European Gardening: WHAT CROPS HAVE YOU PICKED THIS WEEK?, 1 by wallaby1

wallaby1 wrote:
Well Lizzy it is my neighbour's greenhouse, mine are not so pristine. He's a builder, likes everything square and level, he cleaned the glass before I put them in. It's only used for these and winter storage, well some other seedlings and things in spring when they find space. My greenhouses have not had a clean for years, I've always got them too full, when some plants come out others fill the space. He doesn't take the same care with his house, it's clean greenhouse glass and cut lawns, the rest goes to pot.

I grow my toms and peppers in lots of home made compost, with gritty soil/leaves dug from the drain and some peat compost, mostly 1/3 each but this year I used more of my own compost. I ran out of peat and am trying not to use it, so the last peppers to get potted, the plants from the bought pepper mainly and 5 of the basil, I used wood ash from a huge pile of burnt hedge cuttings and wood, plus grass clods dug from my new bed. It will have lots of potash and seems to do well, they basil for a start was much darker green than the one without. I've only fed them all twice, I think that will be it!

Slithery creatures, I do regularly hunt for them, I had some big slugs living in the side of a pot this year but found them and took them up the road, deposited in the hedge bottom.

I use quite a lot of tomatoes in season, fried tomatoes on toast, fresh pasta sauce, the last of the crop I just pick when coming too cold and store them in a box. Some can last up to 3 months like that, Fantom is a keeper and Keepsake does well too. I used to make chutney, don't know how I'm going to get around that this year, the vinegar will damage the budgie. I do miss my chutney, once tried the bought stuff is like sludge.

This is keepsake, it's a determinate and they don't go over-ripe on the plant, just sit there while you want them. They also have one of the best flavours around.