Tomato (solanum lycopersicum)

Why plant
Easy to grow from seed, even your own seed from the previous year.

Don’t need a big garden to grow… just a few pots on a patio look really attractive and will give a steady supply throughout late summer.

Forget those supermarket varieties… nothing tastes as good as home grown tomatoes! Most supermarkets tomatoes are picked while unripe and artificially ripened, reducing their health properties.

Interesting uses
None other than for health and cooking.

Origins
The tomato is native to South America, probably originating in the highlands of Peru. Although the exact date of domestication is not known there is evidence tomatoes being consumed by prehistoric humans.

It is believed the tomato was first introduced to Europe by the explorers such as Cortez and Columbus in the 15th and 16th centuries and was first grown in England in the 1590s. By the mid 1700s tomatoes were widely eaten in Britain.

Health benefits
Various tomato components are believed to work together to produce  health benefits. These include aiding in the development of healthy teeth, bones, skin and hair; lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels and possibly reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers. Tomatoes are high in Vitamin C, which acts as an antioxidant. The red colour of a tomato comes from its lycopene content, which is also believed to reduce the risk of certain types of cancer.

Some tomato components are more easily absorbed by the body when tomatoes are heated, either during cooking or processing. In addition adding small amounts of oil to tomatoes, for example in a salad, helps the body absorb the nutrients better. Processed tomato products such as tomato sauce and tomato paste may contain more health benefits than raw tomatoes.

Varieties

• Beef Tomatoes - The largest of the tomato varieties, these have a sweet dense red flesh. Ideal for stuffing, slicing or cooking with.
• Cherry Tomatoes - Much smaller than other tomato varieties with a very intense sweet flavour. Delicious as a lunchbox snack, in salads or roasted.
• Sungold Tomatoes - A much more delicate flavour than the traditional cherry, very juicy and a lovely orange colour which looks great in salads or as a garnish.
• Plum tomatoes - Egg-shaped tomatoes with a meaty flesh and concentrated flavour, which makes them especially well-suited to cooking. They are available in various sizes including baby. Plum tomatoes are the most popular variety for canning.

Planting
Tomatoes can be grown from seed as early as January so long as you can provide enough heat (50 degrees Fahrenheit, or 10 degrees centigrade) and light. Plant seeds 1 inch (2.5 centimetres) apart just under the compost surface in seed trays or small pots and cover, for example using clingfilm. They should start appearing in seven to ten days.

Once large enough to handle move them individually into 3 inch (8 centimetre) pots until they’re about 5 inches (15 centimetres) tall, when they should be moved to their final positions.

Tomatoes are susceptible to frost damage, so if growing outside wait until all risk of frost has passed… early April at the earliest. Plant about 2 feet apart, deeper than they were in the plot since the plant will grow additional roots along the buried stem.

Whether growing indoors or out the plants will need support. You can stake with canes, or alternatively place posts either end of the row with a cross beam along the top and use string loosely tied from the base of each plant to the cross beam. Twist the string around the plant stem as it grows. In a greenhouse the string can be attached to the roof frame.

If growing in pots ideally use 12 inch, although you can use smaller.

Aftercare
As the plants grow remove additional shoots that seem to appear almost daily where each leaf meets the stem… at this stage you want all the plant’s energy to be focused on growing taller. Once the plants are about 3 feet tall remove the leaves from the bottom 1 foot of the plant to prevent fungus problems and improve ventilation.

Water deeply and regularly while the plants are growing. Irregular watering at this stage is a common cause of failure. Once the fruit begins to ripen lessening the water will coax the plant into concentrating its sugars. Don’t withhold water so much that the plants wilt and become stressed or they’ll drop their blossoms and possibly their fruit.

Feed with fertilisers soon as the first tiny fruit begin to appear and repeat every two weeks until harvesting. Why not try making nettle fertiliser since this is very good for tomatoes.

Harvesting
With care greenhouse tomatoes will fruit right through to November. Towards the end of the season remove all leaves to let maximum light reach the fruit. If you want to grow the biggest tomatoes stop fruiting by removing the growing tip at the top of the plant when you’ve got up to seven levels or trusses of fruit.

Recipes

Grilled pesto tomatoes on toast

Honey and thyme tomatoes

Golden goat's cheese tomatoes

Stuffed summer tomatoes

Couscous stuffed beef tomatoes

Common problems

• Fruit with black sunken areas on the blossom end are a sign of blossom-end rot caused by a calcium deficiency. This can be aggravated by drought or uneven watering, root damage or excess nitrogen. Consistent watering will help. The problem usually occurs on just a small number of fruit, especially at the beginning of the harvest, so once moisture conditions stabilise the rest of the fruit will be fine.
  
• If only a few flowers form on your tomato plants or the flowers drop before setting fruit this is due to excess nitrogen, too little sun, night temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit or drought stress. Be sure plants get a full day of sunlight and keep the soil evenly moist throughout the season.
  
• Dark, concentrically ringed spots that cover the lower leaves and stems are a sign of early blight. Limit the spread of the disease by not getting water on the leaves when watering and not handling plants when they are wet.
  
• Water-soaked patches on fruit that turn brown, dry and papery are a sign of late blight. Fruit might be spotted as well and stems might have blackened areas. To control late blight follow the same program of control as for early blight.
  
• Cracks in fruit are generally caused by uneven watering. Use mulch to keep the soil moist throughout the season.
  
• Yellowed, distorted and curled leaves may simply be a sign of an infestation of aphids. Check for signs of aphids on the undersides of leaves or clustered on new growth. Aphids are easily combated with a strong jet of water or just rub them off with your hands.
  
• There is nothing worse than picking a tomato and finding a slug happily working its way through it. Early morning or evening thoroughly check all plants and possible hiding places to remove them.

Garlic (allium sativum)

Why plant

Easy to grow and store.

Is there anything else that gives cooking such a zing?

Plant when all is autumn damp and darkness, but dream of sunny days, clear blue skies and long light evenings when harvested in July.

Interesting uses

Use to repel night time mosquitoes by placing cloves they gather, or by applying extracts on exposed parts of your skin.

Mix garlic cloves with pepper and a bit of soap to make your own garlic pesticide.

If you don’t have a bottle of adhesive or glue in your house take a clove, crush and rub juice on paper or glass. Adhesives made of garlic have been used to repair glass in China.

Origins

The garlic we know today is a domesticated crop native to central Asia around Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It’s related to the lily family, which includes onions, shallots, chives and leeks.

Amongst the oldest known horticultural crops, the use of garlic spread across the world more than 5000 years ago, with evidence in China and Babylonia and mention in Indian and Egyptian cultures.

Egyptians worshipped garlic and fed it to workers building the Great Pyramid at Giza to give them more stamina about 2600 BC. Greek athletes ate garlic to build their strength. Ancient Greeks and Romans claimed it repelled scorpions, helped bladder infections and dog bites and cured leprosy and asthma.

It was thought that hanging garlic bulbs on doors would stop the spread of smallpox. Ancient Indians valued the medicinal properties of garlic and thought it to be an aphrodisiac. It was believed to cure several illnesses and promote a long life.

Garlic came to the Western Hemisphere with some of the first European explorers, and its use spread rapidly. During World War I garlic was used as an antiseptic to disinfect open wounds and prevent gangrene.

Health benefits

When cut or crushed an enzyme in garlic combines with an amino acid, creating a new compound called allicin. This  compound is known to kill twenty-three types of bacteria, including salmonella and staphylococcus.

A different compound is formed when garlic is heated. This compound can prevent arteries from clogging, and reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Garlic has a blood-thinning quality which may be helpful in preventing heart attacks and strokes.

Garlic contains vitamins A, C, and B, which may prevent cancer by stimulating the immune system to eliminate toxins and combat carcinogens. Because of this it may become a valuable treatment for AIDS. People in China with the highest level of dietary garlic have a reduced risk of stomach cancer.

Garlic is known to kill 60 types of fungi and yeast such as athlete’s foot.

Planting

Garlic can be grown from seed but the normal method is to separate the bulb into cloves and plant these. Use the plumpest bulbs from your previous year’s crop or bulbs bought from the greengrocer. Garden centres also sell garlic but will more expensive, though you may find this necessary if you’ve been using your own cloves for several seasons since there’s a risk of degradation of quality.

Plant in autumn choosing a sunny position in soil that is light and ideally contains plenty of organic material for good drainage. Avoid ground that may become water logged. Spring planting is also feasible in warmer areas.

Carefully break each bulb into its individual cloves and plant with pointed end upwards so the clove tip is just below the surface of the soil. They should be in rows with six inches between each clove, twelve inches between each row.

Aftercare

There’s very little else to do… just keep them weed free!

Harvesting

Lift the garlic in summer when the foliage dies down, normally when about four of the leaves have gone brown. Ease the plants out of the ground with a fork to avoid damage. Dry the bulbs thoroughly in the sun and store them in a cool, dry place such as a shed or garage. Put a few of the best bulbs aside for planting next year’s crop.

Recipes

Garlic bread

Garlic and lemon green salad

Garlic and thyme glazed carrots

Garlic bacon butties

Garlic mashed potato bake

Common problems

• Mould or rust may occur during prolonged wet periods. The bulbs need to be thrown away or burnt. During rainy periods give protection with a cloche, but allow ventilation.
  
  
• Onion white rot causes the foliage to go yellow and wilt… check for fluffy white growths to confirm it’s onion white rot. Plants should be thrown away (not composted) and don’t grow garlic or onions in the same area for at least 8 years.
  
  
• Leaf blight appears as white spots surrounded by light green on the leaves. Under moist conditions the fungi spread and the leaves will die and become dry. Spacing plants about a foot apart to allow for good airflow, and crop rotation, help control the disease.
  
  
• Downy Mildew gives the leaves slightly lighter patches in the early stages that turn to brown as the disease gets worse. Parts affected will eventually fold over and die. When the stalks are affected they weaken and fall over. Use crop rotation and proper drainage to avoid.
• Neck Rot shows as water-soaked spots in the neck area, turning yellow. Gray mould appears between bulb scales and the bulb deteriorates. Usually appears just before harvest. Allow tops to mature well before harvest, avoid injury to bulbs at harvest and dry before placing in storage.

My garlic cloves spaced out ready for planting.

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I’m sticking with my funny tomato

Human beings come in all shapes and sizes. Tall and small, dark and light, wide and thin, loud and quiet. That’s what nature’s all about… the greater the variety, the more chance of hitting on a winning formula in the survival stakes. Animals and plants are no different. Vegetables and fruit follow the same rules.

So why is it when you pass through the doors of a supermarket those rules no longer apply? Go to the fruit and veg section and you’re confronted by massed ranks of like lettuce, similar swedes, cute cucumbers. Where do they get these perfect objects from?

Of course they don’t grow naturally like that. For every perfect parsnip there’s another that doesn’t conform. And what happens to the perfectly good but misshapen parsnip? Its left to rot… well, not just one, but maybe twelve tonnes from a single field. Up to fifty percent of crops are left to rot.

Yes, the European Union legislated in the 1980s to regulate the size and shape of fruit that could be sold, but much of that legislation was repealed a couple of years ago. So why aren’t supermarkets giving customers the choice… to buy misshapen fruit and vegetables at reduced prices? We’re certainly already paying for the wasted food in the prices we pay at the checkouts. Supermarkets indicated they’d provide more choice when the legislation was changed… but nothing’s happened yet.

I’ll be glad of any shaped vegetables in the coming season, given that last year was so poor. Too much time spent strimming and weeding allied to general disorganisation. I’ve started harvesting my leeks and they’re DELICIOUS! Still using my onions and garlic, got loads left. Tomatoes went right through to November in the greenhouse. But didn’t get nearly enough of other salad crops. 2010 will be the year I crack it and get into a productive routine.

Already bought my new seed supply from Huntingdon Garden and Leisure, where they’re selling Thompson and Morgan seeds at half price. Usual thing happened… returned home to sort out my seed box, only to find I already had most of the seeds I bought in last year’s packets still within date, some even unopened ‘cause I was still using the previous year’s supply last year! When will I learn… I certainly don’t need to buy any seeds for a couple of years.

You may remember me bemoaning the fact I was only getting three eggs a day from my four chickens last autumn, and trying to figure how I could spot the errant bird. Well, problem solved… I’m now only getting one egg a day from the feathered fiends! I’m convincing myself it’s the recent freezing weather that’s caused a drop in production and all will soon be well. In other circumstances someone could be for the chop, but I’ve given them names now so they’re pets, which makes it difficult.

Spent days fiddling around with my new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic mobile ‘phone… probably took far longer ‘cause I had to do it sans user guide (it’s not that I don’t have the user guide you understand, just that real men don’t need to use it of course). Must say it’s a really great ‘phone after the disappointment of the Samsung Tocco. Going to stick with Nokia from now on.

Managed to get tickets for what I think will be England's last match at Wembley before the World Cup. So me and my two sons are off to see England v Egypt on Wed 03-Mar for a 20:00 kick off.

Read a great description of life in Rosamunde Pilcher’s short story ‘Toby’. Young Toby’s best friend, the farmer next door, has suddenly died and he’s asking his granny if it’s very frightening to die. ‘I don’t know’ she says, ‘I’ve never done it’. ‘But aren’t you frightened?’ ‘You know’ granny says, ‘I’ve always thought that each person’s life is like a mountain. To begin with you start in the valley, and it’s warm and sunny, there are lots of meadows and little streams, and buttercups and things. That’s when you’re a child. And then you start to climb. Slowly the mountain becomes a little steeper and the going isn’t so easy, but if you stop every now and then and look about you the wonderful views are worth ever bit of effort. And the very top of the mountain, the peak where the snow and ice glitter in the sunshine and it’s all beautiful beyond belief, why that’s the summit, the great achievement, the end of the long journey.’ And I can’t help thinking the view from the summit must be magnificent.

Next week’s going to be interesting. My daughter Beth starts work at the same place as me, in the contact centre for Huntingdon District Council. She’ll be sitting a few feet away from me when I work there on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Sure it’s going to be a good source of stories for this blog.

 

Old friends, old friends

… as the Simon & Garfunkel tune 'Old Friends' goes. And some of the lyrics ring true about our experience when working together at AXA. I've known Terry (third from left, click to enlarge picture) for twenty years, and first met David (first left) and Malcolm (second left) ten years ago during the integration of Guardian Insurance and AXA. By process of elimination you’ll  guess I’m the ugly one on the right.

All four of us had challenging times managing big contact centres, struggling to deal with unhelpful politics, and at times struggling to hang on to our jobs. No surprise none of us are with AXA any longer, having all found more interesting challenges.

So it was great to get together on Wednesday for a gentle amble around some of London’s more interesting and historic pubs. The trail started with lunch at The George in Southwark, London’s only surviving galleried coaching inn and a haunt of Charles Dickens. Next on to The Anchor at Bankside, from where Samuel Pepys watched the Great Fire of London. After a tramp over Southwark Bridge the next watering hole was the Old Bell in Fleet Street, a cosy pub with a 300 year old license, at the back of which is St Brides Church, whose spire is the inspiration for the tiered wedding cake. You really get a feel for the London of 1670s in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, with its dark panelling and small rooms. The next visit was a disappointment, Ye Olde Cock Tavern being the victim of a restoration following a fire in 1990, the effect of which is the removal of any atmosphere. The only compensation was the sudden discovery of the old managerial chair from Darlington, see photo below of Terry reigning supreme yet again.

Terry and I manage a couple of walks a year together, and none would be the same without getting lost at some point regardless of supporting technology. So we were well overdue a detour which at this point saw us taking the next two pubs out of sequence. The Cittie of Yorke made up for the previous disappointment as we sat snug in one of the cubicles where lawyers have consulted with their clients for centuries. At this point we’d caught up with news of colleagues and were on to righting the world with a discussion of democracy and its alternatives, the NHS and contingency planning for schools in winter (think I’m joking… I’m not!). For the next visit we travelled to Cambridgeshire… the Olde Mitre Tavern is still technically part of that county although just off Hatton Garden. Situated down an alleyway there’s a feeling of stepping back hundreds of years… in the corner of the bar is the preserved trunk of a cherry tree around which Elizabeth I danced the maypole. Finally the Seven Stars where the discussion turned to the coming general election and the merits of the various political alternatives.

Having had such a good time chatting the crawl was cut short with two pubs still to visit. Off we wandered to Holborn to seek an Italian meal. At the Spaghetti House spaghetti with carbonara and bolognese sauces was accompanied by the house red, all for £12 a head. Another ‘detour’ saw us missing the target of Holborn tube station, finding ourselves at Tottenham Court Road tube station. The party split at this point, David & Malcolm heading for Liverpool Street station. With less than thirty minutes to go to Terry’s train at 21:00 we had to fly, making it with two minutes to spare.

Overall a really enjoyable way to spend a day with old mates. During the day thoughts were with colleagues who couldn’t make the event… Tracey, John T, Kevin, Martin and Nigel. Hopefully we’ll see you next year.

Not much news on the allotment front… ground still so rock hard I can’t get the leeks out of the ground, let alone continue the digging!

At last got the Pashley back on the road, courtesy of Steve at Ben Hayward Cycles in Cambridge. Rather than replacing the disappointingly short lived (fifteen months) Sturmey Archer five speed hub gear I plumped for Steve’s recommendation of the ‘bomb proof’ Shimano Nexus seven speed hub gear… at £254! Couldn’t have a better recommendation than the fact Steve uses this gear on his own bikes. Now to take on Halfords, who pointed me to the limitation of the twelve month guarantee in answer to my complaint about the premature gear failure on a bike costing £600. Having emailed both Sturmey Archer and Pashley (masquerading as a potential new customer) asking for their opinion of the life expectancy of the gear, to which both their answers were ‘life’, and with Halfords' confirmation that the fault was not due to lack of maintenance, I consider I stand a good chance in the County Court to hold Halfords to their Sale of Goods Act responsibility of up to six years from purchase. Watch this space.

How different from Virgin Mobile, who really know how to give customer service. With the end of my contract I decided to change phones to a Samsung Tocco. Arrived the day after ordered... then remembered why I didn’t like the last Samsung ‘phone I had. Use it as much for reminders as anything, but Samsung wants you to enter time and date for start, end and alarm for each event. The task list isn’t in date order. Oh, and you can’t change the default reminder tone. Driving me mad, so I called Virgin to ask if I could change it, which I can within the first 28 days at no penalty. So back to Nokia with a Nokia 5800, which has just arrived this very minute. So this post is ending now to allow me to have a good fiddle.

 

Technorati Tags: RAC,AXA,GRE,Guardian Direct,Darlington,London pubs,Pashley,Sturmey Archer,Shimano Nexus,Samsung Tocco,Nokia 5800,Ben Hayward Cycles,Halfords,Sale of Goods Act,Virgin Mobile

My claim to fame

In 1990 the UK’s hottest day was recorded in Cheltenham, with a temperature of 37.1C (98.8F). I was in Cheltenham on that day, living at 131 Gloucester Road. The 1990 temperature has since been exceeded on 10-Aug-2003 in Kent with a scorching 38.5F (101.3F).

On 30-Dec-1995 the coldest UK temperature ever was recorded in Scotland at –27.2C (-17.0F). I was in Perth, just south of the weather station that recorded the record, and on that night I’d agreed to meet my brother Andrew at the Scone Arms. There was no transport so I had to walk four miles to get there. By the time I arrived the beard I had at the time was full of icicles from the freezing of my breath.

So my claim to fame, for what it’s worth, is that I’m one of the few people (maybe only the rest of my immediate family being the others) who experienced both the hottest and coldest temperatures recorded in the UK.

The way the weather is going at present I may also lose the only part of that claim still current. Temperatures are dropping below –20C in some parts of the UK, and with a prediction of high winds coming in from Siberia it’s going to get a whole lot worse.

To say the feathered fiends are not happy is a bit of an understatement. It’s thought chickens originated in India, and although they can survive temperatures into –20C they’re not ecstatic about it. My lot are certainly conserving their energy for body heat at the moment… can’t be bothered coming out of the chicken run and I’ve not had a single egg for days. Yesterday there was eggstensive evidence that something’s happened… a yellow smudge in the ice just as the top of the entrance to the coop. They almost always lay in the nesting boxes, normally accompanied by a marked call… well, wouldn’t you make a bit of a noise if you had to lay an egg, proportionate to body mass, the size of a large toaster? But it’s not unknown, in the excitement of my arrival and the chance to be let out for a good scratch around, for an egg to pop almost as an afterthought.

May be the egg was just too good an opportunity for refreshment for the feather fiends to resist, so they ate it. But may also be evidence of Mr Ratty helping himself to a free meal. One advantage of fresh snow is you can see the tracks of all the visitors to the plot. See the interesting photos below… but I could also see tracks indicating a rat nipping in from the pile of wood in my neighbour’s plot towards the feeding globe I suspend in mid air from a wooden tripod in the chicken run. Not sure how Mr Ratty would get food from there without some amazing acrobatics, but I put some planks against the chicken wire where he was getting in to block that access.

Wasn’t able to do much blogging in the run up to New Year since I was trying to finish the scaled plan of our allotments at Hill Rise. All finished now… click the link ‘Scaled plan of Hill Rise Allotments’ under the Welcome section on the top right, and then click ‘Download’ to view.

 

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Goodbye 2009

What will I remember 2009 for allotment-wise? Guess the woodchip experiment most of all. Spent hours hauling tons of the stuff (well, it was free) onto every uncultivated space on my two plots, see Jan 2009 photo below to see how neat it all looked. Then had plenty of time during the summer to ponder on the success as I watched the grass grow up through it. Unable to use the lawn mower, had to spend loads of time each week strimming.

I’m still struggling to get settled into a routine. Lots of pictures at the foot of this post showing progress since I first took on my allotment in January 2006. I’m ending the year disillusioned over the amount of maintenance raised beds create… all that grass cutting and couch grass creeping up the sides. So I’m now about a third the way through having a complete change on the front plot, converting to just two large unraised beds.

Also must avoid wasting time constructing cloches. They didn't really work since they were never the right size for the next job. I’ll just put up more temporary but adjustable protection. Crop-wise it was a bit of a mixed result. The greenhouse helped a lot and meant I had tomatoes right through into November. Managed to propagate lots of flower seeds for the garden. But the strawberries were a disappointment… won’t use my own compost again since it encouraged too many wood lice. Did you know woodlice love strawberries?

Pumpkins in the greenhouse didn’t quite work… lots of growth and flowers but little fruit. Suspect they weren’t being fertilised since no bees in the greenhouse. Won’t grow potatoes again… still not dug out all those I planted in 2009, and takes so long to get them in in the first place.

Highlights in 2009 were… daughter Becky’s wedding to Barry. The baby birds, robins (the Glums) at home and blue tits at the plot.

Started playing (and occasionally winning) pitch and putt, darts and pool, with sons David and John. Grass snakes at Houghton Meadows in May. Nettle fertiliser… although I didn’t have a ‘scientific’ assessment (and must do in 2010) of how it helped the tomatoes it’s so easy to make. Apple wine, having gone into industrial production when there were so many apples for free I’ve now got about 150 bottles-worth to tide me over. Finished decorating the hall and living room (phew!).

Hopes for 2010? Construction wise I’ll be having a bash at the polytunnel, and Chris and I will be putting up a tree house for the grandchildren to play when they’re on the allotment. Aiming to have lots of barbeques on the plot with all the family. Looking forward to spending more time with wife Linda on the plot now she’s started to visit with me. Barry’s grapes should produce their first crop for wine making this year. And looking forward to lots of figs… the fig tree is getting bigger now and I’ve managed to get lots of cuttings from it. And if we’re really dreaming, I’ll be watching England win the World Cup in summer with my sons on a big spanking new TV.