Harvesting Tomatoes

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When to Harvest Tomatoes

Depending on the variety but the fruits are ready to harvest from July onwards right up untill just before the first frosts of November

Tips for Harvesting

Pick when the tomatoes colour is even all over. Looks count! Tomatoes ripen from the inside out. If a tomato looks ripe on the outside, it will be ripe on the inside.
When they are just a tiny bit soft when squeezed. Some gardeners say “in between firm and soft.”
If green you can ripen them indoors next to a banna in a draw.
Once tomatoes start ripening, check plants each day and pick those that are ready. Overripe tomatoes will fall or be knocked off stems. They rot quickly. You can easily lose a big portion of your crop if you don’t monitor your patch and keep harvesting tomatoes!
Some Heirloom varieties ripen before they completely turn color. Pick heirloom tomatoes before they look totally ripe.
Cherry tomatoes crack if left on the vine too long. Pick them just before they look like they’re perfectly ripe.

Category: Recipes

Filo Pie with Swiss Chard, Ricotta Cheese and Tomatoes

Filo Pie with Swiss Chard, Ricotta Cheese, and Tomatoes

Stuck for an idea for how to use Chard, well why not try this dish?

Baked Salmon & Asparagus with Jersey Royal's

Tasty and so easy to make, great dinner party dish or a cracking family treat, and a healthy dish too especially if like me you have an Asparagus Bed or two!.

Rhubarb & Grenadine Crumble

Rhubarb & Grenadine Crumble
This has a great twist, the Grenadine adds great colour and taste to the rhubarb that will add that something special to your dessert!

Category: The Growing Season

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 July

Harvest should be bountiful and the allotment is in full swing

Now is the height of summer, the days endlessly long, temperatures usually at their peek and you should be reaping the rewards of your hard work in the preceding months. Watering in this month is crucial to stem off premature bolting, tomato blossom end rot and splitting skins.

Jobs to do in April

Spring should be here but watch out for frosts!

Sow seed outdoors
Vegetable growing really takes off this month. Chit and plant out second early potatoes in the first half of the month, maincrop potatoes in the second half. It's also time to sow seed outdoors in well-prepared soil.

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