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Just picked six. OK they're not all EU standard straight but there's too many for the two of us. My wife's gone down the village to distribute them to the poor and needy. Looking at our impending tomato crop we'll never eat all of those by Christmas. Any "sensible" suggestions for tomato recipes? Perhaps Compo would make them into an alcoholic beverage. In my experience the'll drink anything in Scotland!

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Mrs. Loppy froze a lot of our tomato crop last year. Still using some in soups etc.  She likes me to pick the Cukes before they get too big then she makes jars of pickles.  We can almost live off that little veggie garden year round as our growing season is so long.  Currently freezing Green Beans.  First tomato of the season is almost ripe.  I'm looking forward to it as long as some rotten critter doesn't get it first.

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I have grown cucumber Mini Munch for the first time this year as recommended by a gardening friend. They grow to between 3 and 4 inches long just enough for the two of us so we could have fresh every time. With that in mind and because cumbers can be suicidal I set 4 seed, of course for a change everything went OK and I now have 4 plants.

 

Never I have seen such prolific plants I am harvesting sometimes 7 a day. The sons taking some, 10 so far this week but he eats them like a stick of rock, another 15 have gone up the old folks where SWMBO volunteers and I am peeking over the fence to try and take the neighbours by surprise. Just hoping this is the first flush and things will settle down in due course.

 

The Sungold and Tumbler have plenty of toms on but nothing ripe yet. SWMBO always purees plenty and puts potions in zip lock plastic bags for freezing, this goes in soups, stews and spag-bol in a winter.

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Cucumber 'Marketmore'.  Set half a dozen seeds weeks ago.  They grew very slowly even indoors.  Put them out for a couple of hours just before the heatwave and every one was scorched by the breeze.   Potted them on and a couple died.  Just planted two out in a spot I've dug compost into and covered with a cloche for weeks.  Not much happening.

 

Runner Beans just keep getting blown to hell by the recurrent cool breeze.  This has never happened before.  Leaves grew realy well during the recent hot spell but are now just like kites in the wind and spin round till their stems break.

 

Two Tumbler plants in 15" pots doing OK ..ish.

 

Three Chillies.. flowers but no fruit yet and sprayed once for greenfly.

 

It's all very disheartening this year. :(

 

Col

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I seem to be having a decent year at the moment but like you say that wind has done some damage for some people, luckily my runners were shielded behind a fleece sheet so up to now I have got away with it. SWMBO won't take excuses with the runners she likes to freeze enough to have them every week through out the year.

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Hi phillmayfield

TOMATO'S!!     When we lived in South Africa my friend made tomato jam, and it was great, also go back to the old fashion way and bottle your tom's I bottled some and they lasted two years, they did not go off. They were used for breakfast, soups. ect.

You can get your jars for bottling from (Ikea)

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They call it canning over here. Our first summer in Sacramento in 1990, had us a bumper tomato crop, my wife canned  quite a lot, lasted us for at least four years and the last ones were just as good as the first ones.

 

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Mrs. Loppy is busy pickling Cukes as we speak.  Canning and cooking are her real talents.  We've had our first two or three Tomatoes.  Lots to ripen if some critter or disease doesn't do 'em in.

 

I'm thinking of starting some more in big pots then I can bring them in if they are not ready by the time it cools off.

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I've never done much container gardening.  Many folks seem to like it.  You have more control over soil drainage, fertilizer etc.. A couple of years ago, I had some tomatoes in big pots in September.  I brought them into our sunroom as the weather cooled and we were still picking fresh Tomatoes in December.  Never been able to time it quite right since.

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On 23/06/2017 at 4:43 PM, NewBasfordlad said:

I seem to be having a decent year at the moment but like you say that wind has done some damage for some people, luckily my runners were shielded behind a fleece sheet so up to now I have got away with it. SWMBO won't take excuses with the runners she likes to freeze enough to have them every week through out the year.

 

You gave me an idea NBL.  My beans are on a pretty typical construction of 8' canes, all tied together with soft twine, which the birds do their best to steal for nesting.  Also 'cross braced'  tied and braced to the fence behind to stop the wind from moving them too much back and forth.  Takes me a couple of hours to build it each year but it works.  The problem is that the whole lot is near the side fence and the offending wind whistles up the gap between houses..

I've thought about building a permanent barrier.. gate or somesuch, but then I've never had this level of winds to deal with before. 

Your mention of fleece got me thinking.  I have some fleece, but in the end I just used clothes pegs to fix some of the black semi permeable garden fabric across the end of the 'frame'.  It's done the trick and can easily be removed-replaced if necessary.  :)

 

Wind has battered my Lupins and Paeonies though... :(

 

Col

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Since moving I don't have any garden, so I invested in a plastic green house, I managed to get in two tomato plants and one cucumber in large pots. Touch wood I have had 3 years of good crops. A friend of mine told me that you could not grow these two plants together in such a small space, but hell !!! what doe's he know (men don't like it when they are wrong). My potatoes I also grow in large pots and have had good results. This year I'm trying kidney beans in grow bags at the moment all is well. Now don't get me wrong I used to love my garden also when I was knee high to a grass hopper I spent all my childhood at dad's allotment but there comes a time when you find gardening very difficult even cutting the lawn's. Then you don't enjoy it any more. The beauty of the way I grow my veg is that you only have enough for  two. Sorry can't invite any member's for dinner.:wub:

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^^^^^Mary like you I grow everything in some kind of container, for runner beans try Morrison's black flower buckets. Dirt cheap at 98p for eight (that was last year), you will have to pop in a few drainage holes, feed and water regularly but I have used them for years with good success.

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