It may be call the love apple (Pomme D’Amour) but for now I have a love-hate thing going on with my tomatoes. I am overcome with delight that after years of struggling to grow tomatoes outdoors my poly greenhouse has been the perfect haven for growing them but after harvesting about 50kg and about the same amount still ripening on the vines I am almost at my wits end about what to do with them all.  Admittedly I was slightly enthusiastic in the number of plants I have grown but I had no idea that tomato plants could be so prolific.

The freezer is groaning with tomato sauce and with ketchup, relishes and chutneys neatly lined up on the pantry shelves I am now looking for new culinary ground to use up my tomato glut.  Soup and juices are the next with bottling and simply giving them away as the final resort.  It’s going to be wonderful to be enjoying the fruits of summer all through winter but I can’t help frustrated that I missed out on all the wonderfully summery culinary experience.  Partly because we haven’t had a summer to speak highly of this year but mostly because these fruits of love haven’t really come into their own until autumn set in.

Despite the pains of growing tomatoes I feel very proud to have finally grown a crop that will keep us fed throughout the year.  I shall start my tomatoes off earlier for next season and try and get a better succession going to avoid the barrow loads of tomatoes I am lugging back up to the kitchen in one go. This Easter weekend it’s perfect tomato growing weather with sunshine like we’ve not seen all year so I’m going to pretend that it’s summer after all 😮

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PS – here’s someone else who loves a tomato. Who could begrudge little basset a little sniff even if I did have to wash the tomatoes all over again before using them!

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