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I'm still getting harvests from the allotment, beans, courgettes and there's the squash to bring home the next time I'm there. The Queensland Blue have been disappointing, they've produced a couple of fruit but too late in the season to reach maturity. There should be a couple of Crown Prince from one plant, though one of them is rather small. The other Crown Prince plant hasn't produced anything at all. Next year, I'd like to get lots more squash plants in as they're a vegetable we all enjoy, and they'll store over winter too.
The weather forecasters were right about the temperatures dropping, it's definitely on the chilly side now. One thing I hate about autumn is the number of spiders taking cover inside the house. I'm really not very good with spiders at all, and the huge one which decided to run around the kitchen floor yesterday morning scared me half to death. Mind you, so did the one which climbed the room curtains a couple of days earlier. I've read about leaving conkers around the house, it's supposed to deter spiders, I really must give it a go.
Looks like a good harvest. I think we're going to do the same at the weekend, harvest the lot and see what we end up with. We've been thinking about green tomato chutney for the last few weeks - but we've had a sudden spurt of ripening and they're now mostly red which is excellent news :)
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to get as many red tomatoes off the plant as we can. I've had a great harvest this year, I wish I'd weighed them all now just for my own curiosity.
DeleteIt certainly has got chillier here. Bringing what's left of the veggie crop in is a priority. However, we're also tackling the garden jobs - planting bulbs and re- organising that patio area that I wanted to change a little. I've never heard about the conker deterrent. 'Firstly collect your conkers' thinks I and then I will give it a try as I don't like spiders creeping around the house either!
ReplyDeleteWe've got a strong wind blowing at the moment too, it makes it feel even colder. I will have to gather some conkers before I try the experiment too, not too sure where there's any Horse Chestnut trees around here.
DeleteGosh, what a great tomato harvest. You are set for all things tomato for quite a while now I would guess!
ReplyDeleteMy tomato plants have produced so well this year and I've managed to keep my mum and dad supplied as well as myself. I've been making a mixed vegetable dish which I've frozen for future use, as well as roasting some tomatoes and freezing them too. It will be nice to have that home grown taste in the depths of winter.
DeleteWhat a great tomato harvest!
ReplyDeleteWe've just cleared out the greenhouse too. It's too early....!! But yes, it has got cold and I was worried I wouldn't have the space to bung in tender plants if needs be.
I think the greenhouse will be needed for tender plants before too long now. My greenhouse is only 4X6, so there isn't much room in there, but I manage to grow a few tomato plants in summer and in winter it keeps my tender plants safe.
DeleteWe still have some tomatoes in the plot greenhouse so fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteIt's a case of whether they'll ripen now given the weather conditions. It hasn't been very nice here today, high winds and driving rain.
DeleteI picked the last of my, mostly green, tomatoes on Monday in the hope that they'll ripen on the windowsill. That just leaves some grapes and something else which I''ll leave for a while yet.
ReplyDeleteThanks to the wind it was chilly here this morning, and there's rain due over the next couple of days.
I've had to remove a few big spiders this week. Flighty xx
Most of my tomatoes ripened on the windowsill last year, it was quite effective so I'll keep my fingers crossed that yours do the same. I got my winter coat out today to walk Archie, it's really cold, such a change from earlier in the week. I really must try the conker trick and see if it works.
DeleteI'm leaving our tomatoes until at least next month. The runner beans are still producing and so are the outdoor tomatoes. We'll start eating the leeks soon but they will stay in the ground over winter.
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum
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I hope we get some more good weather so that your tomatoes ripen, it hasn't been too good here today though. My beans haven't been very good this year, but I've got some French beans which are still producing. I'm embarrassed to say that my leeks never got planted out, they're still in the plant pot they were sown in.
DeleteLooking at your photo of the tomatoes, I get a definite sense of deja vu! Which varieties did best for you? I think my best one for weight of crop was Ferline, but the best-looker was undoubtedly Cherokee Purple.
ReplyDeleteMy bush tomatoes, Totem, were a great cropper, they started off with quite largeish fruit, which got smaller as time went on, but they produced loads. The taste wasn't as good as my Gardener's Delight though, but I'll grow them again next year as they just went on producing and producing. The beef tomato, Costoluto Fiorentino, which I saw Monty Don mention on Gardener's World, produced some great fruit, and they were tasty too. Ferline cropped well, some huge fruit came from the plants, and they were tasty, and I'm always pleased with the taste of Tangella, the orange ones. The only variety which let me down this year was San Marzano. I shan't bother with them next year as they've let me down once too often now.
DeleteIts certainly gone much colder and that wind is bitter today. What a great crop of tomatoes. I don't have a greenhouse and so have grown a few plants outside and had good crop of Sungold and reasonable from Plumito. But poor from Black Cherry. Which did you grow outside? Any good?
ReplyDeleteThe wind's dropped a little today, but it's still so cold. The varieties I grew outdoors were Ferline, San Marzano, Gardener's Delight, Costoluto Fiorentino and Totem. They all did well except for San Marzano. I'm definitely going to grow outdoors again next year, they gave me a better crop than the greenhouse plants.
DeleteOh what a good tomato year it's been for you Jo by the looks of it. Mine have all been picked, not many this year but that's another story. Intrigued by the conker theory. Not keen on spiders and have a chestnut tree at the top of the road. Have been picking up conkers and have a few in the house at the moment. Wonder if it will do the trick? If you hear a loud scream you'll know that it doesn't work!
ReplyDeleteIt's been my best tomato year yet. I haven't tested the conker theory yet, it's a matter of finding some conkers first. I think we'd better take Archie for his walk near some Horse Chestnut trees this weekend so that I can pick some up.
DeleteYou have so many interesting variety. In my country just a few variety of tomatoes that grow well on hot and humid area. How lucky you are.
ReplyDeleteThere's so many different tomato varieties that I don't think you'd manage the time to grow them all. It's a shame you've only got a few varieties to choose from, I wonder if any are the same as what we grow here.
DeleteLovely amount of variety and quantity of tomatoes. It is certainly getting colder :( xxx
ReplyDeleteIt's been great this year, such a good supply of tomatoes and lots of variety. My mum and dad have done well out of them too. It's still cold here today and drizzly too.
DeleteLoads of spiders here too, yikes. I want to grow more winter squashes next year too, but they do take a while to get to full size. We'll see how we do! Your tomato harvest looks wonderful all laid out like that - well done you. Hope you have a really good weekend Jo.
ReplyDeleteSquash do take a while to get to full size, and they take up a lot of room too, but it would be worth it for a good harvest, they're a vegetable which we all enjoy.
DeleteThat's a great harvest you have there. I agree about San Marzarnos being disappointing but it has generally been a good year for tomatoes hasn't it. I harvested a load of beans, and rather over grown courgette masquerading as a marrow this morning!
ReplyDeleteMy tomatoes have done so well this summer, I've been very well supplied. My beans have been quite disappointing this year, only a small harvest but the courgettes have done well.
DeleteThat's a wonderful harvest of tomatoes....it's been my best year too. Every year some things do badly...I suppose the changing weather effects certain plants.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear you are still reaping from the allotment....you can't beat fresh can you.xxxx
I think there's lots of different factors to take in to consideration when we look at how our crops do each year. My tomatoes have been great this year, other things not so good. I love bringing fresh veg home from the allotment, you can't beat it.
DeleteLooks a good crop of tomatoes and good to have different stages of ripeness.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good final haul. All the under ripe ones are ripening slowly in the conservatory, I don't think I'll be left with many, if any, green ones.
DeleteOne of the teachers at school has started leaving conkers around her classroom...I'm not so sure it's very effective!! I still have so much to do down the allotment it just isn't funny. Here's hoping the current torrential rain won''t stay with us for long...I can handle the cold but heavy rain is another matter entirely!!
ReplyDeleteOh dear, that sounds as though there's lots of spiders in school. I haven't been so good at collecting conkers so I'm unable to try the theory out yet. Sorry to hear you've been having heavy rain. It hasn't been very nice here, but the rain hasn't been so bad, more a drizzle than a downpour, but it's been very dull and cold, oh, and foggy too.
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