Time again for the fourth pruning of the toms. Now that the fruits are larger, we want to take away the foliage so that the toms can proceed with putting more energy into the final stages of ripening. The fruits are still green for the most part, and will require a final pruning before too long. You can see the yellow trug is half full with greenery, removed from the plants. I am liking the appearance of these Pozzano's. They are a trial for us this year-- so far, so good. I think that the only neg that I can remark upon so far is that the distance between trusses is longer than I would like. The truss distance between the other type--the Ferline's is shorter. Here the Ferline's on the other side of the greenhouse are beginning to take on a bit of colour. The water and Comfrey tea stand ready for a good wateringand feeding after the "haircut". The cucumber plant was also pruned and tied-in.There are flowers and tiny fruits forming. There was an interesting little butterfly flitting about the lottie, it is called a "Landkaartje" (Araschnia levana). This butterfly is interesting to me because it has a different spring and summer plumage. The spring one is almost all orange. Beetroot was harvested and processed this morning--I have pinky-red fingertips. We put up three meals of ~300 g this time. We are taking a day off tomorrow, have to go and water the greenhouses of a neighbour lady and ourselves after supper.
I've never seen a White Admiral butterfly before but have always wanted to. I'm so glad you have them visiting your garden!! We only seem to get the red ones over here.
Looking good Sjoerd! I am (not so) patiently awaiting the first tomatoes to ripen. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Thanks a mil, KK-- Well EILEEN-- I have not seen these often...and never before in the garden, whilst I have seen seen them frequently in the spring with their orange colouring. We get the Red Admirals that you are talking about a little later on where I live. I was out hiking yesterday and today in the south of the country and did see them already down there. Thanks NETTY--I can almost not wait for that first red tom--it will not make it home to the fruit and veg bowl on the sideboard. No way, José. Hiya MART--No, I do not root the cuttings for two reasons--one being that I do not have the room for more and secondly because our growing season here is too short. Perhaps with this climate changing, I may get a longer and warmer climate eventually...then I may try it.
Looks good,S... I am growing one row this year of stringed tomatoes. I got them in a bit late but they are for a Fall project I need to have ready for mid Oct. So, I am guessing, but hoping I hit it just right. We will see. Mine are pretty short yet, but I am keeping them thinned and pruned... I hope adequately. One row of cukes in there, too. Picking those like mad.
Your tomatoes are looking fantastic!! (Note to self - go and PRUNE the tomatoes - YIKES haven't done that - YET ) What is the significance of Comfrey tea? What is it doing?
@carolyn - re: comfrey tea - ohhhhhh I'd never heard of that one before. Might just have to make me a brew.
ISLANDLIFE-- Comfrey "tea", is a solution that I make with comfrey plants and water. I use it to feed big eaters like toms, cues and courgettes for instance. I posted something about this a while back: http://www.gardenstew.com/threads/comfrey-a-different-kind-of-fertilizer.9181/#post-86231 I use stinging nettles to make "tea" for fertilizer as well: http://www.gardenstew.com/threads/use-stinging-nettles-to-make-a-liquid-fertilizer.19288/ In fact I often combine leaves and stems of the two to make a fertilizer. Good luck with reading the old posts.
@Sjoerd - WOW - just reading your links and I had absolutely no idea about comfrey. Excellent info! Is Borage the same as comfrey? (Am growing borage so I have it at my finger tips) Now to add comfrey to my list and try to find it. Am thinking this is now a MUST HAVE!
I still haven't done my first prune of the tomatoes ( picture me hanging my head in gardening shame). BUT I have discovered 5 out of the 6 plants I have are indeterminates....so they should be pruned. Maybe tomorrow. I have been harvesting SunGolds.....delish!!! Today I made a wonderful dip from the swiss chard in the garden: swiss chard, onions, garlic, sauteed together, add a little flour, a little milk, chevre cheese, stirring constantly, then into the oven it goes with a grating of Parmesan cheese. Delicious. The recipe comes from Baker Creek Heirloom seed Co. It was one of 50+ veggie recipes on their website. Check it out if so inclined.
ISLANDLIFE--Hello there. Comfrey is not the same as Borage. I have used borage in my tea mixtures in the past, but cannot tell if they add anything to it. I do; however, use borage as a green manure. I just planted a patch of it where the spuds were. I let it grow and this year I will lay them flower before pulling them up and laying them on the ground to mulch the bed for the winter. I find that they do best though...when you pull them up just as they begin to send up bloom stems. I then lie them over the bed like scales on a fish and they "melt" away pretty quickly. CAYU-- Ach no shame in not pruning...it is not a "must", it is only that the plants will perform a bit better if you do by virtue of re-directing the "energy" to the fruit development. That Swiss chard dip sounds scrummy. Did you make enough of it?
@Sjoerd - Thanks for the info. I've made a mixture of borage tea (cause I have borage) and am sure it isn't going to hurt anything when I pour it back onto the garden. Good tip re: borage + green manure. Going to use what I have for this.
