TNU - harvest
Aug 1st 2008MargeGardening & Tomatoes
Quicker than I thought it would be we have the very first harvest of the tomatoes at il giardino del terra del Marge! These are the astro ibrido tomatoes I first planted inside from seed. Here is a picture of the tomatoes still on the vine but cut away from the main plant. (I am still hoping to get more tomatoes as the season goes on).
Ripe tomatoes still on the vine
And here is another picture of the same tomatoes but closer. I have to say I tasted one fruit straight away (and yes, I do have a water tap outside 
) and it was so sweet and delicious. I was not so hopeful the tomato plants would do well because they really should have been grown under glass, but these plucky little tomatoes had other ideas! And as you can see they get my seal of approval.
Delicious ripe tomatoes
4 Comments »
Jem on 11 Aug 2008 at 4:42 pm #
I see you’ve opened comments!
After complaining about the state of my tomatoes at .net I’ve had one turn a deep orange colour (which I’m assuming will closely follow with red) but the others a still a stubborn green. This gardening malarkey requires more patience than I realised!
Marge on 11 Aug 2008 at 10:42 pm #
Dear Jem,
Ta for your comment. I thought it best to open up comments I think I was putting people off before.
Anyhoo, it is quite true tomatoes do seem to take an age to go red in this country, especially Oop North where I am. I have found it there is a stubborn tomato of a decent size that just stays green no matter how much sun or feed it gets, then I pick in and put in a fruit bowl next to a banana for a while. This seems to help the tomato finds its true red self.
Darron Barnes on 28 Aug 2008 at 4:52 pm #
Hi Marge
they look good, would you recommend them for cooking, like making pasta sauces?
My toms this year was not that good, unfortunately we had too much rain and they died.
Any tips against this happening next year Marge?
Marge on 28 Aug 2008 at 5:28 pm #
Hi there Darron ,
The tomatoes I have managed to grow would indeed be good for cooking. I just hope enough of them ripen so I get the chance. I am fortunate that my tomatoes were grown near the house and thus had the protection from the wall.
In the case of rain damage I would suggest next year getting one of those mini plastic greenhouses and growing the tomatoes in there. You will need to check the compost more regularly for watering needs though.
Best of luck - I’m going to need it too as in the spring I want to have a go at growing aubergines from seed! :O