Passata machines can be bought from Seeds of Italy.... just put it in Google and you'll get the website. Brilliant seeds too as well as brilliant passata machine.
Lilaji Namaskar, I have read your recipe and am going to try. I am completely novice in this field. I have a patch of about 8feet by four feet. Can you pls advise me how to prepare the soil and what can I plant at this time of the year. I tried to grow some vegetables, but did not succeed excepet cherry tomatoes grew in abundence. Thanks.......|Narender.
I use green tomatoes to make chutney, delicious!Loads of recipes around for it and you can make chutney in a slow cooker, less smell of the vinegar/chutney then.
So many tomatoes this year! So far I have made red tomato chutney [Indian recipe] with Fennel seed and chilli. Tomato,roast red pepper and lemon sauces for pasta or cooking chicken and fish. Tomato soup. Grilled tomatoes sprinkled with Oregano. Have just picked last of my crop-still have plenty to use and the last green ones are in a drawer with a ripe banana. Must remember to save some for seeds for next year.
I have crates of green and semi ripe tomatoes all over the place which will gradually ripen over the next few weeks. If you want some quickly put some in a paper bag (or a drawer as has been mentioned) with a banana which will speed things along, otherwise, just sit back and wait
Bananas great as they give off ethylene gas which helps to ripen tomatoes and other fruit. Re veg patch: home-made compost is the best preparation you can give any soil. If you don't have any, a bit of rotted down manure from the garden centre will help feed the soil. There are lots of late lettuce varieties around suitable for shorter days, try 'Winter Gem'. You can plant spring cabbages too, also Pak Choi. In November try broad beans. A vegetable patch needs more care than a flower garden, regular watering and attention is very important. Good luck.
We have what we think is eel worm in our soil - we have a small garden. need advice on how to get rid of it/ whether we can plant there again and which crops to plant that won't be affected.we think it was eel worm as our potatos had a huge crop but of v. small nobbly potatoes and leaves went yellow and black.
I am new to having an allotment. Having had a garden more than a hectare in South Africa, an allotment is a significant downsize. The is just one problem I've encountered which is how to identify the weeds but over the years with a small garden at my terraced home, I've come to suss out that which are "weeds" especially the bind weed and wild grasses. It would be helpful to first time gardeners (especially the likes of myself having lived outside the UK), that there is a online resource of all the weeds, especially those with pictures. Does anyone know of such a website?
Wayne, there is no one week book I could recommend to you on weeds, though I would say that Geoff Hamilton's Organic Garden book is superb. It is published by Dorling Kindersley, which always has good photographs. In addition to weeds, there is also a section on useful weeds! The best policy on an allotment is to ask a neighbour - it helps you make a friend and build up your practical experience. Good luck with your UK gardening.
We came back to our nursery vegetable patch to a glut of courgettes and marrows. we had grown potatoes and onions and dug them all up with the help of the children. we also had some beautiful apples. The children and I then made apple pies and vegetable soups which they enjoyed as well as stuffed marrows. Next year we will use the raised beds we have made to grow even more!
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Brilliant seeds too as well as brilliant passata machine.
I have read your recipe and am going to try. I am completely novice in this field. I have a patch of about 8feet by four feet. Can you pls advise me how to prepare the soil and what can I plant at this time of the year. I tried to grow some vegetables, but did not succeed excepet cherry tomatoes grew in abundence. Thanks.......|Narender.
I have crates of green and semi ripe tomatoes all over the place which will gradually ripen over the next few weeks. If you want some quickly put some in a paper bag (or a drawer as has been mentioned) with a banana which will speed things along, otherwise, just sit back and wait
Re veg patch: home-made compost is the best preparation you can give any soil. If you don't have any, a bit of rotted down manure from the garden centre will help feed the soil.
There are lots of late lettuce varieties around suitable for shorter days, try 'Winter Gem'. You can plant spring cabbages too, also Pak Choi. In November try broad beans.
A vegetable patch needs more care than a flower garden, regular watering and attention is very important. Good luck.
It would be helpful to first time gardeners (especially the likes of myself having lived outside the UK), that there is a online resource of all the weeds, especially those with pictures.
Does anyone know of such a website?
Wayne, Harlow, Essex
there is no one week book I could recommend to you on weeds, though I would say that Geoff Hamilton's Organic Garden book is superb. It is published by Dorling Kindersley, which always has good photographs. In addition to weeds, there is also a section on useful weeds! The best policy on an allotment is to ask a neighbour - it helps you make a friend and build up your practical experience. Good luck with your UK gardening.