Blight
Well, my lovingly nutured tomatoes have somehow managed to contract what I think is blight! They were looking so promising as well. My dad tells me that his outdoor tomatoes have gone the same way - my friend Ben’s on the other hand seem to be doing really well in his greenhouse (although he is significantly more green fingered than i could ever claim to be!).
So this is what they look like - pretty nasty stuff this blight:
All six plants (Marmande, Pixie, Sungold, Olivade, Red Alert and Sweet Million) are all now showing signs of this stuff… Anyway, all is not lost as I’ve turned all the fruit that doesn’t look like it’s going to ripen (before the plants succumb to the blight) into Green Tomato Chutney:
450g of apples (grated)
2 onions peeled and grated
1.5kg green tomatoes (thinly sliced)
225g sultanas
225g sugar
2tsp salt
450ml malt vinegar
4 small pieces of ginger
Half teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tsp mustard powder
Shove it all in a pan, bring slowly to the boil and leave for a couple of hours. Remove the ginger before you put it all in some sterilised jars. Leave it to mature for a couple of months. Voila.. some chutney for the autumn and a house that smells like a vinegar factory.
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ah domestic bliss - and a combination of gardening and cooking tips all in one go, now that’s value for money!
think i’ll call you nigella from now on!
Bruno loves green tomatoes! So if you’ve got any spare when you come over, you could make a man very happy!!
Hi James
From San Francisco, we have a post card for you, I dont have your mail, can you give it to me ? Many thanks
Dear James,
My tomatoes have got gout (which was a bit of a shock). I think it started when the brocolli got giblet fly and that really put the wind up the rest of the vegetables! Charlie’s melons are doing well but I don’t think that she gave them enough support and now they’re drooping slightly. Not to mention the fact that the recent cold snap gave them a severe case of “smuggling olives” syndrome!
Hope that all is well with you, and maybe I’ll see you soon - Let’s just say that me, Charlie, Tommy and my irritating brass band may be paying you a visit in the near future to fill your garden with a cheap wooden mock-up of the City of Gold and a stuffed Ostritch decorated to look like a giant condor, not to mention the £2.50s worth of plants purchased from B and Q.
Lots of love,
Alan
Ps thanks for helping with the roof last weekend. Also, sorry about the spelling, but this Blackcurrant is a nightmare to use with my garden ravaged hands!