So! We've actually had a bit of a proper Summer in the UK which after last year's washout, and the fact that Winter seemed very reluctant to exit stage left, has been a pleasant surprise. The garden has been a bit odd though, as because it stayed so cold for so long, things have taken a while to get going. I have a bunch of tomato plants which are now doing pretty well, but none of them have got a heavy crop, and I think it's because they just couldn't get going early enough.
This was the scene back at the start of June. They were still looking a little pathetic and sorry for themselves. One of them in fact died off a short time after this was taken so a replacement was popped in his place. As you can see, I planted them in old chimney pipes. This allows me to put them in deeper (as the bed is fairly shallow) and also helps keep them from drying out too much. They don't look the prettiest but frankly once the tomatoes take hold, you don't see too much of them.
I also have a few in pots and they've all done pretty well so far, considering the very late start they had coupled with several weeks of 30 degree heat! We've had a few small pickings so far, mostly from the few 'micro' varieties but on Friday I got a bit more of a decent picking of both tomatoes and chillies.
The chillies are a jalapeno variety and the tomatoes are Red Alert, and Golden Sunrise. I'm still deciding what to do with them, but I think they may end up as soup today. I often use a Delia Smith recipe which turns out well each time.
One thing with recipes for tomatoes - they often call for the tomatoes to be peeled, or the mixture to be sieved after blitzing. I think this is a personal thing. Two main recipes I use call for them and I don't do it with either. I have done in the past but it's fiddly and I found, unnecessary. So long as you blitz it well enough, you're not going to have bit bits of skins floating around anyway. But, as I said, it's a personal thing. If you don't want seeds and skins, then sieve away!
Well, that's it for this post. I'll be back with some more updates on food, gardening and crafting soon!
As always, I'd love to hear from you and how your crafting, gardening and cooking is going!
Love, Maxi x
