Tomatoes By Growth Habit for 2020

If I can get the second greenhouse on Plot 1 and extension to the shed and two other extensions for short bush type tomatoes in place for next year, then I really need to sort out which ones in my tomato collection they are.

In addition with all that wall it may be worth having a few varieties in hanging baskets or those upside down hanging baskets, the only trouble would be the squirrels that run back and forth along the wall would likely eat them.  

Using the back of packs, Google and The Tomato Variety List  I have sorted by Growth Habit for my current tomato collection 

Cordon/Indeterminate tomatoes - these varieties of tomato plant are the most common and are grown as cordons (single stemmed plants with side shoots removed). They will grow very tall - sometimes taller than 2.5m in very warm conditions.

Alicante
Arnyalma 
Beefsteak
Berkeley Tie-Dye 
Big Yellow Zebra 
Blaby Special 
Black Cherry Tomato 
Black Russian 
Brown Sugar 
Blush 
Camp Joy 
Chiapis Wild 
Crimson Crush - Saved seed 4th year from F1 variety 
Cuban Flower 
Dark Galaxy 
Delicious 
Ferline F1 Hybrid
Gardeners Delight 
German Lunchbox 
German Queen 
Green Zebra 
Gold Rush Currant 
Harbinger 
Indian Bush 
Jack Hawkins 
Kenilworth King George 
Legend 
Marvel Stripes 
Money Maker
Nector Rose 
Outdoor Girl 

Peace Vine 

Piccolo 
Pomodore Ciliegla 

Purple Russian Plum 

Rainbow Blend F1 Hybrid 

Rapunzel F1
Red Buffalo Horn 
Red Cherry 
Red Fox Cherry 
Red Zebra 
Speckled Roman 
Stupicke Poini Rane 
Summer Cider 
Sunset Red Horizon 
Sweet Aperitif
Sweet Pea Currant - 
Tiger Cherry Plum  
Tigerella  
Tomatoberry Garden F1
Vesennij Mieurinsky 
Yellow Perfection 

Semi-determinate - these are similar to indeterminate varieties (grown as cordons) only they produce shorter plants.

Amish Mayberry
Attraction 
Black Icicle

Bush/Determinate - these varieties stop growing sooner than indeterminate varieties with the stem ending in a fruit truss. They are referred to as ‘bush’ and ‘dwarf’ types (suitable as hanging basket tomatoes) and don’t require any pruning.

Container / Pot
Bajaja
Balconi Red
Minibel 

Red Robin 
Rosella 
Sub Artic Plenty 

Super Roma
Tiny Tim -

Container / Hanging Basket

Cherry Cascade
Cherry Falls F1
Cherry Kisses 
One Hundreds and Thousands 
Terenzo F1 Hybrid 
Tumbler 
Tumbling Cherry  
Tumbling Tom Red 

Out Door Bush

Red Alert - 
Black Sea Man
Cream Sausage 
Heinz Soup 
Indian Bush 
Kibitz 
Latah Bush 
Mountain Princess 
Mrs Rucks 
Plum Roma 
Rio Grande 
Sandpipe/ Sandpoint 
Sweet Pea Currant 

Variety Yet To Be Determined ?

Otto's Papa 

Seed Saving

The aim this year is to save as many different varieties of Mini, Micro & Mini Dwarf varieties as possible to freshen up my stock of seeds for next year when hopefully I will have two greenhouses running on the plot. 

Other sources of information re tomatoes 

Category:Tomato Variety List - Tatiana's TOMATOBase

Tomatoville® Gardening Forums

Tomato Growers Supply Company

https://www.tomatofest.com/ 

Greenworks 48V 36cm Mower Unboxing Part 1

I'm in the middle of decorating the small bedroom at the moment and as the grass in the back garden has just been cut, plus I am still shielding the wife and have only just ventured out to the allotment after nearly four months, I will not be taking this mower down to the allotment to play with there for a couple of weeks yet. 

What I did want to do was open the box up and get at the goodies inside and photograph the unboxing to show my readers what's in the box. It also allows me time to read the manuals and literature and to get those batteries fully charged and primed so that I can play and evaluate the mower.  

New Greenworks 48V 36cm Battery Powered / Hand Pushed Lawn Mower Model No G24X2LM36x  

	There was a frantic knocking at the front door and when I opened it this box was standing on its short side, not a delivery van or man in sight. First thing that really got me, as I lifted it was the weight of this mower, it has a nett weight of 14.76kg and a Gross Weight of 19.19kg Gross Weight is the total weight of a shipment of goods, including their packaging such as crates, pallets etc. Nett Weight is the weight, or mass, of the goods themselves without any packaging. Tare is the weight of packaging or a container without the goods.
	I'm always very careful opening boxes to ensure I don't damage anything just below the surface. So here is the first look of the contents of the in the box. I do always worry about parcels that could be mistreated by the delivery service, and as I said this was left on the step on it's end. However there is additional impact padding in the corners and the mower sits snugly and safely in the box, and there was no signs of damage.
	So what could be seen was mainly mower but wrapped in bubble wrap and tucked in to the gap in the front of the mower were the two batteries, the twin battery charger and instructions. to the side of the mower was the power lead for the charger. I don't know if the power lead started life with the rest, and had moved as a result of handling or if that's the normal packing location for it.
	The two batteries were supplied independently in a blue zip lock bag which was in turn, in a bubble wrap bag
	The 24v range from Greenworks is priced at the same level as 18v product from most other brands – so its the same price but with 33% more power…. Currently 24V 2Ah Battery retails at £49.99 each.                 24V 4Ah Battery retails at £74.99 each
	The battery packs have a capacity and a signal indicator. Press the button and the charge level is displayed by the three LEDs. If one LED is flashing, the battery pack is almost flat and must be recharged.
	Looking into the box the next thing I grabbed was some paperwork. Personally I'm a read and keep the manual kind of guy, so much so that my kids bought me a "Real Dads Don't Read Instructions" tee shirt for Father Day! There is always a Warning message about reading carefully before use in these manuals, but if you are like my Brother In Law he never reads them and would not see it, his manuals go straight in the bin.
	The Mowers Operators Manual is nine pages long. There is a sperate A4 sheet with drawing figures 1 to 8 that has the parts of the machine numbered for identification purposes. The list of parts can be found on Page 2 of the manual under section 1.2 "Overview".
	The next bubble wrapped item out of the box is the 24V Twin Universal Charger.
	The 24V Twin Universal Charger has been designed specifically for the Greenworks 24v rechargeable batteries, it will give a 2Ah battery a full charge in 60 minutes or 80% in just 25 minutes. A handy built-in LED indicator will tell you when the battery is fully charged
	The charger is wall mountable and what I love is that the company has gone to the effort of providing and casting in the distance of 4.4 in or 112mm between the two screw slots. No mucking about with carboard templates or having to measure yourself. I'm not sure how many people have a decimal inch rule in the UK but Greenworks sell to many different countries.
	A standard figure 8 power lead for the charger is provided.
	Two more manuals are to be found stuffed against the side of the cardboard box, The Battery and the Charger Operating Manual
	The Batter Operator Manual is next out of the Box and the photo (left) is of it folded. It's a Rosetta Stone type document with 24 languages that folds out to a huge sheet of paper printed on both sides. I've extracted and copied the English version and have included it shown later in this article.
	The Charger Operator Manual came out next and again it's a Rosetts Stone document. The English version is easy to find as its the directly adjacent to the front page with the drawing of the charger when folded. Again I have scanned the relevant English instruction and have included them below, with the other manuals.

In Greenworks Mower Unboxing Part 2 we will closer at... 

• Unfolding and adjusting the lower handle
• Installing the Upper Handle
• Installing the Grass Catcher 
• Installing and Using the Mulch Plug
• Setting the Blade Height
• Installing and Removing the Battery Pack
• Safety Key
• Operational Tips 
• Maintenance
• Replacing the Blade

I will also be looking at the model above and below this one and making a comparison chart, in the mean time if you are like me and love to read manuals they are all below for your information.     

Greenworks 48V 36cm Cordless Lawnmower G24X2LM36x Operating Manual 

Battery Operator Manual

Charger Operator Manual

itip Handles get more colours

I first met the guys from iTip Handles at the Gardening Press Event in 2019 when they gave me a set of handles that I fitted and blogged about. The iTip Handles were my favourite New Product at the show that year.  

At this years Gardening Press Event iTip have extended the colour range and have found so many other uses for the iTip Handles. The current colour selection can be seen above in the banner I created. For more information and to order your iTip Handles visit the iTip Website 

iTip® Handles are the safest and easiest way to tip your loaded wheelbarrow and manoeuvre wheelchairs, sack trolleys, retail cages, cement mixers or anything else that requires controlled movement. They Increase safety and comfort on your existing equipment for only £25

I finally managed to fit the very bright handles I picked up from the Gardening Press Event 2020 on my second wheelbarrow. It's taken some time, but I have not been going to the allotment as I have been shielding my wife because of Covid-19 and she is very high risk.   

The Small Print: I have not been paid for this article, and I'm not on commission they are just a good product that has been designed by a couple of nice guys in the UK

Wood Chips For Allotments

Below is a repost from an original article by Steve Bullman of Woodchips For Allotments. 

Steve was looking for some images for his article so I sent him some and suggested he may find more on my blog. The result was he must have read a lot because the first image goes back to 2013 and my first year of plot ownership. The second picture is early this year when working on the new plot which neighbours my original plot.

Directory of Tip Sites for Wood Chip and Timber

The Arbtalk tip site directory. currently has 2632 sites* accepting free wood chip and timber from tree surgery companies throughout the United Kingdom.  Please read thoroughly through the terms and conditions associated with the use of this feature ensuring you understand what is expected of you as a tip site owner, and supplier. Members using this facility should pay particular attention to and respect any specific requests of the individual tip sites listed herein. 

Just a quick look through the tip site directory will show you how popular it is with keen gardeners looking for wood chips for allotments. In fact, this group probably makes up for about 50% of all the listings in the directory.

Wood chips are suitable for a variety of uses around your allotments, including weed suppressants around the beds, creating wood chip pathways, or even leaving to break down until such time as they become suitable to use as a soil conditioner.

Suppressing Weeds in Allotments

Due to how wood chips decompose and suck in nitrogen during the process, this makes them ideal for suppressing weeds and grasses, which struggle due to the lack of nutrients they require. It will always pay to weed an area first if possible prior to putting down the wood chips, as some more resilient weeds may still survive if they are suitably established already.

Wood Chips for Allotment Pathways

Wood chips can make an ideal surface for pathways in allotments, especially when they are available for free! Be aware though, on wet sites they will need renewing every couple of years. Hopefully, if you have signed up to the directory you will have them in plentiful supply anyway!

Wood chips can make an ideal surface for pathways in allotments, especially when they are available for free! Be aware though, on wet sites they will need renewing every couple of years. Hopefully, if you have signed up to the directory you will have them in plentiful supply anyway!

Wood Chips for pathways. Photo credit Alan James Wooldridge – manvslug

Wood Chips As A Soil Improver/Conditioner

When acquiring wood chips for allotments it’s likely they will be freshly chipped unless of course you are buying them in already composted(at a cost obviously). If you have the space on your site to store them, once broken down they can be used as a soil conditioner by adding humus, the organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material by soil micro-organisms.

If you are looking for free wood chips for use on your allotment you can create a listing for free and get generous quantities delivered by a tree surgeon working in your area. Simply click on the ‘add new tip site’ button over at the Arbtalk wood chip tip site directory.