Down on the Allotment

Matron grows vegetables and fruit in a Hampshire garden. I've been growing veggies since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Some traditional varieties and old favourites as well as new ideas. I share my garden with my allotment assistant Daisy the Labrador. On Twitter as @MatronsVeggies

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Matron's 2010 Dogblog!

Gosh! it's nearly September! where did the Summer go? I've not grown plum tomatoes before, but these San Marzano tomatoes are a spectacular colour. Just right for making sauce, or for breakfast tomorrow morning..with sausages...fresh eggs...mmm
Such a lovely range of spectacular colours in tomatoes, especially the chocolate cherry tomato, but all of them just go together perfectly displayed in a fruit bowl indoors!
This was an Ildi tomato that was badly frosted back in Spring. The plant grew back with 5 or 6 main shoots, so I decided to see if it wanted to grow in a hanging basket. Not too bad at all.
These are an American variety Golden Jubilee. They are a very late maturing beefsteak variety, but spectacular to look at and very tasty.
Elsewhere on the plot these yellow straightneck squash (from the USA) are just right for picking to make a 'Yellow Squash Pie'.
These climbing courgettes Black Forest are really wonderful. Very prolific, climb easily up a wall or trellis so ideal for a small garden where space is at a premium.
Finally. It has been just over a year since my last Dogblog, so I am inviting readers to email me a photo of their canine garden helpers, supervisors, consultants or dogsbodies for inclusion in Matron's 2010 Dogblog! Please remember to include your name, your dog's name, and your blog address so that I can put in a link to the post. All entries to me by 29th September.

14 Comments:

At 8:07 PM, Blogger Bangchik and Kakdah said...

Summer is kind enough to leave behind beautiful tomato as a parting gesture to you, before it travels down south. Cheers ~bangchik

 
At 8:22 PM, Anonymous The Allotment Blogger said...

Your yellow plum tomatoes look like gages, they are so golden! Am emailing a picture of our dog 'supervising' on our plot.

 
At 8:28 PM, Blogger Midmarsh John said...

Seeing your results I must have another go with plum toms. You really do have the greenest of fingers down on that there allotment.

Buddy has that look which says - 'but why do I have to sit and guard this green lump?'

 
At 10:24 PM, Blogger Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Hope yoo have a good breakfast with those juicy tomatoes. Tomato seeds that I have sowed this month has finally germinated. I have no luck with tomatoes last year died due to heat wave.

 
At 10:28 PM, Blogger Hazel said...

Aren't the Ildi generous croppers, Matron?

I've confined my squash growing to the Competition Pumpkin, a 'mystery' jack o'lantern type, and a couple of butternuts - which as ever, are not going to get fruit set/grown/mature before the first frosts, I am sure. Would welcome your suggestions for smallish winter squash.

Would it be cheating to send you a pick of mum's jack russell for Dogblog? She's not that good at helping in the garden - keeps nicking the small tools - but, boy, can she dig!

 
At 1:42 AM, Anonymous Nicole said...

That's a wonderful crop of tomatoes!

 
At 4:52 AM, Blogger Matron said...

Hazel - of course! if he digs then he's a gardener!

 
At 8:09 AM, Blogger Rob said...

I will have to try and find you a picture for your dogblog.

 
At 10:55 AM, Blogger Kath said...

I really love the variety you get with tomatoes (as long as you don't just sow the red ones, of course!

 
At 11:01 AM, Anonymous ~fer said...

What a nice collection of tomatoes!

that ildi tomato sure recovered great
i can count at least 23. how many does it have?

 
At 4:34 PM, Blogger Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I am so jealous of all those tomatoes. We've had one zucchini from the garden so far. What a poor summer for veggies here, although we had more peas than we knew what to do with.
I'll send a picture of Gracie to you soon for the dogblog. Yours looks so cute posing by the pumpkin.

 
At 4:39 AM, Blogger Thomas said...

Those San Marzano tomatoes are beautiful! Definitely a variety to consider growing next year. I've been looking for information on their growing habits...some sites list them as indeterminates and others as semi-determinate. Which do you think is more accurate?

 
At 6:52 PM, Blogger Matron said...

Hazel - If you can find a small bushing squash called Delicata, these keep for months and have the texture and taste almost like a sweet potato.

 
At 6:54 PM, Blogger Matron said...

Thomas - most of the time I grow any tomatoes up one single cordon. I know a lot of the Italian type plum tomatoes are supposed to grow in a bush, but that's probably because they have a dryer climate and higher light levels than we do!

 

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