Tomatoes.2012 not a great year

From various sources this year I have tried to grow various tomatoes this year.
It probably wasn't the best year weather wise to try this.
Koralik
Early Tanana
Reisentraube
Slovenian Black
Alpatieva 905
Monkey's Ass
Latah
Losetto
Mortgage Lifter
Sungold
San Marzano
Principe Borghese
Shirley
Maskotka
Harbinger
Tasmanian Chocolate
Dwarf Mr Snow
Sungella
Sweet Million
Beijing Yellow
First In Field

The only one that didn't germinate was First In Field.Not really fussed as they were a freebie from Dolmio.
I got no ripe fruit from Tasmanian Chocolate,Dwarf Mr Snow,Sungella and San Marzano.
I don't have a problem with the San Marzano since they were part of a £1 shop purchase last year.Even last year they were very late and sparse.
The Tasmanian Chocolate and Dwarf Mr Snow were from a seed swap and part of the Dwarf Tomato project.I have read elsewhere that people were not enamoured with their results and I have to agree.To my mind these are not stable yet and the differing plant sizes and leave shapes need to be sorted out.Mine obviously didn't realise that they were supposed to be 4 foot compact plants.
I was surprised by the Sungella but still have seeds and will give them another try next year.
My allotment is a graveyard for tomatoes that succumb to blight every year.Thus I tried Losetto F1 which were supposed to be blight tolerant.I also had plants of Shirley,Harbinger and Maskotka hanging around so gave them a try.True to form the allotment showed early signs of blight and thus I didn;t expect much.Through judicious leaf removal I got a decent crop from all of my plants until some allotment creatures decided to take chunks out of my tomatoes.
For my early tomatoes I tried self saved Koralik which had very small fruits but quite tasty,Early Tanana which were early but pretty tasteless and will not be grown again,Latah which after a bit of sun were pretty tasty and will be grown again.Strangely Koralik were one of the last varieties that I got fruit off of.

For cherry tomatoes I tried Reisentraube,the taste was nothing spectacular and they took too long to redden up even though I had some in a greenhouse.I also had a couple of Sweet Millions which were fine and I will grow them again.

On the beefsteak front I grew Monkey's Ass and Mortgage Lifter  both of which had a good fleshy taste,the yield of the former was pretty poor though.

My yellow skinned tomato this year was Beijing Yellow obtained from a seed swap,good taste but not a great yield.

For the first time I tried a black tomato,Slovenian Black obtained from a seed swap.I didn't get masses of fruits but the taste was divine and this is a definate for next year.
The star of the show this year was Sungold purely for the taste,if anybody knows of a superior tomato to this I would love to know.

Today's harvest

 Wandered down to the deserted allotment and collected some Leeks,Autumn King and Flyaway F1 carrots,Helenor swedes and some decent sized Gladiator F1 parsnips.This is the first and probably last of the Leeks since the rest are still like grass stalks.This a shame since I really enjoyed them earlier in the year.

I also harvested some Falstaff brussels sprouts.
Hopefully this lot will keep me going until the pre Christmas dinner vegetable run.
There is loads of weeding and digging to be done but the ground is sodden after the frosts and rain of recent weeks so a delay is inevitable.

Seed Circle 2

I have finally bagged up and sent my seeds for the Allotments 4 All Seed swap.This year I saved Reisentraube tomatoes and Black Hungarian Chilli peppers.

I got the seeds from Premier Seeds Direct on EBay.

Reisentraube tomatoes.
These were started on the 3rd March and potted on on the 29th March,27th April and relocated outside in mid May.Harvesting commenced in  late September.

Black Hungarian Chilli Peppers.
These were started on 3rd February in a heated propagator/and were up by   22nd /February where they were relocated to the windowsill.I potted them up on 10th March where they were relocated to the Conservatory.They were potted on to larger pots on 9th June.Then they were basically left until harvesting from October onwards once they had turned reddish.The seed was harvested from a number of fruits and left to dry until the seeds were hard.

End of another month.

At this time of year starting to garden at 3 o clock isn't the wisest of ideas since it is dark by 4:30.

I managed to dig over half of the vegetable patch that I intend to use for Cristo garlic.I emptied and replanted my hanging basket that has Pansies and Violas that I got cheaply from B&Q and potted up the Fuschias and Pelagoniums that it previously contained.The last of the spring bulbs went in earlier in the week Double Early Abba and Gavota tulips and some Carlton daffodils that I had hanging around.

I also harvested the last of my Black  Hungarian chilli peppers and planted some 20th Anniversary sweet peas in toilet rolls to overwinter in the blowaway.I got a handful of Sungold tomatoes which I fear will be the last of the season.

Seed circle 1

One of the joys of forums is that some run various seed circles.This I have joined the GYO Tomato seed circle.I have grown and harvested Early Tanana and Latah as my contribution.
In return I will get upwards of 40 new varieties to try next year.
Some of the varieties I am looking forward to trialling.
I originally got these seed from the Allotments 4 All last year.Without this I would never have heard of these varieties and hopefully I can introduce 20 other people to grow them.
They are both early season varieties so the bad weather and blight this year didn't affect them.
Early Tanana comes from Denali seeds in Alaska and if it can grow there the UK will pose no problems.
Latah originally came from Real Seeds who are well worth a look for something slightly out of the ordinary.

Sunny day and have run out of veggies for lunch.

With the prospect of frozen peas for Sunday lunch I had no alternative but to visit the allotment and harvest something fresh.4 good sized Gladiator parsnips,some Flyaway F1 carrots and a first harvest of Falstaff brussel sprouts was a decent haul and I managed to scoff some Autumn Bliss raspberries.I also managed a start on the roots of one of my tree stumps.
I also replanted some Senshyui onions that the birds had dislodged.
Earlier in the week I planted 2 rows of Super Aquadulce broad beans and cleared my Runner beans.
In the garden the trees have finally shed their leaves so another 3 bags of leaves were collected and the pond was tidied up and filled up a bit..I also pulled up the remainder of the tomato plants since there was no viable fruit left.
I also planted up another pot for spring with Carlton daffodils,Fire of Love tulips and Aneome Blanda.

A rare trip to the allotment saw the following harvest.Early Nantes carrots,Helenor swede,Gladiator parsnips and a rather overgrown Hungarian zucchini.I also dug over some soil ready for Aquadulce broad beans.

The Alium bed has been planted up for next year with Electric Red onions,Senshyu onions,Golden Gourmet shallots,Albigensian Wight and Cristo garlic.
In the garden I have been collecting sacks of leaves for leaf mulch.Last year's has been mixed up and moved and contains lots of worms and is decomposing nicely.