The Ballad Of Blossom End Rot ...

Oh! Mister Porter, what shall I do?
My tomatoes have got blossom end rot
And I don’t know what to do
Get me Alan Titchmarsh as quickly as you can,
Oh! Mister Porter, what a silly girl I am!

Yes, like many gardeners, I’ve become the victim of my own success with growing tomatoes. I think, because tomato plants are simply so..o..o easy to grow it’s at this time of year that many of us are now suffering from an absolute glut of tomatoes!

When you see the first flush of red on the plants it’s quite exciting and we eagerly await the chance to pick the first ripe tomatoes ... But now, with so many plum tomatoes, tigerella tomatoes, beef tomatoes, cherry tomatoes … blah, blah, blah ... it becomes quite a trial to think what to do with them all!!

The other unfortunate thing that can occur ... and from which we’re suffering from at the allotment ... is blossom end rot! And, I’ve got to say, I blame this on the fact that there is simply not enough to time to keep all the plants watered every single day.

Blossom End Rot occurs when the plants lack calcium. Plants suffer from lack of calcium when they are either being given insufficient water for their needs or ... and I believe this is likely to be the case for me ... intermittent watering. As the soil, compost or grow bag, dries out, the roots of the thirsty plants aren’t able to soak up the nutrients they need to produce healthy crops ...

At this point, I can point out to you, that the tomato plants we tested growing in grow pots have not been suffering ... I think because it’s easier to give them a lot of water at once (it doesn’t overflow out of the grow bag) and it’s also easy to feed them at the same time ...

The only good thing about blossom end rot is that it isn’t a disease that spreads from plant to plant ... and with so many ripe tomatoes to choose from, having to through a few to throw away isn’t so bad.

So what I’m plotting now is a more efficient way of watering them next year. Being at the allotment, where I’ve no mains water, does restrict my choices somewhat in regards to automatic watering systems.

My choices seem to be to either:
set up a watering system running from water butts (not a bad idea as it just means I can top up the butts with water rather than water each plant),
try using more grow pots rather than growing directly into grow bags (or using plant pots with their bases cut off ... which is cheaper then using grow pots but just not as efficient!)

or get a man in to do all the watering ... volunteers apply now!
Any other suggestions of how to keep my tomato plants well watered next year would be gratefully received ...

Or (the more truthful title)

You Try It First ... No, You Try It ...

Yes, buoyed up by my successful venture into the more exotic fruits now available in our supermarkets – i.e. my Dragon Fruit experience – I thought I’d give it another go ...

My latest visit to Tesco’s (other supermarkets are available ...) resulted in the purchase of a ‘Granadilla’ ... a more innocent fruit I don’t think I could have found ...

Shaped like an egg and being about 8cm long, the Granadilla has an attractive orange outer skin. Unlike many fruits, the skin of the Granadilla is smooth and hard – you definitely need a knife to cut it open. And ... unlike other hard fruits (apples for example) you can’t eat the skin ...

So, once home, I got out the old chopping board and sliced into the Granadilla ... urh! It’s hard to believe that such an innocent looking fruit can contain such an unusual inner. Those of a delicate nature should look away now ...

Yes, it looks like frog spawn ... what more can I say? Hence, it was definitely a case of ‘I’m not eating that’ … and then my old grey cells came into play, so ... ‘Who can I get to try it first?’ ... Using my very persuasive manner I skilfully coerced (or should I say, ‘conned’) my cousin and aunt to try it ... with the resulting response ‘Oh ... that’s not as bad as it looks ... tastes quite sweet really’. This gave me the green light to give it a try ...

Basically, my opinion of the Granadilla is that it’s fairly expensive (can’t remember exactly what I paid ... I think about 80p) for a fruit where you can only eat the inner part. And, it’s got no distinct flavour ... maybe abit like the taste of a pomegranate but not as strong. And it’s not very filling ...

However, I’d love to hear from anyone who actually likes eating Granadillas ... and for those who haven’t tried them please don’t let my opinion put you off! I’ve done abit of research which may tempt you to give this fruit a try ...

It’s Good For You ...
Most things that look bad tend to be good for you ... so if you like to eat healthy this could be a fruit to try.

It provides you with vitamins A, C and K together with calcium, iron and phosphorus. If you can eat a 100 grams of a Granadilla (remembering you can’t eat the skin or outer shell) you’ll be getting approximately 3.2g of fibre, 1.5g of fat and a hint of protein ... 0.3g.

However, what you should take into account is that a Granadilla is fairly light ... in fact when you pick one up it’s so light it feels almost unreal!

It’s Got Good Relations ...
The Granadilla ... also known as ‘Passiflora Cigularis’ is part of the passion fruit family. You’re likely to be familiar with the dark purple skinned passion fruit with it’s wrinkly, dry skin ... well this is related to this more brightly coloured, smooth skinned fruit.

Granadillas Like It Hot ...
In fact the Granadilla is a sub tropical (not tropical) so can be found growing where it’s warm (it likes temperatures of 15-18º C) and damp (between 60 to 100cm of water a year in rainfall). So you’ll be looking abroad to find it growing happily ... you’ll find it in the mountains of the Andes, Africa and Australia. It also grows in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Hawaii, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa and Venezuela.

Now ... if that isn't enough reasons to give it a try I don't know what is! It's healthy, it's similar to other fruits such as the passion fruit and pomegranate ... and it's an exotic fruit which we're likely to find when we're on holiday ... go on, give it a try and let me know what you think!

Or ... How Would You Like Your Garden To Grow?

Do you remember the nursery rhyme ...

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockleshells
And pretty maids all in a row ...

I loved this nursery rhyme as a child ... did this mean I was destined to become a gardener? Probably not, as I also liked ‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall’ but I have haven’t got the inclination to keep falling off walls ...
Anyway, the nursery rhyme ‘Mary, Mary’ got me to thinking ... if you could grow anything in your allotment (other than the stuff we ‘can’ grow) what would it be?

OK, OK ... I know you’re all shouting at the screen ‘money’ ... but let’s take that one as a given! At the moment in my dream allotment I’ve got ...

Rows of Jelly Bean plants ...
pods of every hue waiting to be picked ...
full of gloriously sugar laden jelly beans ...
mmm...

I’ve also got some Raspberry Ruffles growing on tomato sized plants ...
bit trickier these to grow as they are somewhat of a rare commodity and need tender care ...

And, of course, I’ve got some Coconut Mushrooms growing, well, just like mushrooms ...

I hope you can appreciate the research I had to go to in order to make these choices ... oh the pain and anguish of having to eat jelly beans, smarties, raspberry ruffles (gosh ... I love raspberry ruffles) minstrels, revels (trying to avoid the coffee ones of course ...), coconut mushrooms ... and all for this blog ... what more can I say, my dedication knows no bounds ...

It’s Friday, It’s Five O’clock And It’s ... Corny Joke Time ...

Do you want ‘corny’ jokes?

No ... we want jokes with ‘a peel’.

Sorry, but jokes about onions bring tears to my eyes.

I'm killing myself here guys ... I'm just soooo funny!!!!
P.S. Hope you all got the 'crackerjack' reference .... I expect the cabbage jokes to come rolling in now ...