Wednesday 5 August 2020

Tomatoes.



My own crop of Tomatoes has been a disaster, so I was extremely happy when my lovely neighbour, L, said to fill my boots from her huge crop; she said I could take as many as I liked.

I took my big blue bucket, and filled it. I hardly touched the surface. Her crop is enormous, and her bushes filled from top to bottom. 

I decided to make just four jars of Ratatouille, and the rest plain Tomatoes. I may do another lot later on. 


It feels good to be filling the store cupboard again. Lockdown holds no fears when you have a cupboard filled with conserves.

30 comments:

  1. It is always good to have the store cupboard full of homegrown produce.

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    1. This is just the beginning (other than jams); I expect there'll be a lot more to come.

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  2. How good to have such thoughtful and generous neighbours.

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    1. Her family are our oldest friends here, we've known 5 generations of the family; all wonderful people.

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  3. I've been trying to thing how many families I have known 5 generations of. Not many. Of a neighbour you've known 40odd years that is impressive.

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    1. We're now waiting for L's daughter to have a child. 6 generations really would be amazing.

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  4. What a lovely neighbour .... you can’t beat a good tomato. What do you think happens to your tomatoes when your neighbours are so good ..... is there something in your earth do you think ? XXXX

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    1. I think we have Mildew in the soil. It's a devil to get rid of, so we will move our Tomato production to a new site next year. Everything not-affected by Mildew is doing well. We will eventually have a small crop, but nothing like our past bounties.

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  5. That is very generous of her and it is clearly not climatic reasons for your crop failure.

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    1. No, it's very much disease. Her crop is only about 500 metres from ours, and not a sign of disease!

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  6. That is an imoressive haul. Makes up for your disappointing crop.
    When we lived in Tenerife our neighbours had a huge avocado tree in their garden and said we could take as many as we wanted as they lived in Germany for most of the year. My husband used to climb the tree and collected many large buckets full to the brim. He used to take most of them to give away in the village and amongst our neighbours as we couldn't eat them all ourselves and I didn't know what else to with them.

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    1. My sister used to have an Avocado plantation in NZ. How wonderful to have had access to such a generous tree. I dream of such things.

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  7. I make ratatouille a lot Cro but it never occurred to me that I could make it and store it. Presumably it has to be sterilised before it is stored? Could you tell me how you make it please?

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    1. I make it with roughly equal quantities of Toms, Courgettes, green Peppers, and Aubergines. I cook them first then bottle and sterilise for one hour. They keep for over two years. I use the Le Parfait bottling system, which is very simple.

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  8. Do you use a pressure cooker, or can it be done without? Ta

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    1. No, it's done in a giant pot, at a 'rolling boil'. It's a very simple process; all you need are the jars and a good supply of lids.

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  9. Here's an idea for next year. Ask Neighbour L where she gets her tomato plants from or ask her to grow some seedlings specially for you. In return, you can offer to give her a full body massage using aromatic oils. Very relaxing.

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    1. Her plants are certainly very good. She uses a different plot every year, ploughs quite deeply, and has a copious water supply. Farmers do things properly.

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  10. That ratatouille looks good. I've just picked a load of small tomatoes from the greenhouse, they taste so much better than the supermarket ones.

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    1. We've been eating big platefuls every lunchtime. Gosh, how much better they are than those bland supermarket Toms. We really look forward to our Summer lunches.

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  11. What a nice neighbor you have.

    Despite how bad my tomato plants look, I have gotten lots of fruit. It is not as much as previous years but I have been able to share with others.

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    1. Many of the newcomer neighbours are best avoided, but the families who have been here for generations are wonderful. Nothing is too much for them, and their generosity is legendary. We are very lucky.

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  12. To get so many lovely tomatoes is a great gift!

    And fine to make your own stock of ratatouille. The last time I prepared something (strawberry jam, sloe syrup and sloe gin, and quince compote and jelly was when our son was still a child - just the other day I thought that I should do it again: I miss the wonderful fragrance flying through the whole house while cooking.

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    1. I get huge pleasure in growing and preserving. I must be a frustrated farmer/chef.

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  13. Such a friendly and generous neighbour. Those tomatoes will keep you full and healthy whatever the conditions outside.
    Do you ever dry them or try preserving in any other way?

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    1. I should be drying some now. We have the perfect weather for it. I still have one jar of Sun Dried Toms in Olive Oil from last year, they are delicious.

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  14. Gosh I love ratatouille. I could go that and a chink of crusty bread right now!

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  15. I so enjoy when you write about your garden and preserving.

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  16. What a wonderful neighbor you have yo give you all the tomatoes you want! Your preserves look great. I am jealous! Nothing is better than vine ripe tomatoes.

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