Richard Brooks wrote:
Mike Lyle wrote:
Richard Brooks wrote:

Mike Lyle wrote:

[...]

I wondered about that ? My old man used to use plenty of manure in
raised soil beds but nowadays a lot of people buy those plastic bags
you cut holes in that usually contain just compost of one sort or
another. It might be worth doing a test using both on the same
tomato type.


I've never done parallel trials, but I suspect the mucky ones would
be better than the growbag ones. I certainly _want_ to believe it,
anyhow.

It's worth a go anyhow! I've found that Moneymaker still tastes more
tart than anything bought in the supermarket so a big pile of poo
might do wonders.
[...]

That raises another of my "things" about tomatoes. People rave about how
whatever variety is "sweet", but I don't actually _want_ tomatoes to be
particularly sweet. Not positively tart, but I think of them very much
as vegetables: I want to taste tomato rather than sugar. But then, I
find some carrots too sweet, so I'm a bit eccentric.

I'm well out of touch, but I thought the typical useless tom in the
supermarket _was_ still Moneymaker or one of its close relatives.
Meeting the chief commercial requirements of uniformity in appearance,
and toughness of skin.

--
Mike.

In message , Stephen
Stewart writes

snip

It's amazing sometimes what you an do on the cheap.

I built my first greenhouse from scrap wood and polycarbonate sheeting.

Very cheap and also effective.

I was only a kid at the time and hadn't much money to spare so grew the
tomato plants from seed.


I bought dilutable tomato feed as it was cheap and planted them directly in
grow bags instead of pots.

We used to buy some stuff called 'Tomorite' and do something similar. I
wonder whether or not they still sell it?
I know it's not recommended to do it this way but if you're stuck it's
amazing what you can get away with and still get pretty good results.

With a bit of TLC, I am sure you can.
If I hadn't had so much fun experimenting back then then I probably wouldn't
get as much enjoyment from gardening as I do today.

Um.
--
June Hughes

"Gardening_Convert" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm making my 1st attempt at growing tomato's this year. I bought
moneymaker & tumbling tom (seeds were going cheap in a well know DIY
shop).

Are these 2 varities any good , I have seen that moneymaker is thought
by some to lack flavour , what about tumbling tom ?

I will be growing in a propagator , potting on in the conservatory and
then planting outside.

**********

I always have a couple of MM plus 2 of Alicante, 2 of Gardener's Delight (
small fruit), - and 3 of the very reliable Shirley. (I used to grow others
but I now live alone.)
Doug.
**********

Mike Lyle wrote:
Richard Brooks wrote:

Mike Lyle wrote:

Richard Brooks wrote:


Mike Lyle wrote:

[...]


I wondered about that ? My old man used to use plenty of manure in
raised soil beds but nowadays a lot of people buy those plastic bags
you cut holes in that usually contain just compost of one sort or
another. It might be worth doing a test using both on the same
tomato type.


I've never done parallel trials, but I suspect the mucky ones would
be better than the growbag ones. I certainly _want_ to believe it,
anyhow.

It's worth a go anyhow! I've found that Moneymaker still tastes more
tart than anything bought in the supermarket so a big pile of poo
might do wonders.

[...]

That raises another of my "things" about tomatoes. People rave about how
whatever variety is "sweet", but I don't actually _want_ tomatoes to be
particularly sweet. Not positively tart, but I think of them very much
as vegetables: I want to taste tomato rather than sugar.

What you want is for them to have the very subtle taste of supermarket
something rather than tasting of (the fruit) tomato and that's great as
a lot of the younger people growing up only on supermarket produce will
find things difficult if going back to source.

You think I'm joking but think of those poor kids who went to a farm and
found out how eggs were produced. The farmer had to apologise to the
school and I'm sure the teacher (or is that educational Experience
Interface Client) had to tell them that those eggs were different.

But then, I
find some carrots too sweet, so I'm a bit eccentric.

The supermarkets are serving you well and that's great. There is a
great difficulty if you have eaten produce 'off the land' then eaten
produce that may have been ripened in transit or even in storage or
might be just a strain where flavour is not so important in terms of
making profit.

The apple Golden Delicious and Strawberries are other cases in point.
Many people probably prefer the Golden Delicious now and can't take the
fruity tartness that apples can have. I find the consistency of the
apple almost like biting into expanded polystyrene and as flavoursome
and the supermarket Strawberries slightly more firm and fibrous.
Storage and transit are important areas so something must suffer if the
produce is to travel several times around the world just to get to the
country next door! ;-)

I'm well out of touch, but I thought the typical useless tom in the
supermarket _was_ still Moneymaker or one of its close relatives.
Meeting the chief commercial requirements of uniformity in appearance,
and toughness of skin.

It could be and it would be interesting to see what variations are had
from growing them somewhere like Spain and Mexico under flocking then
compare that to growing them in England and Scotland outdoors.

If they're packed still slightly green then ripened in transit, would
that be the same as when the plant does it with the change in light
levels and times.

It could well be the part of the hemisphere is important as the growing
term is shorter and temperatures lower in general. I've heard that
Raspberries grown in Scotland are nicer than further south but that said
people now might prefer the fruit not to taste so much of fruit.




Richard.


--
"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea --
massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a
source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect
it." Gene Spafford (1992)

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
...
Richard Brooks wrote:
Mike Lyle wrote:
Richard Brooks wrote:

Mike Lyle wrote:

[...]

I wondered about that ? My old man used to use plenty of manure in
raised soil beds but nowadays a lot of people buy those plastic bags
you cut holes in that usually contain just compost of one sort or
another. It might be worth doing a test using both on the same
tomato type.


I've never done parallel trials, but I suspect the mucky ones would
be better than the growbag ones. I certainly _want_ to believe it,
anyhow.

It's worth a go anyhow! I've found that Moneymaker still tastes more
tart than anything bought in the supermarket so a big pile of poo
might do wonders.
[...]

That raises another of my "things" about tomatoes. People rave about how
whatever variety is "sweet", but I don't actually _want_ tomatoes to be
particularly sweet. Not positively tart, but I think of them very much
as vegetables: I want to taste tomato rather than sugar. But then, I
find some carrots too sweet, so I'm a bit eccentric.

I'm well out of touch, but I thought the typical useless tom in the
supermarket _was_ still Moneymaker or one of its close relatives.
Meeting the chief commercial requirements of uniformity in appearance,
and toughness of skin.
~~~~~~~~
This uniformity was originally its commercial reason of sale. The
number per pound was uniform and exact every time.
Brian.

--
Mike.

In article ,
(doug) wrote:

Gardener's Delight

I am working through various varieties trying to find something that
tastes as good as GD but doesn't split so easily.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/