Sunday 13 September 2009

Tomatoes And Spring Onions

The best harvest I've had from my garden this year have been the tomatoes and spring onions. I've grown four different kinds of tomatoes, Ferline, Gardener's Delight, Sungold and Sweet Million. The Ferline is a salad variety which is supposed to have some resistance to blight, but as I grow my tomatoes in my greenhouse I didn't choose it for this reason. The other three are cherry tomatoes. As you can see, some of the Ferline tomatoes are absolutely huge. It's the first time I've grown Sungold and Sweet Million, and I've found that the Sungold are rather squishy. I won't bother growing them again. The Sweet Million are, as the name implies, very sweet and I've had a huge harvest from one plant, and the Gardener's Delight, as always, has also been a heavy cropper. I enjoy trying different varieties and next year I am going to have a go at some heirloom varieties.




Deb at Carrots and Kids has kindly passed on to me the 'You are a great read!' award. Thank you Deb. It's always nice to know that someone enjoys reading my ramblings. As part of the award I am supposed to list 10 things about myself, but seeing as this is a gardening blog I thought that I would list 10 things I love about my garden instead. I hope that's ok Deb.


1. I suppose the first thing I should say is that I love being able to fulful my hobby of gardening in it. I can while away many happy hours whilst I am out there totally absorbed in whatever I am doing at the time and lose all track of time.


2. I love my greenhouse, which I bought three years ago. It's only 6x4 but it serves it's purpose. I grow my tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers in there and it's also used for overwintering frost tender plants.


3. This year I created a wildlife border in the one flower bed I have, and I love it. I chose plants which will attract beneficial insects into the garden. Some of the plants have put on so much growth that I will have to move them to a more suitable place for their height and spread, and there are still a few gaps which will have to be plugged, but isn't that the fun of gardening? I have noticed lots more bees and hoverflies in the garden this year, but I'm still waiting to see any other butterfly than the Cabbage White.


4. I incorporated a small pond in the wildlife border, which I love. It went in a little late to get any frogspawn this year, but I have noticed frogs using it to take a dip so I'm hoping for some tadpoles next year.


5. I love the safety that my garden provides. Not so much now, but when the kids were little I could allow them to play out there safe in the knowledge that they could come to little harm. My kitchen door opens into the garden so I could be making dinner whilst they were happily playing out in the fresh air.


6. This may seem a strange one, but I love my fence. A few years ago we had our old fence replaced with one six foot high. As we live in a semi-detached house it affords us some privacy from our neighbours.


7. I have a bird feeding station in the garden, although I rarely get any birds other than the run of the mill Sparrows, Starlings and Blackbirds visiting, I love to watch them. It's like watching regular little families with all the usual nurturing and squabbling.


8. Although my daughter is now 11, she still has a playhouse in the garden. It's one of those large two storey wooden ones and has been well worth the hefty price tag. It's had lots of use over the years, and still does even though it's now a bit of a struggle for her to get up the stairs, she's growing like mad. I love it when she has her friends round and it starts to rain, I don't have to have multiple pairs of muddy feet trailing through my house.


9. As I only have one flower border, I love my plant containers. I've got the usual terracotta plantpots but also other more quirky containers too, such as a wheelbarrow, a watering can and a cup and saucer. If the plant combinations don't look very good together they're easy enough to move to another location.


10. Last but not least, I love being able to have somewhere out of doors to call my own. This is my own little piece of the earth, not very big, but it's mine.


I now have to pass this award onto other people whose blogs I enjoy reading. I'd like to give it to Kat at kats corner, Georgie at Little London Garden, and Kella at Kella's Musings on Growing Her Own, Wildlife and Her Brand of Parenting. If you'd rather not join in that's fine but I wanted you to know that you are a great read!

12 comments:

  1. That was very interesting, thank you! Your garden sounds wonderful! xx

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  2. Thank you very much, and by the way, loving your fence doesn't sound at all silly. There is an old saying that "Good fences make good neighbors" it is very true.
    Kat

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  3. Jo I though I didn't find them squishy I did find 'Sungold' to be a bit blah! in taste but 'Broad Ripple Yellow Current' though as a yellow cherry is both sweet and prolific.

    Thanks for passing the award onto me as well, some of the things you love about your garden are also my favourites as well.

    I look forward to passing it onto others, if I could have I would have passed it back to you because your blog is a definate 'Good Read'.

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  4. Congratulations with the award! Enjoyed reading about you. My boys are 11, too.

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  5. your spring onions look great!!!

    As a fellow gardener it stand s to reason that your love for your garden is pretty much the same as mine!!!

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  6. Congratulation. Nice to have garden for kids to roam around .... and their fingers may turn greener with such early exposure. ~ bangchik

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  7. So nice to hear about you and your garden. I appreciate the way you take pride in it.

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  8. Jo. I grew sweet million this year. 4 plants, that I cant keep up with as they are so prolific..
    Making a fair amount of tomato and basil sauce at the moment while muttering to self. Next yr only 1 plant.Who am I kidding!!

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  9. Thanks, Deb. And thank you once again for the award.

    I had forgotten that saying, Kat, but it's very true.

    Thank you, Kella, and you are welcome. You have a great blog. I will look out for Broad Ripple Yellow Currant.

    Thanks, Tatyana, and thank you for visiting my blog.

    I've had a great year with spring onions, Tanya. I have grown them in a container at home though, rather than at the allotment.

    Thank you, Bangchik. I'm hoping to make gardeners out of my kids yet.

    Thank you for visiting, Mary Delle. It is nice to have a garden, and something which I don't take for granted as I know alot of people don't have one.

    I can imagine how many tomatoes you've had off four plants, Dee. They do produce loads. I only have room in my greenhouse for four plants so I tend to grow four different varieties.

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  10. That deep red cherry looks scrumptious! Small-fruited varieties are all I grow and I really enjoy trying different heirlooms, too. Those onions look perfect, as well. Cheers!

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  11. A belated thank you from me as well. You clearly love your garden and your enthusiasm shines through. I keep meaning to ask you, how did your Fuchsia Ant & Dec fair? Mine's been a disaster and I've written to Wyvale to complain. G x

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  12. I like to try different varieties of tomatoes too, Avis. I also prefer cherry tomatoes and grow more of these than the salad type.

    You're welcome, Georgie. You have a lovely blog and you deserve the award. Let me know if you get a reply from Wyvale. My Fuchsia Ant and Dec had problems early on in the year so I cut it right back and it grew again ok, but the flowers are insipid. They're certainly nothing like the picture.

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