In previous years I have only grown bush tomatoes. We don’t eat many tomatoes, and all the care that cordon tomatoes need seemed a little OTT. I thought I would give it a go this year, however, and then embroiled myself in a Garden Organic seed trial that has turned the Grow Dome into a Tomato Forest.
I started nipping out the sideshoots about a week ago. A first I was presently surprised at how easy it is – no big deal at all. Then I got behind and the tomatoes grew into triffids. Yesterday I spent upwards of half an hour in the sweltering greenhouse, tying the tomatoes into their canes and cutting out the overgrown sideshoots. I wore gloves to avoid smelling like tomato plant for the rest of the day, but by the end of it I was very hot and bothered. But I did have a lot of green stuff to add to the compost heap* :)
Vegetable gardening is very rewarding, but there are moments in each season when the gardener is embattled and despondent (very often something to do with slugs). When you get to that point, read this article in the Guardian by Michael Pollan who helpfully lists all the reasons why planting a garden is good for the planet and for us. All the garden stuff is in the last 5 paragraphs, so you can skip the purely environmental bit if you like ;)
*Yes, I do know that I could plant my sideshoots and make new tomato plants – but I have too many already!