August Harvest and Ratatouille

A perfect day to harvest the summer veg and prepare some ratatouille. Although it’s always best fresh, I always freeze some for winter months and if it’s allowed to thaw naturally then the pieces remain intact enough. If they do decide to fall to bits, ratatouille soup is lovely too!

Learnings:

• Remember to leave space in the freezer for harvest time.
• Use a bigger pan :D

Best Tomatoes to Grow

The heatwave has given differing results for tomatoes this year. The little Rosada F1 plum tomatoes in the greenhouse have done really well and are deliciously sweet. 

The heritage Marmande in the polytunnel haven’t done so well and have suffered with greenback which happens when conditions are too hot and sunny leading to uneven ripening. The top starts by staying green and then just doesn’t ripen properly, in this case remaining yellow. The bottom of the tomato is still edible and this batch is going into some soup for winter. 

Our unpredictable weather means that growing the heritage varieties in the polytunnel will be a bit hit and miss. Maybe next year I’ll try them in the greenhouse. 

Learnings:

• Unpredictable weather = unpredictable crops.

Spring is Coming!

A few warm days have seen me in the polytunnel potting up some seedlings of Tomato, Aubergine and Pepper. They were all sown middle to end of February so are ready to move on now. I’m growing a few of each cultivar and splitting them between the polytunnel and the greenhouse to see which ones prefer which place. I have a hunch, based on last year, but I’m kidding myself this time it's more scientific! Pricking out and potting up is stressful for seedlings so remember to water them in well and then leave out of direct sunlight for a few hours so they can recover. I write out the labels before I start – most of mine are made of old yoghurt pots. Just cut down from the top with a pair of scissors and snip off at an angle.

Tomato, Aubergine and Pepper seedlings

 Things to remember:

* Label up seedlings as you go with a waterproof pen – don’t rely on memory

* Keep seedlings of the same type in the same tray if you can

* Remember to water them…

The Quiet of Autumn

Just about had the last of the courgettes and beans and caught this cobweb at the top of the beanpoles this morning. One of those lovely, quiet mornings when you can feel the sun warming everything up. Time to harvest the rest of the tomatoes too. I’ve tried cutting off branches and hanging them upside down to ripen in the polytunnel but I have found it’s better to pick them all, bring them indoors (or into the potting shed) and ripen them off in trays. The red ones will ripen off the green ones eventually as they emit ethylene “the ripening gas”. They don’t give off huge amounts but it’s a naturally occurring process. Bananas on the other hand give off mega quantities of ethylene which is why you need to keep them separate from the rest of your fruit or it will all get squishy very quickly.

Learnings: The early bird catches the best cobweb photos