Tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes

It has been a busy week. And thankfully the weather held up to allow me to do all I wanted. Or maybe it was because the weather was so glorious that I decided now was the time.

So the tomatoes are out and all over the place. I spent several happy hours fiddling about with bamboo canes, growbags, tomato plants and garden twine to come up with the following constructions.



I think they look rather good. In case you're wondering, I have planted out 21 tomato plants - the picture is of 6 of them.

There are four varieties: Marmande, Brandywine, Lylia Cerisette and San Marzano. It's really amazing how different they look. Particularly the Brandywine which has completely different leaves.



And they are all different colours though it is easy to muddle the Cerisette and San Marzano and I suspect I may have done as I ran out of labels and mixed them up a bit.

I've given lots away - my landlady got 6, a friend got 4, and my two local cousins had the rest. In the case of Jack, he rather shocked me by killing or at least significantly harming several of his first batch and calling to have more. If you have potash, please don't give it to your tomatoes. Apparently they didn't like it. He now has my last 8. So far the only casualty, apart from Jack's which are in intensive care rather than the compost heap, was one of mine which I decapitated while attacking a bush behind and dropping a large garden implement on top. I am so clumsy. It has been replaced.

So 21 plants. It would, I think, be safe to say that this is too many. I think I need to start collecting tomato recipes. Fortunately I have even more cookery books than tomato plants, so should able to come up with something by the time the glut hits. Then again, something could go wrong.