So I thought I knew what I was letting myself in for when Eric and Phoebe offered us a few plants. Two cherry, two "green" and one plum.
The border behind the pool house seemed like a good place - facing south, with a warm sheltering wall. There were already a couple of hydrangeas in the border, but that didn't seem to be a problem as my recollection of growing tomatoes in the UK was that they didn't grow very big. To begin with they didn't. The weather was dry and hot and I fretted about their not getting enough water, so I rigged up hose pipes and tried to remember to water them most evenings.
Being behind the pool house, I can't see them from the house. So although I know about pinching out the side shoots, I found it was easy to forget about them. By the time I remembered and after several bouts of rain, I suddenly found that I had a tomato forest. Not just side shoots, but side shoots of side shoots and all of them with flowers on, so it seemed a shame to pinch them out.
I am now buying canes by the dozen to support the heavy laden branches and I'm scouring the internet for recipes for tomato chutney and instructions on how to freeze them for winter. And somewhere behind the forest there are two hydrangea plants struggling to grow.
Mind you, it's so satisfying bringing in a bowlful of just-picked, I grew this myself, sun-filled fruit for supper.
It's been a tomato bonanza year here too in the US. I make sauce by roasting batches in a hot over with cloves of peeled garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper. After the skins turn brown it is easy to peel them off and them put the tomatoes and garlic in a food processor. Then I pack the sauce in the freezer. I also made batches of soup and tried to make ketchup which doesn't taste quite right but is a spicy sauce.
ReplyDeleteZuleme your roasted tomato and garlic sauce sounds wonderful. :)
ReplyDeleteGive it a try, Sue! I also have a food drier which I dry tomatoes and apples with. I keep them in the freezer so I have great snacks for our long cold winters. Think I'll be coming up under my real name now, just started a couple of blogs under our real names for our business.
ReplyDeleteHi Sharyn, Like the sound of your snacks too! Good luck with the new blogs.
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