Thursday 26 August 2010

When all else fails ................

Thank goodness for tomatoes!


We've had a really disappointing growing year.  
After our nightmare with pea thrips, all our legumes came to very little, which was a shame for the boys, as #2 pointed out as he was ramming the last few tiny peas we found on the rather decaying plants into his mouth, "I like the peas out here, just not the peas in the house" referring to the shop bought peas lying in our freezer.
Out of a dozen or so runner bean seeds sown only a handful appeared and well lets just say they have only just started "running"! The borlotti and french beans have struggled and the sweetcorn is only just looking like we might get a crop.


But who can blame the veg! They started life in a heat wave, struggling for shade and gasping for water
and then they have spent the last two months sat in doom and gloom, and in wind and rain, in what has got to be a couple of disappointing summer months.
So the tomatoes that have been growing in the greenhouse, and have over the last few weeks been producing bountiful amounts of fruit, are a complete treat.


We've had tomato salads, roasted tomatoes with garlic, and gorgeous small yellow cherry tomatoes that don't make it into the house, let alone out of the greenhouse! But even though our allotment hasn't kept us in veg, the generosity of our fellow allotmenteers has. We've had gifts of runners, kale, cabbage, lettuce,and summer squashes, some swapped for soft fruit, which we have done well with this year and some just because!
So with our presents and let's not forget the courgettes which seem to be able to solider on regardless, we haven't gone hungry!

3 comments:

  1. Ooooh those tomatoes look delicious! Sorry you've had a disapointing year in some respects, fingers crossed for the next xx

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  2. Your tomato crop looks delicious and your allotment neighbours sound very generous. I hope next year is better. We don't have much space and our tomatoes have worked well too but our courgette was attacked by a mass of tiny black beetle-like beasties and died a sad death. Juliex

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  3. Thats a fabulous bounty - ours are still green, but then they are outside.

    You're not alone - all our produce this year seems to have amounted to nowt - it's so sad to see and expecially with all the hard work we put in. Hey ho, maybe next year.

    take care,

    Nina xxx

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