In spite of going away for a week in July, I managed to keep my one 'cherry tomato' plant on the balcony alive - and have just harvested the first four fruits. Actually five, but one had already started to wither in spite of not even having turned properly red yet. So today I tried an 'orange' one for lunch (well, with my lunch...) Deciding that that one was ripe enough, I picked three more (of those in the photo) to have for (with) supper tonight. All in all there are only about a dozen on the plant (most of them still green). Considering the cost of the one plant back in May, and all the bottles of water I've been feeding it throughout the summer, I'm beginning to think: No wonder the price of tomatoes (and various other foods) at the supermarket keeps going up...
pretty little tomatoes, and that makes sense about why it cost so much to buy fruit and veggies and all of our food. it cost more to grow it, ship it, package it, there is nothing at all on our planet that doesn't cost more and more each day.
ReplyDeleteSandra, at least here in Europe the combination of pandemic, the war in Ukraine + the serious heatwave seems to have rocketed inflation lately.
DeleteThey look perfect! A friend just gave us some yellow tomatoes that she has been growing. They are supposed to be less acidic.
ReplyDeleteGinny, I think mine are supposed to be 'red', but I hardly have enough of them on my one plant to be able to learn exactly at what stage they taste the best! The four I ate so far were good, though :)
DeleteWhen you went away, did a neighbour or friend look after your mail and your plants?
ReplyDeleteWe have this "system" in our house of looking after each other's places when one is away. My upstairs neighbours are currently back home in Turkey and will be for another couple of weeks at least. Fatma even has asked me to open their mail to make sure nothing official is missed, such as a date to pay a certain fee. (I never have anyone open my mail while I'm away.)
From Sunday onwards, my sister will be away for 1 1/2 weeks, as will her upstairs neighbour; I am going to look after three flats then for a while.
Meike, it's good when one can help each other out like that. Where I live now, I don't know my neighbours well enough. As while living here I've never been away for more than a week, I've so far managed without having anyone look after my flat, or mail (rather than ask some friend living across town). Indoors I closed blinds and curtains and moved most of my plants to the kitchen (no afternoon sun). Because of the roof work going on all spring I did not have a lot on the balcony. Those that had to remain out there, I watered thoroughly + put am extra large bottle of water upside-down in the tomato pot, and hoped for the best. A couple of the strawberry plants were in a sad state when I got back; but they are rather hardy, and recovered. As for the mail, until two years ago, I got my mail through a slot in the door. Now (since change of door two years ago) we have postboxes down in the entrance. For a week, no problem. In the past, I used to cancel my daily newspaper for the week I was away. This summer, I decided to change my subscription permanently (or for a longer period) and try to get used to just having the digital version - reading it on my tablet.
DeleteThose are really healthy-looking tomatoes. When I see home-grown plants as healthy as yours, I feel I ought to have a go. I have several very large terracotta plant pots which would be ideal for tomatoes, peppers or fruits like strawberries and raspberries, or even small fruit trees. Somehow, I never seem to think about it during the planting season.
ReplyDeleteCG, back in the 80s/90s, living in a flat with a balcony more suited for it, I even grew pumpkin plants sometimes. One year I harvested one weighing 2 kilos!
DeleteCherry tomatoes are so sweet but they are out of season at the moment as we are in late Winter so they are very very expensive.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I find small tomatoes tastier than the big ones so I nearly always buy those for use in salads, even if more expensive.
DeleteSuper blog
ReplyDeleteI have a superb crop of apples this year or rather I would have if they would ripen!
ReplyDeleteI think in my comment I said apples. I, of course, meant tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you'll get to enjoy them, Graham! And if they don't ripen, I'd advise you to look up some recipes with green tomatoes in them. In the past, I used to cook a green tomato marmalade from tomatoes that did not have time to ripen. (My harvest this year so small it would only give a spoonful, though...)
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