We only grew 3 toms this year but they've done well. 2 x beefsteak (big fruits, rich and flavoursome, but not as big as Brian's) and one heavy cropping cherry, but these have black spot. We have a vast amount of basil in the garden so I baked the spotty cherries and blended them with basil and a touch of paprika. The resultant soup was enjoyed by the whole fam.

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We got a Stockli dehydrator to dry toms a number of years ago and it works very well indeed. (No referral link below)

https://www.ukjuicers.com/stockli?gclid=CjwKCAjwrranBhAEEiwAzbhNtTZNTqKr44pI5DTfRJj_UJ_mhTfUKaX9kcEdQ3F74qMDe7aQo7HenRoCjlcQAvD_BwE 

 

Interesting Brian. I've been looking at fish smokers for some time now. I have a hot smoker but cold smoking caught my attention.
https://proqsmokers.co.uk/products/proq-cold-smoking-cabinet?variant=31101397205066¤cy=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=CjwKCAjwrranBhAEEiwAzbhNtWWoSXNMnr3d6XwNJlMBV0J4ed6F28hl0aL3tTlFYa_7zxSSazQCMBoCTfsQAvD_BwE 

Of course I suspect Roger will have a pig up his chimney at this time of year or does something like this? Or did in the Pacific.
https://sulgrave.org/2017/03/when-every-cottage-had-a-pig/#:~:text=Pig%20killing%20was%20always%20a,weeks%20for%20the%20thicker%20hams 


 

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Interesting Brian. I've been looking at fish smokers for some time now. I have a hot smoker but cold smoking caught my attention.
https://proqsmokers.co.uk/products/proq-cold-smoking-cabinet?variant=31101397205066¤cy=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=CjwKCAjwrranBhAEEiwAzbhNtWWoSXNMnr3d6XwNJlMBV0J4ed6F28hl0aL3tTlFYa_7zxSSazQCMBoCTfsQAvD_BwE 

Of course I suspect Roger will have a pig up his chimney at this time of year or does something like this? Or did in the Pacific.
https://sulgrave.org/2017/03/when-every-cottage-had-a-pig/#:~:text=Pig%20killing%20was%20always%20a,weeks%20for%20the%20thicker%20hams 
 

I've not got into smoking foods, but I did once have a shot at curing bacon. It was an interesting experiment but I have not repeated it. They do smoke-dry fish in West Africa - and a large "fermented" sea snail that goes by the name "Yate" [also Yet, Yeet].  That information amused Matty, as you can understand.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/yete-yeet-fermented-snail-senegal 

 

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Thanks Roger. That's another one to add to my Shell project. Putting the proposal together and hope it will allowed to run if that's the correct term. So I've got Tyrian Purple, Cone Snails, Giant Clams and The Fibonacci Sequence. To which I'll now add Yeti. 
Of course the French like their gastropods and gardening but I think the manager would draw the line at a snail garden in the Centre. Anyway it's concentrating on marine life though corals (garden) come into it as there are some in the collection I'm working with.
Nick

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We only grew 3 toms this year but they've done well. 2 x beefsteak (big fruits, rich and flavoursome, but not as big as Brian's) and one heavy cropping cherry, but these have black spot. We have a vast amount of basil in the garden so I baked the spotty cherries and blended them with basil and a touch of paprika. The resultant soup was enjoyed by the whole fam.

I read that to begin with as 3 tons.

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I only have a small raised border now but I’ve packed a fair bit into it and made use of the fence behind it, with the help (?) of our granddaughter, and it’s proving very fruitful. We’ve got two beefsteak tomato plants, plus two tumbling toms in a basket.  French climbing beans in a tub that I’ve sunk into the back of the border beside the grapevine, plus a couple of sweet peppers planted at the back.  All are cropping well, although Eden can eat the little toms almost as fast as they ripen and she loves the peppers too.  

We’ve done exceptionally well with the French climbing beans but I put in a few extra seeds, as Eden kept uncovering them to see if they were sprouting and I didn’t expect them to survive but they all did.  So we’re now supplying neighbours with beans, as Eden’s decided she doesn’t like them.

The geraniums in the middle of the border have suffered badly from ‘the very hungry caterpillars’ feasting on them, although not a total waste as Eden loves seeing them.  But the Bizzy Lizzies at the front have gone mad and have filled in the geranium gaps.  The black grapes are colouring nicely and we have several good sized bunches. 

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The geraniums in the middle of the border have suffered badly from ‘the very hungry caterpillars’ feasting on them, although not a total waste as Eden loves seeing them.  But the Bizzy Lizzies at the front have gone mad and have filled in the geranium gaps.  The black grapes are colouring nicely and we have several good sized bunches. 

Reminds me of reading aloud this lit gem. 
The Very Hungry Caterpillar: A Pull-Out Pop-Up: Eric Carle.

This morning the garden was full of spider webs covered in dew. Everywhere. 
 

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Reminds me of reading aloud this lit gem. 
The Very Hungry Caterpillar: A Pull-Out Pop-Up: Eric Carle.

This morning the garden was full of spider webs covered in dew. Everywhere. 
 

I was going in and out of the trees at West Dean Gardens today, stripping the orchard of the last apples (a week earlier than last year, two weeks earlier than 20 years ago) - but the net result was DEW covered in spider webs😁

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We only grew 3 toms this year but they've done well. 2 x beefsteak (big fruits, rich and flavoursome, but not as big as Brian's) and one heavy cropping cherry, but these have black spot. We have a vast amount of basil in the garden so I baked the spotty cherries and blended them with basil and a touch of paprika. The resultant soup was enjoyed by the whole fam.

We have tried growing tomatoes (proper hybrids from seed) a few times but never had much luck.
This year, after clearing what was left of my front garden after building work, I covered it over with compost from our compost bins, and then unfortunately didn't have time to keep it in check. We ended up with a large thicket of tomato plants, sprouted from seeds in the compost. I decided to leave them, and they have given us bucketfuls of cherry tomatoes over the last few weeks. They were still cropping when I finally cleared them away over the weekend.

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My garden is still pretty lively, considering it's October. That said, we do have a lot of late season flowers here.

The cyclamen and asters are in full bloom at the moment, and interestingly, the marigolds have had another flurry, as well as the clematis. The Rudbeckia, also known as the black-eyed susan still looks good as well.

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My garden is still pretty lively, considering it's October. That said, we do have a lot of late season flowers here.

The cyclamen and asters are in full bloom at the moment, and interestingly, the marigolds have had another flurry, as well as the clematis. The Rudbeckia, also known as the black-eyed susan still looks good as well.

Last year our strawberry plants were still flowering in November. I wonder if they will manage the same this year!

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My garden is still pretty lively, considering it's October. That said, we do have a lot of late season flowers here.

The cyclamen and asters are in full bloom at the moment, and interestingly, the marigolds have had another flurry, as well as the clematis. The Rudbeckia, also known as the black-eyed susan still looks good as well.

That made me smile!  My garden’s lively too!  With caterpillars!!  They’ve now completely demolished the geraniums in the border and have moved up to those in the troughs hooked over a six foot fence. I’ve never seen so many caterpillars for so long.  I can’t wait to rip the whole lot up and plant spring bulbs but the bizzy lizzies still look a picture and I can’t bring myself to pull them up yet. 

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Tried to gather colourful leaves for our annual October porch- but barely any of the trees are prepared to give them up yet and they are all still green, with tiny exceptions.
Gourds and sweet potatoes are still setting and being harvested and the black spots on the tomatoes seem to have gone. 
First year I've managed to grow balling Savoy cabbages and the spinach is going doolally.

Huge numbers of nasturtium seeds- 50/50; half for the garden, half for the kitchen (capers).

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Tried to gather colourful leaves for our annual October porch- but barely any of the trees are prepared to give them up yet and they are all still green, with tiny exceptions.

Colourful leaves, you say? Plant a sumac - the one my mum planted back in the 80s has now spread along most of the northen side of the lawn... and it's a wonderful mix of red and green.

https://ukwct.org.uk/weather/sumac.jpg 

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The autumn asters look lovely now. They were worth the wait until the very end of the growing season, in the end! 😀

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That made me smile!  My garden’s lively too!  With caterpillars!!  They’ve now completely demolished the geraniums in the border and have moved up to those in the troughs hooked over a six foot fence. I’ve never seen so many caterpillars for so long.  I can’t wait to rip the whole lot up and plant spring bulbs but the bizzy lizzies still look a picture and I can’t bring myself to pull them up yet. 

That’s the problem isn’t it, especially now that September is often warm - and now early October as well.  So many plants are still flowering; the dahlias still look pristine. The other challenge is remembering where you have already planted other spring bulbs….  

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Today will be the second day of eating Charlotte Potatoes grown in a Polly greenhouse.  
Chose these as I knew they would be ready this month. 5 tubs to go.

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Last year I planted one pack of elephant garlic cloves in leftover soil, thinking not much would happen. They flourished, and they were truly huge when gathered in July. So this year I'm going for 4 with a little horticultural grit added for drainage and a little topdressing. Great that they can be planted now.

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Tried to gather colourful leaves for our annual October porch- but barely any of the trees are prepared to give them up yet and they are all still green, with tiny exceptions.
Gourds and sweet potatoes are still setting and being harvested and the black spots on the tomatoes seem to have gone. 
First year I've managed to grow balling Savoy cabbages and the spinach is going doolally.

Huge numbers of nasturtium seeds- 50/50; half for the garden, half for the kitchen (capers).

We had the same problem with the lack of colourful leaves.  I’ve been trying to gather different coloured ones with our granddaughter, to teach her autumn colours.  All of a sudden, this week they’re in abundance. Eden got nice and sticky, producing a lovely red, orange and gold collage to display on her playroom wall. 

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That’s the problem isn’t it, especially now that September is often warm - and now early October as well.  So many plants are still flowering; the dahlias still look pristine. The other challenge is remembering where you have already planted other spring bulbs….  

The recent heavy rain has put paid to my lovely bizzy lizzies, so I cleared the border yesterday.  Oddly, there was no sign of caterpillars.  I can now get on with planting spring bulbs.  It’s a new border, so I don’t have any existing bulbs in it, other than a few tete e tete from a tub bought for my last birthday and I can’t remember where they are.  😀

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