The all new 2019 growing your own thread!

zafiro1984

euronorris wrote: »

Have been saving seed from tomatoes as well. Got about 17 seeds from a stripey tomato after fermentation. Only got 1 from one of my black tomatoes! It was smaller in size, but still! Am waiting on some larger size ones to ripen so that I can harvest seeds from them and see if I get a better amount.

Interesting - do you find that they come true from saved seed? I'd love to give it a go but a bit wary of it going wrong and losing a whole season of growing them

MysteryMe

The courgette plant I thought had finished is producing two more so will feed it again tomorrow. I bought the plant from a charity stall as the seeds I potted didn't germinate.

I've been working from home a lot lately so managing to have a cooked breakfast with lots of grilled toms, mostly the cherry Terenza. They ripened early and are getting close to the end of cropping. Money Maker are doing great, picked lots of fruit and still plenty to ripen and several of the Brandywine beef toms are nice and red so will pick a couple of to have with a steak later in the week. I'm really pleased as it's the first time I've grown toms from seed. Likewise the chilli plants grown from seed are still cropping.

Suffolk_lass

euronorris wrote: »

Still waiting on more toms to ripen. Lots in the first stages. Interestingly, I've found that the newer ones on the stripey tomato plant are ripening faster than the first tomatoes did. Does anyone else find the same? That once they start, newer ones move along more quickly.


Have been saving seed from tomatoes as well. Got about 17 seeds from a stripey tomato after fermentation. Only got 1 from one of my black tomatoes! It was smaller in size, but still! Am waiting on some larger size ones to ripen so that I can harvest seeds from them and see if I get a better amount.

I find the same as you - I have been picking the Costaluto Genovese as soon as they start to go red, now that light levels are starting to drop and it is definitely accelerating the swelling and ripening of the new ones. I am not getting any new flowers on the Cuor die Bue (they are a field-grown Italian one that is great for making canned (bottled) tomatoes for winter use). Lots picked and many more still coming.

No point in collecting seeds from my most prolific producer which is the orange cherry tomato - Sungold F1 Hybrid.

My cherry Black Russians are very very late and only one plant survived but the beefsteak Black Russians have done reasonably well. Feeding has relied on good compost at the crucial time as we were away but I know my neighbours and Son's friends have had loads (while we were away) so maybe my interpretation is a little slewed.

euronorris

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Interesting - do you find that they come true from saved seed? I'd love to give it a go but a bit wary of it going wrong and losing a whole season of growing them

This is my first season with the tomatoes, so can't say with any certainty at the moment.


However, both the indigo rose and tigerella are, to the best of my knowledge, open pollinated/heirloom varieties. So, unless they cross pollinated with each other then they should grow true.


Picked a larger, ripe, black tomato last night and cut it open to start seeding saving process again. Looked to be lots more seeds in that one, so fingers crossed.


What's interesting with the tigerella (stripey tomato), is that the parent plant is producing fruit that are very faintly stripey (you have to look close to notice, from a distance, not obvious). However, the clones (where I snipped a branch early on and potted it up, it took roots and then grew like crazy), is producing fruit which are much, much, much more strongly striped. Once one of those fruits is ripe, I'll take a picture and produce a side by side comparison to show you guys what I mean.


Nature is fascinating!


ETA: I was able to pick a few more tomatoes last night, so finally reached my 1kg quota to make tomato soup, so I did that last night (bar the blitzing in the blender as it is very noisy and DD was asleep). Put it into containers and left on side to cool with instructions to DH to put into fridge before he came to bed so I could blitz in the morning. He put them in the freezer! Grrr! I wanted some for my lunch today! Sigh. It's now defrosting in the fridge so I can blitz later.

zafiro1984

Thanks for the info euronorris - appreciated. I've lost the info on what I sowed regarding toms. I just know they were blight resistant, one is definitely Ferline but the other three I'm not sure but I would imagine a couple were F1 so I'll give seed saving a miss this year.

Squash:- This is the first time I've had a decent amount of squash to harvest. I think I've about 25-30, all on the decaying muck heap. They are huge and I'm pretty sure they were butternut 'Hunter' None are the golden colour as portrayed on the seed packet but a very pale greenish yellow. The leaves are starting to look a little sad so do I harvest them now or wait until they are golden. Also where's the best place to store them and how long do they last before going soft. I could freeze them in chunks but it would take up so much room I'd rather use them fresh for as long as I can. I use them in mash with parsnips, roasted, in soup and casseroles. Thanks

Suffolk_lass

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Squash:- This is the first time I've had a decent amount of squash to harvest. I think I've about 25-30, all on the decaying muck heap. They are huge and I'm pretty sure they were butternut 'Hunter' None are the golden colour as portrayed on the seed packet but a very pale greenish yellow. The leaves are starting to look a little sad so do I harvest them now or wait until they are golden. Also where's the best place to store them and how long do they last before going soft. I could freeze them in chunks but it would take up so much room I'd rather use them fresh for as long as I can. I use them in mash with parsnips, roasted, in soup and casseroles. Thanks

My Butternut Squash are a better size this year. I harvest them in two states:

1. When the are looking heavy on the plant and then put them under cover but outdoors and let them go butternut coloured in the sunshine.
2. They are ripe enough to harvest when they start sounding hollow and the uppermost side is changing colour (assuming they get a bit of sun) - I still leave these out to change colour on the underside (and to dry any soil stuck to them)

Once they are butternut coloured I store them in a hessian sack (or 3) until I need them. I get them out about every 3 weeks through winter to see if any need using first. Some are so big I only use a portion. It is the rest of these I chop and freeze. Also, they will continue to get darker and the skins to get thicker and so they need peeling unless you are just chopping them in half to roast, as the winter comes on.

unrecordings

Not a great deal to report, still taking it easy & working though the backlog of little things - thankfully half of it is dying off now which sort of saves a job or two. Greenhouse tomatoes still going strong, but peppers look like they might be coming to an end. Indoor chillis just beginning to fruit properly. Next year I'm giving over a chunk of the raised beds for cut flowers for the benefit of Mrs Un. We've about a dozen first year teasels to plant out where there used to be beans, an some other odds & ends to move up the garden. Yep - it's that time for plotting & scheming

Primrose

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Thanks for the info euronorris - appreciated. I've lost the info on what I sowed regarding toms. I just know they were blight resistant, one is definitely Ferline but the other three I'm not sure but I would imagine a couple were F1 so I'll give seed saving a miss this year.

Squash:- This is the first time I've had a decent amount of squash to harvest. I think I've about 25-30, all on the decaying muck heap. They are huge and I'm pretty sure they were butternut 'Hunter' None are the golden colour as portrayed on the seed packet but a very pale greenish yellow. The leaves are starting to look a little sad so do I harvest them now or wait until they are golden. Also where's the best place to store them and how long do they last before going soft. I could freeze them in chunks but it would take up so much room I'd rather use them fresh for as long as I can. I use them in mash with parsnips, roasted, in soup and casseroles. Thanks

You're lucky. I have just one single squash maturing for all my pains!

I suggest leaving them on the plant for a few more days if we have a sunny forecast and no frost. You can pick them at different sizes if necessary but be sure to leave a generous stalk on them to prevent rot forming at that end.

Once picked leave them outdoors in a sunny place or in a greenhouse away from rain to "temper" and ripen to their beige colour. The skins should go very hard and this is what helps preserve them. Once in this state they will store in a cool shed or greenhouse over the winter but keep them well aired.

You can cook and bake them with the skins on. It's much easier, and the skin will soften and you can eat it.

If you have to start cutting into a large one and you want to leave it whole, cover the exposed part with tightly with cling film immediately, squeezing every vestige of air out. This will help prevent the rest of it decaying or rotting.

Dizzy_Ditzy

Hello! :hello:

I've been semi sort of lurking in the past few months but apologies for not posting. My youngest brother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and that has been my priority for the last few months. Thankfully, he's already exceeded the initial timeframe of "weeks not months" and is taking to chemo

Allotment wise I'm embarrassed to say that I've more or less just done the bare minimum. My second plot is more or less done with for the year other than some onions and sprouts. I want to get it dug over and manured ready for the winter but I have an awful lot of weeding to do first :rotfl:

The main plot is still producing carrots and beetroot but that one needs tidying down too. We will get there

unrecordings

Good to hear about your brother's progress