Small spaces

Couple of small things to give an update on:

1. The garden is currently stranded as Phil and I are in the UK, awaiting volcanic ash to clear. Although Phil is going on a 2 day mission to get back and do some watering. Sterling effort.
2. I find this good book for balcony growers: this book
   

When I return to Hamburg I'll get posting photos and hopefully they'll be some sign of germination.

Thanks to Phylis for posting about side shoots. Look forward to getting lots more people posting about their vegetable growing exploits this summer. With the aircraft ban maybe grow your own is the only way out of the crisis?

Some hints about sideshoots

I grow tomatoes in Cheshire, some in the greenhouse and some outside on the patio. They usually go into pots the size of buckets, which means they can be moved around, often necessary to ensure they stay watered when I am not around.
No matter how vigilant I am hunting for sideshoots on my tomatoes, there's always one I miss. They even re-grow sneakily where I think I have already pinched them out. If I go away for a few days, there can be shoots several centimetres long, they grow at such a rate. But all is not lost. Instead of putting them all in the compost, I stick a few of the shoots into a glass of water and in about a week there are lovely little white roots, all ready for growing on. Free plants! They are particularly useful when the original plants are getting rather tired, as by then they are big enough to start fruiting. Last year I was able to extend the season for Sungella very successfully with a second generation and the cherry tomatoes Red Cherry grown from the shoots were still bearing heavily outside right until the frosts, though the taste was rather sharp and the skins tough. They were still useful cooked and pureed. Perhaps they were so small that they were still able to ripen despite the shorter days.
This year's plants, started on the windowsill in January, are coming along quite nicely, especially Legend and Marmande, but there is a long way to go to match the Hamburg crops.

The new season

We finished up last year's blog on August 11th. The tomato season had been a good one; plenty of sun on the balcony and a bumper crop throughout August and September supplying us with plenty of salads and roasted tomato soup. With all of the green tomatoes I had left over, and with the wintry nights drawing in, I decided to make Delia Smith's green tomato chutney. Pans, sourcing vinegar and a food processor caused a few problems, but we prevailed and ended up with 6 litres of chutney. 6 months on and the maturation process has done it's job. Delicious.

It's been a long hard winter here in Hamburg, but with the first glimpses of summer showing through, veg started to re-enter my thoughts. Phil's parents had very kindly bought me Vegetable Growing Month by Month for Christmas, so yesterday I browsed through and picked out some veg suitable for the balcony. We came up with chard, lettuce, salad leaves, rocket, courgette, peppers, tomatoes, peas and carrots. Although the limited garden centre didn't have everything, we found most seeds. Just potatoes and peas to source next weekend, and the peas have some time yet before they can go in.

So, 3 seed trays are sitting under the protective warm of the radiator. The carrots were planted direct into a new big pot. And as for the salad and lettuce: back in those trusty long boxes you saw last year. It's going to be a big gardening season...

2 pots - peppers

1 big pot - chard

2 pots - climbing courgettes

1 big pot - carrots

2-4 pots - tomatoes

2 long pots - salad and lettuce

1 medium pot - peas

The Colour of Passion

Phil and I have been away from the flat for a few days, and so the thought of tomatoes burning dry in the hot Hamburg sun has been preying on my thoughts.

But, the weather gods were kind over the weekend providing enough rain to cover the 4 days of non watering, and evidently enough sun to produce a surprise when I returned home this evening.

As you can see in the photo quite a few hit ripeness at the same time, on various plants. We now have quite a few gearing up to ripen so I think the next few weeks will bring a glut. They don't seem to have minded the rain or the wind too much although I've been trimming back the browning leaves on a regular basis. I thought this was probably tomato blight but Grandpa Jock's post makes me think it might be a bit of wind burn. Anyhow, with the plants focusing on fruit at the moment I'm not concerned about cutting back excessive leaf growth.

It has been a truly satisfying experience taking these from a packet of sutton seeds in a dorset garden centre to a tomato glut in Hamburg. Happy times indeed.

I also planted a few additional lettuce seeds on Friday, and they've already sprouted so we should have some fresh lettuce to accompany our tomato glut in later August.

Grandpa Jock's Guide to Growing Tomatoes

This is a guest post from Grandpa Jock (my Grandpa) who has been growing tomatoes at Deepwell in Somerset for as long as i can remember. Happy reading! Andrew.

General

Before you even start to grow tomatoes, you have to understand that they need constant attention through watering, feeding and ‘pinching out’ if you want a good crop. The variety of plant you choose is dependant on how much space you have to grow them: the larger varieties need height (about 4 feet) to fully develop, though you can ‘pinch off’ the tops to restrict upward development. If you are tied to a ‘window-box’ or restricted area, bush varieties are probably best.

Starting Out

If you have the time and patience, perhaps the best way to grow toms is from seed. At least, then, you have full control over how they develop. Buying ‘starter’ plants from a garden centre or B&Q type supplier can be very ‘hit and miss’ as many of their plants have been ‘forced’ and tend to run out of growing steam very quickly. Best way is to find a trusted supplier of young plants early in the season (early to late April) and then gradually bring them on.

Positioning

Toms need as much light as they can get, so try to place the plants in a position that gets the maximum amount of sunlight. It’s also important to keep them protected from the wind if you are growing them outside…. ‘windburn’ will quickly shrivel leaves and affect the health of the plant.

Watering














Tomatoes need lots of water…… typically, a good ‘soak’ every couple of days to keep the growing medium moist. You will be amazed at how quickly moisture is both taken up by the plant to grow the fruits and also lost through evaporation through the leaves. Don’t be afraid to saturate the pot….. next time you come to water, the soil will be almost dry (particularly during a hot spell).

Feeding













Whilst most growing mediums provide all the essential nutrients a tomato plant needs, a helping-hand in the shape of liquid fertiliser will go a long way to ensure that you get some well-developed fruits. I’ve tried many over the years, but tend to use ‘Tomorite’ which is a concentrated liquid fertiliser which I dilute in the watering can (don’t under-dilute!!) and apply every 2 weeks or so during the growth cycle.

Pinching Out












Depending on the variety of tomato plant you are growing, some of the bigger plants such as ‘Shirley’ (shown above) need constant manicuring to ensure that the plant’s ‘growing effort’ goes into producing large and succulent fruit, and not into additional shoots. You will see from the picture that I’m ‘pinching out’ a new growth shoot which, if unchecked, would develop into a new stem, which would divert growing effort away from the rest of the plant. ‘Pinching out’ is an art in itself, and where and when to do it only comes with experience!!.

Harvesting












Pick fruits as they ripen…. By doing this, you ‘relieve’ the plant of having to divert moisture and growing effort to already ripened toms and allow the developing fruits to ripen. Towards the end of the season you will be left with a number of ‘green’ fruits which probably won’t ripen on the plant but may be of a reasonable size: harvest those before you consign the plant to the compost heap, as some will ripen in a drawer (with a banana for company……trust me, it works!!), or use them for cooking or making chutney (Stuart’s Green Tomato Chutney recipe available at no cost!!).

Conclusion

Sadly, this year hasn’t been good for tomato growing at ‘Deepwell’. Lack of constant sunlight slowed the development of the plants, and whilst we’ve still got 2 or 3 plants which will probably yield some decent fruit, we’ve had better. Good luck, and if you have any problems with your plants, let me know and I’ll do what I can to advise.

Grandpa ‘Jock’

The Full Blush of Summer

We have arrived. In the space of a few hot days flashes of red have graced our balcony. It was only one at first, just visible on Sunday. But upon checking this morning I could spy no less than three fruits ripening with at least ten more showing serious intent. With forecasts of 26 today and 28 throughout the rest of the week I think by the end of this weekend we'll have quite the crop. All of the action is happening on the cherry tomatoes, but the normal tomatoes have surprised me with their rate of progress; I expect they'll take longer to ripen, but will still be ready in the next few weeks. For seeds planted late in the year, to bear fruit in mid to late August is impressive - the effort has been worth it. From humble beginnings.

Even more exciting news is that we should soon have some guest postings on this blog from some tomato growers with a little more experience than me. I'll keep you posted.

A little taste of the country life

Since I last posted the summer has arrived in its full glory and the additional rays on the balcony have spurred on all the plant life. A 60 pence packet of mixed salad leaves has germinated and exploded out of the box and the lettuce is in full flight. The tomatoes have continued to grow and we now have about 50-100 small green ones happily ripening away. While I was in France there was a minor disaster with a clothes maiden but Phil's expert surgery (with medical tape!) soon put things right. Tomatoes are hardy fellas.

It really is amazing what can be achieved with such a small space. A balcony which seemed only a minor addition to the flat during the winter months now sports a bbq, an acer, a clematis, a herb pot, 18 tomato plants, a salad box, and about 10 lettuces. Oh, and you can still sit 4 people comfortably, and 6 if needs be. City living isn't so bad.

Tonight I sat on the balcony listening to Ryan Adams, drinking red wine, eating fresh home grown salad with lashings of dressing, and savouring the local delicacies of trout pate and charcuterie. Ok, not exactly local, but sourced from our local wine shop.

Speaking of city vs country living I came across a blog recently which is the essence of country living romance. I've read through every blog post already and completely captivated by their life in Devon. http://locksparkfarm.wordpress.com/ - if you want to be carried away to a world of farming when the city is becoming oppressive take some time out to dig through their archives. The desire to start a smallholding one day is beginning to become a very real dream.

Hopefully the next time you're invited to dip into Hamburg balcony life there will be a blush of tomato red to grace the blog.