Whopper Crop!!

A lot of people ask me why I garden............................

In late April I planted 4 cherry tomato seedlings in the vege patch - they had come up self sown in the compost.  I added a little aged chook poo (compliments of the girls), a large stake to help keep them straight, watered them every second day, but basically I just stood back and watched them grow. 

After 4 months the bushes are looking a little tired and straggly but they have certainly provided an abundance of fruit.

 Because of their thicker skins, they are not bothered by fruit fly here in Queensland.  Occasionally, I get a bit of leaf rust if the weather is humid, but all in all the good old cherry tomato is relatively simple to grow.

Bright red, sweet and juicy, "cherries"  make a great snack as you wander through the garden.    My family have certainly been eating their fair share of these little treasures on sandwiches, in salads and sliced up on a cheese and biscuit platter.

Over the last 4 weeks I have harvested nearly 3 kilograms of fruit from the bushes every week.  It is literally laiden with them every couple of days.

With that many ripening each week I have been busy preserving them for later in the year.  Here is what I have achieved -




 
Just on 3 kilos of tomatoes quartered and frozen ready for soups, stews and casseroles.

4 litres of sugar-free tomato sauce for the freezer
(the link to that recipe is here )

 




3 large litre jars that I dried in the gas oven.   I just love semi-dried tomato with fresh feta on a pizza.

(The oven drying method
 can be found here)

So..........this is why I garden.  

And guess what?? 

I still have a bowl full on the bench, waiting, as a welcome home gift for "Hutchy" when she returns from caravanning in the wild blue yonder later this week.