Good News and Bad News

What do you want first - the good or the bad news? OK - the bad first. My polytunnel tomatoes are showing signs of blight ..... bother, bother, bother (or words to that effect!). And being as I planted them out late and it has not been a sunny summer not many have ripened yet. So with the onset of this horrible disease I have picked all the red and all the "starting to turn red" tomatoes and am watching the others very closely. If the blight seems to spread I will pick everything and hope at least some will ripen without getting blight and with the remaining healthy green ones I shall be making chutney and trying green tomato fritters for the first time.

There is, however, as promised good news. I have been picking cherry tomatoes for a few weeks now and have just started to harvest the large beefsteaks. (I have no normal sized ones which must have been the plants I lost earlier in the year). The picture shows those I harvested this morning and whilst I don't normally weight things, I did feel that huge tomato warranted me finding my scales. It weighed in at a healthy 925 grams (2lb 1.5oz in old money). From this haul I have made 3 batches of roast cherry tomatoes, one pot of passata and 2 lentil and tomato bakes. I will make more passata later and the green tomatoes will be placed in a cool dark place with a banana to speed up the ripening process. Maybe not quite the tomato harvest I had expected but not a complete loss.