Home grown tomatoes: a retrospective
We grew several varieties of tomatoes this year and for the first year ever had a success with the French Super Marmande slicing tomato. It looked superb on the vine and it was with great joy that we plucked the first sturdy fruit. Danny was silent as he tasted the first slice. “What’s wrong?” “It tastes woolly and it’s very thin on the flavour factor.” I had bought the Unwins ‘The Classic Tomato Collection’ – comprising, Super Marmande, Golden Sunrise, Ailsa Craig and Gardener’s Delight. The last three were very...
read moreGooseberry Sawfly Beware
When I was at school and hadn’t revised properly for an exam, I put the main course text book under my pillow hoping that magically the information would be transmitted into my brain as I slept. This guaranteed a restless night, especially if the tome was large. I’d usually wake feeling tired and stressed. Perhaps it was the adrenalin and desperation that made me creative with my exam answers. Generally I passed. But would have done far better if I had prepared properly for the exams. These days my radio headset is a boon but often I’m...
read moreTomato Blight returns with a vengeance
Perhaps it was because I kept tomato blight in check last year, that I felt confident about coping with blight this summer. It did take some time – examining the plants morning and evening, removing the iffy leaves at he first sign of blight. We did have some sunny days too and these keep the condition at bay. I thought that I’d cracked dealing with blight without spraying. This year I was working away from home when it struck. I was regularly getting back after dark and so I did not see the signs. Rushing off early one the...
read moreTangy blackberry and apple tart recipe
The success of Orangette’s Apricot Tart fired up my baking enthusiasm and I planned to make the same again when my mum came to lunch on Sunday. I decided to follow Orangette’s pastry recipe exactly – using all butter this time. Fresh apricots were on the shopping list until I spotted some plump juicy blackberries in the garden. Why buy fruit when we have free fruit hanging on our fence? In twenty minutes I had picked enough to cover the base of the pie, plucked a cooking apple from our tree. I devised an alternative filling...
read moreThe conundrum of thieves in the soft fruit cage
Earlier this year I built a fruit cage for our raspberry canes. I have since discovered that the metal rods from the giant’s staircase are a bit bendy on a windy day. But this has given me a lot of experience with knots and stabilisers. It’s like being on board ship after a storm. Hauling and heaving and trying to predict how to survive the next choppy sea. I have another soft fruit border and used to wonder why we have such a poor harvest. Anne Mary gave us superb red currant tarts with melt in the mouth sweet pastry, made from...
read moreOverhauling the soft fruit border
Beside the chicken run is a stretch of border. Roughly twenty five feet long and six feet deep. The newt pond lies on the outer edges of the left hand side and is six feet in diameter. Last week I slipped on the edge and fell in. I damaged my left hand, especially the thumb, and one welly filled with water. As I am strapped for time at the moment, I just emptied the welly and carried on working. Throughout the afternoon and early evening I wondered whether the little red worms that I’ve seen in the pond were sashaying up my left leg. I...
read moreTending raspberries and making fruit cages
I’ve always fancied having a walk-in fruit cage. The sort supplied by Harrod Horticulture, with a sturdy ‘easy to assemble frame’ and nets without rucks. I’ve gazed at the pictures on their site imagining that I am the slim woman in jeans, opening the door, large trug in hand. Beyond her the bushes are bursting with fruit. These cages are expensive. Whilst waiting for a windfall, I bought some cheap nets two years ago and laid them over the canes when our crop was ripe and attracting the local birds. I didn’t...
read moreThe best way to ripen green tomatoes
Danny loves guzzling our ripe tomatoes straight from the vine. This is partly why I grow them. It’s great to see my tomatoes savoured and relished. Now the evenings are drawing in, I often see him out with a torch when I swing in from work, searching to see if any have ripened in the autumn sunshine. The ripening process is slow at this stage of the season. We have managed to keep the tomato blight at bay by removing blighty leaves, stalks and fruit as soon as they appear. This has to be done daily and the blighty bits burnt. We...
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