Preparation for this years tomatoes:

So I’m going to try packing them in this year.

The plan is 24 tomato plants, (with some not inconsiderate assistance, I’ve been mapping out the area).

Basically 8 rows of 3.

I’m thinking 5 rows of Gozzin’s Cherokee Black tomatoes and 3 rows of the reliable Shirley.

Newspaper for weed suppression, note there is a soaker hose in the soil:

2016-05-07 13.43.32

Red plastic (like last year):

2016-05-07 14.32.04

I’ll plant the tomatoes where the strings cross:

2016-05-07 16.38.36

I’m just trying out the camera on a new phone.

Nothing of much interest to report.

I was just experimenting with the camera on a new phone.

It doesn’t seem too bad imho.

I now know to turn off the phones wifi whilst I’m in range of it.

Accidentally taking a few pictures in (burst mode) fills up my dropbox in a matter of seconds as the phones burst mode takes 100+ pics at a time.

 

Leeks:2016-05-01 15.52.20 2016-05-01 15.53.18

Onions:2016-05-01 15.53.43

Tomatoes, nasturtiums and kale:2016-05-01 15.55.07

Sugar snaps:2016-05-01 15.55.15

Cut and grow lettuce:2016-05-01 15.55.22

Strawberries:2016-05-01 15.55.35

Fruit trees:2016-05-01 15.56.05

I’m cheating here. After planting quite a few tea seeds several months ago (as yet no sign of germination). I’ve (after the usual preparation), cheated and planted some more, but this time I’m using an electric propagator. There are 4 seeds in each container. It will be interesting to see if they germinate before the ones that are in pots in the poly tunnel:2016-05-01 16.15.30

Tomato powder

Assuming there isn’t any frost in the next 2 weeks.

I’d guess the last basket will be perhaps 5% of the years worth of tomatoes.

The last basket filled up 8 out of the 10 trays in my dehydrator.

I didn’t weigh anything but ended up with:

2015-09-21 22.38.55

Considering that you can buy 1kg of tomato powder for £11 from ebay, it’s not economically sensible to grow, dry and grind them.

At least you know the powder you make isn’t full of lead and pesticides.

Although there could well be issues from the plastic trays in the dehydrator.

Regardless, currently you and everyone of your friends/family are sick of tomatoes.

Might as well dry/powder them for winter/spring instead of feeding them to the chickens 😉