This year I bought a packet of tomato seeds called 'House' from Real Seeds, a small company dedicated to encouraging gardeners to collect their own seeds, thus saving money and keeping seed diversity alive. I passed some on to family and friends and they became very sturdy, healthy and prolific little outdoor bushes. In this rather chilly and wet early autumn, I picked individual tomatoes and ripened them indoors.
One of my friends brought her whole plant indoors to ripen. She stood it in a window and added some Strulch, an organic material made from wheat straw with added iron minerals so it acts as a protection and a feed. This photograph, taken at the end of November shows the tomatoes still growing and ripening well in the warmth.
Collecting seeds: It's easy to collect tomato seed: cut a ripe tomato in half and squeeze the seeds and juice into a small jar. Leave to ferment in a warm place for three days, stirring twice a day. A coating of mould should develop. After three days add plenty of water to the jar and stir well. Good seeds should sink to the bottom. Gently pour off the top layer of mould and any floating seeds. Empty the good seeds into a sieve, wash under running water, shake off the water and tip the sieve out onto a china or glass plate. Allow to dry in a warm place out of sunlight. When quite dry rub the seeds off the plate and store in small envelopes in a cool dry place. Real Seeds have excellent advice on collection of all sorts of seeds (www.realseeds.co.uk )
While thinking about nutrition, which outdoor plants should one feed, if any, at this time of year? Pelargoniums, if growing in a protected area may still be willing to flower and can be encouraged with a potassium feed. I have given mine a Christmas drink of the comfrey feed I made in the summer and they are continuing to flower.
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