We live in Newcastle and I have just picked a couple of nice ripe cherry
tomatoes that have grown - self seeded in a crack in the driveway - no water
no food and about 5 frosts - only three fruit - but a tough little sucker
all the same !!

I've got some Diggers Club "Siberian" tomato seedlings coming on in pots at
the moment. They are supposed to like the cold - I might put one out in a
couple of weeks, but leave the rest until the first week of Oct when we
should be safe from frosts - I'll let you know if we get fruit before Xmas.

Cheers,
Geoff

"Chookie" wrote in message
...
In article , "ant"
wrote:

Canberra gardeners have great fun every year, trying to get tomatoes by
Christmas. I did it once, but the plants were disgusted and wouldn't give
me
any more until march. The late and early frosts, the cold soil that
persists
into spring...

Gosh, I can't manage it easily in Sydney! Trying again this year.
Planted
punnets of Broad Ripple Yellow Current, Tommy Toe, Wapsipinicon Peach and
Purplr Cherokee. We'll see if I can manage any fruit before Christmas. I
have hopes that the cherry tomatoes might manage it. Will also try Peter
Cundall's trick of adding potash when I plant them out.

I don't think I've ever managed to grow tomatoes up on my mountain. A
nice
challenge for the future.

I would imagine! I'd suggest somewhere NE-facing, and out of the wind --
maybe one of those sunken gardens. Do you have chooks to help with the
creation of organic matter?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You
may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue