Thursday 29 September 2022

Final Tomato Harvest and not such a bargain

 As we have been having night temperatures of 4C or 6C, thought it about time we brought in the tomatoes. I don't have a greenhouse and those temperatures are just too cold, poor things:

The large tray above, have Shirley and San Marzano plum tomatoes.

The above are Ailsa Craig.

We also filled up a 4 pint bowl of Ailsa Craig and Gardeners Delight. I shall let as many ripen naturally as possible, then either cook the rest for sauces, or make into chutney.

DB tried the neck shoulder warmer the other night. It is not microwavable:( Turns out, it has a button you press which sets off a chain reaction to heat the gel. It lasted for 60 minutes but once cold, set as hard as a rock!

The instructions said to lay it in a tray ot boiling water for 15 minutes then it will turn back into a gel. Two trays and 4 kettles later, it was still rock hard so it went in the bin. It said it was supposed to be able to be used 1000 times. We were not happy having to boil a full kettle 4 times, not in this day of expensive electricity. Some you win....


11 comments:

  1. I thought that shoulder warmer looked such a good idea, how annoying. I'll stick to my wheat bag that goes in the microwave.

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  2. Yes, I brought all my tomatoes in yesterday, it's been getting much too cold for them, even in the daytime when the sun isn't out. Once they have sat in a bowl for a couple of days with the few red ones that I've got all the green ones will be turned into Green Tomato Chutney.

    The shoulder warmer sounds like a real disappointment, I'll stick with my hot water bottle for the evenings. I fill the kettle when I'm having a mid-evening cup of coffee and tip the rest of the water into the hot water bottle. After cuddling it for ten minutes it goes into the bed ready for later. It makes a huge difference.

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    1. Sounds good. Not sure if I will make green tomato chutney this year.

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  3. How disappointing that the neck warmer was such a dud! You’re very resourceful; you’ll find something much better!
    Our small garden didn’t produce much this year. (zone 4b/5a) Too cold most of the summer. So, i have a few tomatoes on the kitchen windowsill, as well. Gardening is not for the faint hearted, i suppose. It would have been cheaper to buy my produce and skip the whole gardening part!
    Debbie

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    1. Well, as Patara on Appalachia’s Homestead says, you’ve got to burn it to learn It! One day, it will work. I have failures somewhere in the garden every year.

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  4. Those gel warmers do work. We have several hand warmers. You need to boil them until there is no trace of solid in it. Then be careful not to trigger the 'coin-like' thingy until you need it again. The rice bags are so much simpler and conform to any body part and are more comforting than the rubbery things. You could just put rice or any grain into a pillowcase and heat for 3 minutes in the microwave. Definitely more cost effective electric use as the microwave is so cheap to run.

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    1. That’s why it’s in the bin, not cost effective to keep cooking it to return to normal.

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  5. Have you considered taking the neck warmer back to Lidl as unsatisfactory? At the least you should get a refund. Or complain to them on-line. I complained about some chocolates which were much smaller than the box and a long time later they sent me a voucher by way of compensation. Every little helps, as they say.

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    1. True, normally would but both not well at the moment so can’t be bothered! It’s in the bin and it was picked up recently.

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  6. So sorry the neck warmer was not what it was advertised as being. I still have tomatoes to get out and pick, but my hall is being overrun right now. I think that tomorrow or Saturday I am going to have to make condensed tomato soup for the freezer.

    God bless.

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    Replies
    1. Certainly got to keep processing in today’s troubled world.

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