Show Us Your Veg Patch - You Know You Want To!! (Merged Thread)

Primrose

Mrs. McCawber - what are your favourite tomato varieties and have you found any which are particularly resistant to blight?. It seems to be becoming an increasing problem every summer with our indifferent wet weather and I'm interested in other growers' experiences. I've been recommended to try Ferline (F1 hybrid) which is supposed to be blight resistant and will grow a few this year but for flavour I still prefer the Gardeners Delight cherry variety. I've sown leeks, chillis, aubergines and peppers and they've all germinated, but in the past I've sown my outdoor tomatoes far too early in March and they've become too leggy to plant out in the cold so this year I'm delaying until April, even though I cover them with 5 litre mineral water bottle cloches to protect them in the early days. I've found that once they start off leggy they're reluctant to recover. But my veggie patch is dug and all the stringed rows are lined up ready for sowing other veggies so the early sunshine hasn't gone to waste. Just can't wait to sow though and see everything peeping through.

MRSMCAWBER

Primrose -
I grow all my tomatoes out doors and have never had much of a problem, but I do remove any excess foliage once they are starting to fruit so that more air can circulate
Im trying quite a few new ones this year... last year the yellow pear did really well -loads and loads of lovely sweet tomatoes.. the purple cherokee didn't give me as many toms as I would have liked -ut they were gorgeous -a bit smokey
I have copied this list over from my blog -all the red ones are new -including 1 that you can pull up the whole plant and hang in the warmth to semi -dry and 1 that grows like a pointy pepper
I have quite a few "baby" deteminate (bush) toms this year too ...

1. Principe Borghese (D)
2. Maskotka (D)
3. Minibel (D)
4. Nichos (D)
5. tomatoBerry (D)
6. Red alert
7. yellow pear (I)
8. villma (D)
9. Harbinger
10. Andine cornue
11. Zuckertraube
12. Buissonante
13. Diplom F1
14. Pink Brandywine (I)
15. Yellow Brandywine (I)
16. Purple cherokee (I)
17. Sub Arctic
18. Tigerella (I)
19. Cream sausage
20. San Marzano

I don't know if you know this -but when you plant your tomatoes out -if you dig a hole and drop the plant in -so that the first "true leaves" are just above the compost and fill in then you wil get stronger plants -the stem bit that is under ground will get nodules that then grow and turn into feeding roots and make healthier plants :j -I hope that makes sense :rotfl:

Lotus-eater

I really love Ferline and do push it on here alot. I've grown Ferline and Legend for about 5 years, both are good as blight resistant varieties to grow. Please note this does not mean immune to blight, just they take longer to get it and fight it off better than other tomatoes.
To me the Ferline tastes better, grows better and is all round a better tomato than the Legend.
So this year it will be Ferline only for me, from this pair.

Not to say I won't be growing others, I've San Marzano 2, Purple Ukraine plum, Gardeners Delight, Scatolone and Garden Pearl. These ones I will be watching like a hawk and any overly lush and impenetrable foliage will be removed, along with anything that looks even slightly dodgy.
It really pays to keep a close eye on your tomatoes, a couple of days without looking at them, or noticing blight and they could be too far gone to save.

Pippilongstocking

HI all usually read and lurk don't post

I am having problems getting hold of Sub-artic here (seeds or plants) growing 6 other bush varieties this year and some italian marmalade types for sauces (Marmande, a home saved one just called 'marmalade' - came from someone ones aunt in italy and Roma)

As I live in Orkney - I thought the sub-arctic would be a good bet. Any idea of retailers that have them - off south in a couple weeks to go on a course and do some shopping.

Knew about the planting them deeper than the cotelydens but nice to hear someone else advocate it. I also know someone who use to take vegetative cuttings from his plants and grow them that way - worked really well with the bigger varieties.

Waves hello - x - fanatical gardener (case you didn't guess) - usually keeep my mutterings to myself on my diary!!

Lotus-eater

There was alot of talk about sub-artic last year on growyourown due to someone giving the seeds away and lots people trying it, well worth a search on there before you grow it, as not many thought it worth their while IIRC.

I grew Marmanarde last year (I live in the Midlands) and was very dissapointed with the taste. You apparently have to grow it outside and I think we don't get enough sun to bring it to its full tastefullness. (good word )

Pippilongstocking

Hi ta for that will do

I liked roma - but then again I am only growing those for freezing for spag bog etc. The marmalade one was good as well - someones granny saved the seed so no idea what kind it is really - smuggled back in a hanky from italy, the things we do eh?!

I also tried an old fashioned plum tomato a heritage one - english breakfast? Something like that - it was really prolific.

Lotus-eater

I am told the best tomato to grow for freezing is the San Marzano, one of my relatives is Italian and that's the one she and her family grows.
So that's what I am trying this year for freezing.
Just had a look at the roma though and that looks really good.

Are you saying your Marmalade tasted really good? Amazing if it did up where you are.

Primrose

Thanks for all your respective feedback about varieties. It's always interesting to see what works for other people. I suspect that location/latitude may make a difference to how successfully some varieties grow. Yes, I've read about planting the plants out deeply up to their first leaves and this year plan to do this. In previous years I've sometimes sown too early and ended up with leggy plants so haven't sown mine yet but will plant deeply anyway to get the strongest plants possible.

Steel_2

I decided to take a photo of my veg plot in the back garden and I have to say, it looks worse than I thought it did. Terrible mess. But it's my aim to get it looking good this year.

http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt26/Steelkitten15/wholegarden.jpg

The far tree is a greengage, there's a plum to the bottom left and all the vegetation in the hedgerows are blackberries and rowan. I have three main beds which I'm still in the process of edging.

http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt26/Steelkitten15/carrotsandbeetroot.jpg

I have moved all the leftover bits of paving from near the house to in front of the greengage treee and built some mini raised beds. The one in the middle is for strawberries, while the two on either side are for carrots and beetroot. I have a double greenhouse for tomatoes and peppers etc and a small patch of decent soil just outside it to grow salad stuff in.

http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt26/Steelkitten15/hugerhubarb.jpg

I also have two humungous rhubarb plants at the end of the greenhouse, a pear tree nearby and two juvenile apple trees. There's also currants, raspberries and blueberries (although I trimmed the latter a bit too much the last time I pruned and it's been sulking ever since)

It's my aim this year to grow at least 50% of the fruit and veggies we eat and all of the veggies the chickens eat plus make all of the jams and chutney's we use throughout the year.

Lotus-eater

How long has it been since the rhubarb was divided? They look absolutely HUGE.