At Haddock's, last autumn, I made a DREADFUL MISTAKE.
Last year I planted three different varieties of Cherry Tomato (one of each). One was small red and round, one was yellow and pear shaped, and the other was red and oval. All three grew to become HUGE bushes, and bore so much fruit that eventually I just grubbed them up, and put them on the compost (after already having consumed huge amounts). My conserves I then produced mostly from the Italian (Roma), Portuguese, and French (Marmande) varieties, of which I also had mountains.
I should, of course, have put these wretched plants on the bonfire; as NOW, having spread said compost throughout the whole of Haddock's, I have MILLIONS of tiny tomato plants, all desperate to create some new-style LAWN over the entire plot. The hoeing has become a nightmare.
All gardeners learn by experience, and this has certainly has been one for me. As I so often say; 'I should have known better'. This year I've simply selected three self-sown plants (which I'm hoping will be differing varieties), and when done with, they won't be allowed within 50 metres of my compost. No siree; they'll be transported as far away as possible, and all the dropped fruit that has to be raked up will be buried in a very deep hole (several miles away).
Gee Cro it is all or nothing with tomatoes isn't it..we had the same problem a couple of years ago..this also happens to us in our flower beds with pink cosmos they are lovely but not when they push everything else out.
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem with Cosmos!
ReplyDeleteHello:
ReplyDeleteBetter by far that the problem is with Tomatoes rather than any number of other things one could mention. Experience is a wonderful thing if we learn from it.....this is surely one lesson that will not go unheeded!
You could just go into the pasata business, Cro.
ReplyDeleteSign at the end of the drive....."tomatoes free for the picking"?
ReplyDeleteWeeds with fruit! Tough to get rid of. Perfect place for snakes to hide. I think I'll stick to flower gardening.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should organise a Loubejac Tomatina - the Spanish have a festival where there is one big tomato fight in the streets.
ReplyDeleteSue. Maybe just me and Lady M (as long as I have most tomatoes).
ReplyDeleteI wish I had this problem—if only for the moment. You see, my tomato plants are struggling to grow because of this hard Kansas soil, and I'm dying to eat just one fresh tomato. Oh well, your plants love your garden too much, and who can blame them?
ReplyDeleteBonjour Cro, thanks for your comment & I hope you feel nostalgic about Brighton in a nice way... By the way: I do like your definition of contentment - sounds pretty perfect to me.
ReplyDeleteAs for the tomatoes: I had no idea they can do that. I'm not much of a gardener and am only this year for the first time harvesting some bits from a potted garden (I do live in London) which makes me immensly proud. So anybody like you with a propper vegetable plot/garden is a bit of a hero to me :-)
Tomatoe-troubles aside, I hope you're having a good week down in SW France - mon dieu I'm jealous... ;-)
Even without rain, your soil must be much better than our hard-packed Georgia clay. Our tomatoes are doing well, but only because we baby and water the heck out of them. I can't imagine having them growing like weeds. We have kudzu for that.
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