Tomatoes

In my part of Australia we are told not to plant tomatoes until after Melbourne Cup day - first Tuesday in November.  This is because we can still get frosty mornings in late October, however this means I won't get any tomatoes to eat until late December and that is just too long to wait.  So this year I have bought 5 tomato plants (below) and have been taking very great care of them.  During the day they sit happily on my front porch soaking up the sun  (or no sun as it was today) . . . and

. . . at night when the temperate drops to freezing, they come inside and sit in the bathtub!!  On the weekend I re-potted them into larger pots but continue to bring them indoor at night.  Yes, I know what you are thinking - I really need a little green house.  I don't have one and this works quite well.

With all this care they better provide us with a heap of tomatoes!!  I plan to buy 4 more tomato plants next month so I have enough to take us all the way through to Autumn.  I would really like enough so I can make tomato sauce to freeze.

Over the next few weeks I will buy other veggies and bring them indoors at night - soon my bath tub will be full!!  Only last night did DH want a bath, out came all the seedlings whilst DH had a soak!!


My radishes (1st crop) are doing very well and on the weekend the 2nd crop will be planted.  I am hoping these will have a bite as the ones I am buying at the shop have no heat at all - not like they use to.  Has anyone else notice a decline in "bite/heat" from radishes?  Or is it just me!!

~oOo~

Comments

  1. I love tomatoes! I hope you have a wonderful crop. We are just finishing our garden season here in Utah and had lots of wonderful goodies from the garden. Have a lovely day!

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  2. Thanks Emily Fay. I also am hoping for a wonderful large crop of tomotoes! Very wet and soggy here so I'm planning to stay safe indoors today.

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  3. Your tomatoes are much bigger than mine - but then I started from seed! :P I'm hoping to get a lot of tomatoes too - in fact, if our tomato plants produce like they are supposed to (they are prolific bearers), we should get a harvest of 190kg!!! We'll see! I, too, hope to freeze some tomato sauce etc. I'm also hoping to make some tomato soup and freeze it as well, for winter.
    I like your idea of putting them in the bath - so much easier to clean if they leave bits of dirt!

    No, you are not alone with the radishes not being strong in flavour - we've been growing an heirloom variety, and no matter how long I leave them in, they just don't have much heat. I left some in so long that they started being eaten by grubs underground, and they still had no real heat. I wonder why??

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  4. Your tomatoes are looking good!
    They should be just fine with what you're doing to care for them.
    We have some planted now- hubby couldn't wait so he'd better pray they survive the next month, lol!
    I agree about the radishes, Jo.
    They don't have that hot 'peppery' flavour any more.
    At least, not like the ones I remember from my childhood!
    bless you..Trish

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  5. Can you buy walls-o-water in Australia: http://www.amazon.com/WALL-O-WATER-3-PACK/dp/B0000DI86C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317257472&sr=8-1

    They are plastic corrugated tubes that you fill with water and leave around the tomato plants (which you can plant out). In years gone by my tomatoes survived 8in of snow and freezes down to -5C or more. Once the weather is warm enough, you remove them.
    Nick

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  6. Nick - never seen them, but I should buy some from Amazon and give them a go. Perhaps next season. Sounds like an easier idea to what I am doing!

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