Topic: I'm impressed, what has impressed you?

[thifasmom]

So i just went outside to pick some veges for dinner and couldnot help but be impressed with what I'm still getting off of my runnerbean plants. this is what i got a little while ago :o and last week i got the same plus a little more.



as you can see in the next photo that i just took of the plants after picking the beans, they are still lush not sure how long it will last as this week we are in for some low temps. if they hold out i might get one more good harvest off of the as there are lots of young ones on the plants. there are a few flowers but i don't really expect them to develop.



the toms are also impressing me this is what i got off of them Saturday:



and i thought since the dropping temps made me run back inside for a hat :-\. i decided to take some more of the half ripe tomatoes off the plants and carry them inside. these are the plants (all are outside) before i took off the fruits:



and this is what i took off:

[thifasmom]

well last night we had our first hard frost evident by the frozen bird bath and sad looking nasturtium plants this morning (see below). the sun is shining beautifully though and its quite warm in its rays.



I checked the tomato and runnerbean plants and found everyting to be a ok.

now I'm not sure how long i could push my luck with them there tomatoes and would like to get as many more ripe ones as possible. a week ago i knocked off a bunch of cherries off the plant by mistake and hung it up in the greenhouse to ripen. the first three/ four ripened well and tasted nice, but the last set were leathery and very acid with no sweetness at all.

so which is the best way to ripen off the plant, is it in the greenhouse, in a lightless environment or on the kitchen window sill ???.

[star]

Hey thats really good, what a bonus to get so much so late. ;D

I think to ripen toms they are better wrapped and placed in a drawer, some say to put a banana with them to aid ripening.

My beans (French climbing )finished ages ago, tomatoes as well......lots of green ones from the plums, which made buckets of chutney. The ripe plum ones went to make tomato sauce/ketchup.
My salsify has impressed me very much, first time growing it. Will grow again next year. The parsnips are massive and very tasty too, carrots were also splendid ;D

Lovely pics, you deserve to beam with pride ;)

[Lauren S]

Wow, I'm very impressed with your harvest  :D

Well done you  ;)

[Hyacinth]

VERY impressed with your late-season harvest - how good is that to be eating freshly-picked summer stuff near the end of October?

Realistically, I'd strip the tomatoes off the plants now - even the littlest ones the size of your little fingernail? - and bring them in. Ripen them in boxes between layers of newspapers, bung 'em under a bed or somewhere, no need to waste a banana :). Check twice a day once they start ripening. If you've not done so already, you can freeze bags of toms just as they are, for cooking. 8)

[thifasmom]

thanks for the advice re: storing/ ripening of the toms, will do tomorrow as suggested.

[sawfish]

Well done, my tomatos are always rubbish. Runners are always far too reliable for me. I end up chucking pounds away.

I was impressed with my fielderkraut cabbage this year, one stood at 4 foot high and had a 2 foot head after I'd removed all the dodgy leaves.

[thifasmom]

I was impressed with my fielderkraut cabbage this year, one stood at 4 foot high and had a 2 foot head after I'd removed all the dodgy leaves.

2 ft head now that's a cabbage :o. i fell out of love with cabbages years ago, but i am thinking i might start to enjoy them again if they are home grown. i got some seeds out of one of the swaps this week so raring to go next year.

[sawfish]

they're pointed so its not like a round two foot ball head. They dont smell when you cook them either.

[thifasmom]

the ones i got out of the swap were also pointed so i'll look foward to trying it.

[mark45]

yeah i still getting runner beans to, but the frost the past two nights has put a end to them,lol