Tomatoes

You read that correctly. That’s our title. Craiglockhart Campus Library is growing tomatoes again, a bumper crop this summer.

Tomatoes at Craiglockhart:

The Info & Ops team have been growing tomatoes at Craiglockhart library workroom for a few years now and this year, we believe, we’re going to have a bumper crop.  When I say bumper crop, I mean more than 3 which is our usual level of harvest to be shared across a team of 7!

We’re currently growing 3 plants of the Tiny Tim variety, small tomato plants which can easily be grown in a pot on a window sill.  Although this is a compact variety, here at Craiglockhart the plants grow a bit long due to the lack of light, hence the canes you see in the pictures.

Growing Tomatoes

The seeds for these particular plants were sown in February this year. They were then kept warm in a conservatory until about the end of March. And then moved to a greenhouse when it got warmer.  When I say warmer it got warm and then cold again so initially they had to be covered with fleece to keep them warm!  They’ve been in the window for about 2 months now and have really come on, albeit in a long way!

When the flowers came out we helped with the pollination by brushing the flowers with a paintbrush.  The plants must be kept well (and consistently) watered to prevent the skins from splitting and blossom end rot. This is where the bottom of the tomato (where you can see the remains of the flower) turns black.  They’re also now being fed once per week with Tomorite (other brands of tomato feed are available!).

We’re all very much looking forward to the tomatoes growing and ripening over the next few weeks.  Looks like we’re going to get more than half (or less than) a tomato each this year!

Salad anyone?

by Cathryn Buckham