Too many tomato plants!

Must say I did think someone out of the 32 houses on our WhatsApp group might like them!

A Dd would have had them like a shot, but she lives an hour and a half’s drive away, and in any case was finally able to get some from a neighbour’s surplus.

Oh yes, French beans please, NfkD! I forgot to order any.

I thought I’d found homes for nearly all of mine. Then DD2 gave me two pots of breakfast tomatoes - with three in each little pot. They look so appealing I have to find room for them. I have two proper growbags with three in each - and then the others are sneaked in around the back of borders. Provided I remember to pinch out the side shoots they do quite well in flower beds!

Then there’s the beans. An elderly gent stopped to look at next-doors gate plant stall so I gave him some. Anyone want one or two climbing French beans or dwarf broad beans?

I make sauces too and freeze them if I'm in the mood.

We seem to have tomato plants growing where other seedlings should be sprouting but I have no idea which kind they are. They will have to take their chances outside.

No-one goes past our house and the neighbours seem to have enough too.

H1954 we have never had so many failures with seeds as this year and we don't know why. They do cost quite a bit.
It's cheaper to buy veg from the supermarket.

But yes, we have tomatoes!

Oh Witzend I wish you were near to me. I run a charity plant stall outside my gate and tomato plants sell so quickly. Thanks to local friends generosity I have sold hundreds of plants since Easter and raised over £700 for our local Hospice.

The same as Kathsue, I've been waiting weeks and weeks for some plants.

I'm desperate for some lovely home grown toms.

From experience, some people just cannot be arsed to look after veggie plants! I had loads to give away, several varieties of beans, peas, tomatoes, beetroot etc but no one wanted them! They will all be too happy to accept the veggies as a giveaway though once harvesting starts; not this time folks! I've spent quite a lot of money on seed, compost, feed etc so naturally I need to recover some of the original investment. That's not unreasonable is it?

Like Callistemon, I freeze them whole until I want to make soup or a sauce. That's after I've made pots and pots of ratatouille and passata for the freezer.

Can never have too many tomatoes.

I wish you lived near me, witzend. I've been waiting 5 weeks for some tomato plants I ordered online.

I am surprised no-one has taken you off on your offer. There has been a shortage of tomato plants in this area and I really struggled to find some. Did have some planted from seed but took ages to germinate but now coming along.

You can freeze tomatoes to make sauce or soup at a later date. The skins come off easily then too. I spent ages skinning them before freezing then found that out!

Esspee Americans have cans not tins!

@Sussexborn. Lots of videos about canning on YouTube. Basically it is preserving fruit and vegetables (in jars - no idea why the word canning is used) by sterilising them by boiling then excluding air.

If all else fails we can live on spaghetti bolognaise, tomato soup and tomato on toast (if the supply of yeast and flour doesn’t run out!).

Our local garden centre offered five different tomato plants for the price of three so hoping they don’t all fruit at once. We have big ones, small ones and some as big as your head (slight exaggeration there!).

What do the Americans mean by canning?