lovely surprise!

We have been away for 5 days, leaving my brother in charge of watering the veg ... I had visions of coming back to a wasteland - but no! On Saturday morning I went outside to inspect the veg and I spotted a huge courgette! I think that I could have left it a bit longer and it could have grown even bigger ... at the moment it is "supermarket size".... I can't wait to cook it!

Tomatoes are still green though .....

Not a good year for tomatoes?

According to Mr Plum's uncle - this year has not been a good year for tomatoes ... could this be why my crop is still green?

I have moved all the plants out of the greenhouse and on to the patio to encourage ripening .... I thought that maybe the potato barrel was blocking out all the sunlight.