Glad to see I am not the only one who ties tomatoes up with baling twine.
I am scanning the posts thoroughly to decide what variety of tomato to grow next year.The Grosse Lisse plants took over in the garden and we almost got sick of tomatoes.
Been very dry here at Balaklava and the timer taps and the drip-eze hose got quite a work out this season. I have only just pulled some Burnley bounty plants out ,I need the room.Your photos are great and keep up the good work.
I figure a man who wants to spend time in the garden is a better bet than one who wants to spend time in a pub!
regards sarah

Mantis, do you have an electric toothbrush to encourage tomatoes to set in your greenhouse? *grins*

I've got an Anna Russian in the greenhouse that is flowering and even setting fruit. One Prue that is a cutting from the mothership has 2 big fruit on the plant. There are also some cuttings in pots - all from plants in the garden that are late-season tomatoes.

The tomato patch doesn't look that great. But there are still a lot of plants with tomatoes on them. I keep picking one or two a day. So I'll just wait with ripping out all plants.

One Polar Baby seedling is waiting to be repotted. Looks cute. :)

Hi Sarah!
Just a vague mention of what kind of tomato you fancy is sure to bring lots of suggestions, if not offers of seed, so let us know!
Sarah *surprised to find another Sarah on the forum, there aren't many!*

No toothbrush Spatz but I give the flowers a flick to spread the pollen a bit. Its to cool to open the greenhouse windows to have the wind do it. Simpsons Summer Palace sets fruit very easily it seems with little help from me, I just hope they taste OK. SA Sarah, if you want to try some different tomatoes next Spring I have over 100 varieties as seeds. Email me and I'll send you a list of the ones I have.

Cheers
Mantis

I give mine a bit of a flick, too. They seem to be doing fine. I am not sure they'll ripen up, though. I don't mind if I have to wait for a long time, as long as they ripen up. Actually, as long as they survive the winter and I get a head start. YES! Tomatoes way before Christmas, wouldn't that be grand. :)

Thats what I am hoping for Spatz. One of the Aussies started to show a hint of pink so I picked it and put it inside in the warm hoping it would keep ripening. After a week it only showed a little more colour so I decided to slice him up for fried green tomato. Got a bit of a suprise when I cut him.

He is almost ripe inside

Good stuff Mantis, I still have a few tommies ripening slowly on the vines. Sadly my plans for a hoop house are still just that!
Never mind though, there's always next year :-)
BTW thanks for the Butternut seeds, I think I forgot to let you know they had arrived
Sarah

No problems Sarah, you will love the pumkins, they are the best I have ever grown. I wont bother trying any others as these fit the bill just fine.

Cheers
Mantis

Still picking tomatoes here, too. The plants look shocking but quite a few are still loaded with green and slowly ripening tomatoes.

The taste is still alright. :)

Might try fried green tomatoes soon. I've never tried it and am keen to know what it tastes like.

Today I picked 2 Jaune Flamme, 2 Yellow Perfection, 4 Red Cloud, 1 Prue, 2 Paul Robeson, 1 Hugh's, 3 Neve's Azorean Red, 2 Kotlas.

Now, don't get jealous! Remember, I started picking tomatoes heaps later than you did. :)

Hi Spatz
How did you find your Red Cloud...mine were incredibly prolific ...one of the better producers
cheers
Peter

Peter, same here! Red Cloud is fantastic. A cute small to medium-sized plant which is incredibly prolific. Started producing fairly early and is still producing. Taste was nice, too.

I've made a list of how much each variety produced this year. Here are the top 4:

No 1: Black Early (9.955 kg)
No 2: Herman's Yellow (8.798 kg)
No 3: Red Cloud - 2 plants (6.136 kg)
No 4: Soldacki (5.583 kg)

Well, okay. Red Cloud had 2 plants to produce that much, the others only had 1 plant. But it is a lot smaller than the others.

Anyway, folks, I grew Red Cloud for SSN for seed regeneration. So I am not offering seeds here but return it to SSN, either direct or via their Spring Newsletter.

Oh go away Spatz, you're making me cry !!!!!
I always thought I was an optimist & that's why I kept planting tomatoes, even though the fruit fly have got worse recently, however I'm beginning to think I'm a masochist!!!
My plants have just about succumbed to the frosts, I think I should pick the fruit this weekend & ripen them inside or make green tomato chutney. My experiment with fried green tomatoes was not that good.
My plans have now expanded to selling the college tomatoes Ray has imported at local markets. I think the local angle could be a selling point. I've also thought about selling fruit fly traps alongside, but maybe that would put people off!
BTW I'm feeling very pleased tonight as I've just found out I've been awarded a scholarship by the Richmond Rotary Club to help me with my studies, they gave out 3, one for horticulture (me) one for agriculture & one for animal care (which I used to do) so I shall be buying a few books over the next weeks. :-))
Sarah

Congratulations, Sarah! You deserve to feel very pleased! Enjoy your book buying spree. :)

Oh, and sorry about the tomatoes. I can't help it. This forum has turned me into a bragger. *head hanging*