How to Grow Tomatoes

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Where to Grow Tomatoes

Tomatoes need a very sunny spot with rich and fertile soil that has either been well manured or had compost dug into it. Chicken manure pellets are also a very welcome addition to the soil along with Growmore as these are greedy plants! Plants are ready to plant out when the soil is warm, frost chances are zero and the first flowers appear on the plants.

Tips for Growing Tomatoes

Outdoor tomatoes are ready for planting out when they have been hardened off and the first flowers are appearing. If there is a chance of late frosts hold off until you are sure there is zero chance. Always a good idea to cover the plants over night till they are well established. To avoid many problems tomatoes like no other crop must be watered and fed constantly otherwise you will get blossom end rot, splitting of their skins and weak plants more susceptible to diseases like blight.

Tomato Sucker Removal

Vine tomatoes will need support, and their side shoots and suckers pinching out and once 4 or 5 trusses have formed pinch out the tips to aid fruit growth. Most important when watering don't allow the stems or foliage of the plant to be splashed with water, as this will increase risk of blight

Category: Recipes

One-Pot Roast Pork Chops with Fennel & Potatoes

Super easy and super tasty dish!

Classic Rhubarb Crumble

Classic Rhubarb Crumble
Growing up this was my favourite dessert & seeing as only my dad and I liked it I always had a massive portion!

Perfect Roast Potatoes

Perfect Roast Potatoes
My foolproof way of getting that perfect roastie!

Category: The Growing Season

Jobs to do in March

Spring is starting and the new season is here

Hopefully by now we are now standing on the threshold of Spring and the new gardening season. The days are beginning to lengthen and although it may not feel like it at times the temperatures are slowly increasing day by day. More importantly the longer days are the real trigger to new growth and you will find that with the help of a little protection you can really go for those early sowings

The Growing Season

The Growing Season varies in different parts of the United Kingdom, but in Hatfield Peverel we are blessed with a milder climate and enjoy a longer season than many parts of the country.

In this section of the web site I have tried to separate the season out into monthly sections to help and guide you through the most popular tasks and crops regularly grown on the allotment site, but if you would like a feature made of a particular vegetable or task, please get in touch and I will do my best to add it to the web site for you.

Jobs to do in February

Time to do some groundwork

We get a glimpse of the early signs of the arrival of Spring this month. The soil begins to warm up around the middle of February and we can see for the first time this year the buds beginning to swell on fruit trees and bushes. Overwintering vegetables begin to look less sorry for themselves and they start to produce new growth.

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