Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Sunday 17 April 2011

Tomato plants

These were about six inches high a month ago. My how they have grown! They are more than 2 feet high, now! Some with flowers on them!




This year I have grown Pink Cherry, Red Cherry, Aunty Madge, Gardeners Delight (Cherry toms)

Costoluto Fiorentino, Costoluto Genovese, Big Boy, Beefsteak, Black Russian, Atkins stuffing, Carlton (Beef toms)

Shirley, Moneymaker, Latah, Roma, Golden Sunrise, Yellow Perfection ("normal" sized toms)

I have already sold some and have others "in waiting" to be collected by people who asked me to grow particular varieties.

I have about 170 plants all growing well, some in the cold frame in side the polytunnel and some hardening off in the Polytunnel itself. I cover them all over with fleece at night just in case we get a cold night as temperatures can get quite low inside a Polytunnel at night!

The peppers, Californian Wonder, Nardullo, Marconi Rosso, Romano and Hot Cayenne chilli, are all doing well. They love the heat of the double glazed porch so will stay in there until the nights are a bit warmer, then I will put them out in to the Polytunnel also.

7 comments:

  1. That is a LOT of tomatoes! Of course, I've got about 60 little ones under lights so I shouldn't really comment. Most of the ones I've got are for a plant sale to benefit our local food pantry so it's for a good cause.
    What is your last frost date there? I can't trust things out until after mid May.
    Judy

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  2. Hi there Judy!

    Our "outside" frost date is similar to yours, but my plants are grown in a polytunnel so I can set them out without protection from end April.

    At the moment I still cover them with fleece at night.

    I am selling some of mine for Garden Organic fund raisers.

    I am really oleased I took a chance and planted two weeks earlier as it realy seems to have worked, so far...keep your fingers crossed, though!

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  3. Hi there, your tomato plants look great! I have a question, I'm at the point of quitting trying to grow tomatoes, what in the world can you put on them to stop them from dying with blight/ late blight when the heavier rains come our way late in summer? I know it is fungus based, and more than one type in our area, rotating sections of the garden doesn't help. I don't want to dump a bunch of chemicals on them either. Every one in our area seems to suffer with this more so every year, any help for us? thanks! blessedcountrygirl@gmail.com

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  4. Blimey they look great!

    Really need to get a move on with mine!

    Martin :)

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  5. Fantastic! I have tomato plant envy! Can I ask when you planted them? Mine are about 1/2 inch high and really struggling to grow this year...

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  6. And in answer to blessed country girl, we've successfully used a horsetail infusion to stop blight HTH!

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  7. Wowzers, that's a lot of tomatoes and you've got them really big already - must be HUGE by now! How do you find the time!!

    Love the new look blog by the way (although I've not checked in for a while so it might not be all that new by now..) Looks very smart!

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Hello! Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. I try to reply as quickly as I can and I really appreciate your interest in my life and doings here in The Compost Bin.

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