Never again.
Growing tomatoes is like a dire punishment for some serious crime against humanity.
Never again.
They are more work than a litter of blind puppies.
Honestly, my 4 heirlooms, now more than 2 meters tall, have been very similar to taking on 4 Romanian orphans, all under 3, all with serious health conditions. Watering twice daily, feeding twice weekly, treatments for mildew, constant pruning, tying up rogue branches, blah blah blah!
Today, I have a few green tomatoes hanging off these gangly triffids. They will never go red, there is not enough time. Oh, sure, I could pick and bag the green tomatoes with bananas to be exposed to ethylenes (sp?) and ripen off the plant. But that costs sweetness, which rather defeats the purpose.
Nah - this year the peas, the lettuce, the cabbages, the beets, the herbs, the limes - they all went really well, with little effort. But, Oh, the Humanity - these tomatoes. They have beaten me to a puree.
Nah, never again.
Meantime, does anyone have a good recipe for fried green tomatoes, thats all my plants will ever be good for.
Also, who do I contact to organise 4 Romanian orphans with serious medical conditions. After my heirlooms, looking after them will be like a holiday in the sun.
Yes, the sun - remember that round, glowy, orangey thing we used to see in the sky in summer?
:-)
Cheers, PH.
Replies
I agree, it's been a terrible season for tomatoes in Wellington this time. Too cold for too long. Especially the heritage tomatoes, it seems. They just hibernated - and only lately have woken up and stretched a bit. I'm counting on a month or two of sun and enough rain to remind them of their tomatoly duty...
Last year I had good crops in the same location. Heritage tomatoes in pots, large and cherry tomatoes - all juicy and delicious!.
So, my advice is don't give up. It's just been a bad start to the year - and since you wrote that forlorn final sentence we've had a whole week of glorious sun! De-puree-fy yourself and go check your tomatoes. I'll bet they're grinning.
;-) Lynsey