by Thompson & Morgan | Jan 25, 2021 | Tomato recipes
Gluten-free pizza
Prep Time 45 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 55 minutes mins
Servings 4
Calories 740 kcal
Pizza base ingredients
- 2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 2 tsp (heaped) golden caster sugar
- 400 g gluten-free bread flower
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp (heaped) xanthan gum
Sauce & topping ingredients
- shredded basil leaves
- 2 x 125 g balls buffalo mozzarella roughly torn
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 x 400 g can chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
Pre-heat your oven to 220C/200C fan
Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the onion on a low heat with some salt for around 10 mins until softened. Add in the tomatoes, tomato purée and caster sugar and bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered, for 30 mins until reduced and thick, making sure to stir regularly. Transfer to a blender or blitz the sauce with a hand blender until smooth. Taste and season as required and stir in the basil. Set aside to cool. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum in a mixing bowl. Pour in 250ml warm water and the olive oil into a well in the centre of the mixture. Quickly combine the ingredients to create a thick, paste-like dough. Add a small amount of warm water if the dough feels dry. Put the dough in a bowl, cover with cling film and put in the fridge for no more than 24 hours before using. Lightly flour two baking/pizza trays. Cut the dough into two pieces and flatten into thin rounds, roughly the size of a dinner plate. Add to the baking/pizza trays.
Top the pizza bases with the sauce and mozzarella. Place the baking/pizza trays in the pre heated oven and cook for 8 -10 mins until crisp around the edges. Remove from the oven and serve
Calories: 740kcal
Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.
by Thompson & Morgan | Jan 22, 2021 | Courgette recipes
Courgetti with tomatoes, grilled corn and herb dressing
Thompson & Morgan
A fresh take on a summer salad which makes the most of your allotment crops. Beautiful piccolo tomatoes, paired with sweetcorn and an innovative way to use up your masses of courgette by making ‘courgetti’.
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
For our ultimate wealth of resources all about growing courgettes, check out our courgette hub page - T&M's one-stop-shop for everything you need to about growing these tasty summertime vegetables.
Keyword corn, courgette, courgetti, herb, tomato, tomatoes
Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.
by Thompson & Morgan | Aug 28, 2020 | Gardening Posts
Is there anything more satisfying than a perfectly ripe, homegrown tomato, freshly picked and warm from the sun? Tomato seeds are easy to grow and a couple of tomato plants will produce hundreds of fruits to keep you supplied from mid-summer right through to autumn.
If you grow tomatoes, you’ll know they soon become a passion. But how much do you know about them? You probably won’t be surprised to learn that a tomato is a fruit. But here are five interesting tomato facts that you may not have come across.
1. Tomatoes originated in the Andes
Tomatoes growing in the Andes mountains
Image source: JHON JAMES GRACIA / Shutterstock
Tomatoes were first cultivated by the Aztecs and Incas, dating back as early as 700 AD. The Aztec name for them translates to ‘plump thing with a navel’ – and they were grown for decoration rather than food. They were first brought to Europe in the mid 1500s.
2. You can call it a ‘wolf peach’
The scientific name for tomatoes is Lycopersicon lycopersicum, which means wolf peach! At least it sounds better than ‘plump thing with a navel’.
3. People used to believe that tomatoes were poisonous
Don’t serve tomatoes on a pewter plate!
Image source: Jane Rix / Shutterstock
In the 1700s, some Europeans became wary of tomatoes because aristocrats were getting sick after eating them – even dying. The problem wasn’t the tomatoes however, but the pewter plates on which they were served. Highly acidic foods such as tomatoes may leach when touching certain metals, like pewter. Thus the problem was lead poisoning, falsely attributed to tomatoes – or ‘poisonous apples’, as they became nicknamed.
4. Tomatoes were originally yellow
The first tomatoes weren’t red, but small and yellow – which explains the Italian word given to them when they were brought to Europe: pomi d’oro, which translates to ‘yellow apples’. Tomatoes are now available in a variety of colours: red, orange, yellow, pink, green, purple and even black.
5. There are 10,000 varieties of tomato worldwide
Which tomato variety will you choose next?
Image source: Shebeko / Shutterstock
What are your favourite tomato varieties? You might know the ever popular ‘Gardener’s Delight’, ‘Moneymaker’ and ‘Tumbling Tom Red’ – but did you know there are 10,000 varieties of tomato across the globe? Some of the less familiar names include ‘Midnight Snack’, ‘Orange Beauty’, ‘Oh Happy Day’ and ‘Black Russian’ But you could eat a different variety every day and still not get through them after 27 years!
If you want to learn more about growing and caring for tomatoes, visit our tomato hub page, which links to all kinds of growing and care help and advice. And tell us what unusual tomato facts you’ve come across! Let us know on our Facebook page.
Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.
by Caroline Broome | Nov 13, 2018 | Customer Trial Panel, Gardening Posts, Your Stories
Oh but wasn’t I right – as the nights draw in we wistfully reminisce about the long hot summer of 2018. Get over it! Time to move on! And move on we have; half the garden is enjoying the extrovert opulence of autumn and half, well, the other half has been dug up! The prospect of a year out of charity open days and competitions (more of that later) has been liberating to say the least.
No more Kilmarnock Willow
© Caroline Broome
Armed with my WW1 trenching tool and my shiny new rabbiting spade no clay is too impervious to the dislodgement (new word that) of plants that have either outstayed their welcome or aren’t earning their keep. Funny thing, the more plants I dig up the more opportunities I see. If I keep on going like this there won’t be a perennial left standing in the borders. That’s not to say I’m discarding them, on the contrary, I’m dividing them and potting them on so that I can relocate them next spring where they can create more impact. Shrubs are another matter: gone for good are fuchsia magelanica Alba, replaced by viburnum Mariesii, cotinus coggygria Royal Purple giving way to photinia Pink Crispy, Kilmarnock willow in favour of red stemmed contorted willow, and as soon as its stops raining elaeagnus Limelight gets it. From the patio, miniature ornamental cherry Kojo-No-Mai and hydrangea King George are off down the road to a friend’s woodland garden, and hydrangea Zorro Pink off up the road to NGS fellow Rosie. Along with two large containers that displayed annual climbers this summer I have now created five new planting opportunities to savour over the coming winter months.
And so to this summer’s star performers:
- T&M Ricinus Impala. Transformation from seed to 4ft triffid in 20 weeks, withstanding the exposed north winds of our front garden and roof terrace. Real show stopper.
- Salvia Involucrata Boutin. Not reliably hardy? Well if it managed to get through last winter in North London I’d say take the risk. In its third year outside now, all I’ve done to protect it is to cut the stems down to about 45cms and mulch deeply around the crown. Right now it’s at its peak, unrestrained; it’s the size of a small country! Arching spires of bright magenta flowers reaching 7ft high. Overall span in excess of 8ft with neighbouring plants intermingling through its loose habit. And so easy to take cuttings.
Left to right: Ricinus Impala, Salvia Involucrata Boutin and Salvia Confertuflora with rudbeckias ‘Prairie Glow’ and ‘Goldsturm’
© Caroline Broome
- Salvia Confertiflora with rudbeckias Prairie Glow & Goldsturm and patrinia scabiosifolia. My embroidery teacher (yes, well, I’ve got ‘O’ level Embroidery as it happens) always believed that red and yellow should never be seen together. Well you’re so wrong!
- Salvia Black and Blue with rudbeckia Prairie Glow. Accidental pairing in the potting area will become next year’s most striking combination.
- Coleus Campfire with Ipomoea Black Tone and Solar Power Green.
Left to right: Combination of salvia and rudbeckia, Begonia elata ‘Solenia Apricot’ and Begonia x tuberhybrida ‘Non-stop Mocca’
© Caroline Broome
- T & M begonias. If I could only buy one plant from T & M it would be begonia. This year Solenia Apricot, Non Stop Mocca, Fragrant Falls Orange Delight. Easy to grow plugs, extensive and prolific flowering habit, versatile placement, reliable tubers for overwintering. Can never have too many.
Tomato ‘Sweet Baby’
© Caroline Broome
Having almost given up on the greenhouse tomatoes ever ripening, I am now relieved to report that T&M trials of Sweet Baby, Artisan Mixed and Rainbow Blend were, er, marginally successful in the end. Although all three varieties were deliciously tart, the skins of Artisan and Rainbow were quite thick. I feel vindicated as other growers have experienced similar results even after judicious feeding and regular watering, so I recon it’s to do with the excessive heat. Bound to be some chemical explanation available somewhere. Cucumber Nimrod supplied us with loads of fruits for weeks on end, so I came up with a lovely salad idea:
- Thinly slice cucumbers, multi-coloured tomatoes, red onions and radishes.
- No peeling, salting or draining required.
- Marinate in French dressing overnight.
- Eat! Simples!
Not all my culinary efforts have been so fruitful (boom boom!) Apples and pears on the allotment have been few and far between this autumn, no plums at all, but plenty of tiny sweet bunches of black grapes. Pride certainly comes before a fall. After bragging about my blackberry jam triumph in my last blog, not so with grape jelly this time! Having followed the recipe to the letter, sterilised everything, bought muslin cloth and a thermometer, it failed to set. Boiled it up again, sterilised everything again, still didn’t set. Five jars of deeply rich grape syrup anyone? Not one to admit defeat, certainly with no intention of wasting it, I am poaching nectarines to preserve in the syrup instead. Job done!
……..And talking of competitions, The London Gardens Society All London Championship Awards 2018 were held at The Guildhall, City of London last Thursday evening. David & I were shortlisted for the Best Small Back Garden, Diane for the Best Large Back Garden and Rosie for Best Patio. Having both won the cup two years running in our respective categories, Diane and I entered the hall with severe trepidation: dark thoughts of rivalry and one-upmanship bubbled away at the prospect of Diane scoring a hat trick and us not. How was I to be her friend anymore should that come to pass? (I’ve already had to reign in my canna envy – she does nothing to them from year to year I tell you, and they are still the tallest I’ve ever seen in a domestic garden and in pots at that!) Well readers, as it happens WE BOTH RETAINED OUR TITLES so all was well. Haha! Rosie won a silver medal in Best Patio category (she was robbed!) and we won bronze in the Best Small Front Garden class (must try harder) so celebrations all round.
Left to right: Caroline’s friend Diane with her Canna Lilies and David and Caroline with their awards
© Caroline Broome
With autumn in full swing now thoughts are turning to next year’s horticultural activities and challenges. Plans are already underway for our Hampstead Garden Suburb Hort Soc three day coach trip to Hampshire and the Isle of Wight next July. A week later the Hort Soc is having its second National Garden Scheme Group Open Day with twelve gardens and one allotment this time. Having said that we were not opening our garden next year, I think it highly likely that David and I will have a pop-up Open Day in aid of the London Gardens Society, but not until late summer. I am so looking forward to being able to make radical changes without having to face deadlines, so that NGS visitors can return in 2020 to rejuvenated and innovative planting schemes. I can’t believe that I’m anticipating two years hence, and being of a superstitious nature, I say all this with my fingers firmly crossed behind my back (quite a feat if you’re typing) with the caveat that We Make Plans and Fate Laughs.
Enjoy the autumn. It’s a long winter ahead!
Caroline Broome has been gardening for more than 20 years. Having passed the RHS General Certificate, she has since developed her East Finchley garden into a “personal paradise” that she and her husband invite the public to visit each year via the National Garden Scheme. Learn more about our contributor using T&M’s ‘Meet the experts’ page.
by Amanda Davies | Jul 11, 2018 | Gardening Posts
Hello Gardening Friends,
For the first time in many years Pembrokeshire is experiencing an actual “Flaming June!” With temperatures exceeding 25°c most days and sticky 18°c nights, it’s been mostly impossible to garden. The water butt has been emptied days ago, and for now we are using our “Grey Water” from washing up, bathing, and showering to water the beds and borders.
The lawn is only green in so far as its full of clover, thistle, dandelion and daisy. The actual grass is brown and crispy. I can’t remember if it was Monty Don or Alan Titchmarsh who said that a perfect lawn wasn’t good in the summer, but you could keep it green with weeds.
This month I am holding my hand up in admittance of being wrong. Or maybe misguided. A while ago I wrote in one of my blogs, that I didn’t agree with garden designers telling us to chose just a few species of plants and grow many of them. However, due to limited capabilities this is what I did this year. I had an abundance of Black Ball Cornflowers that I planted in large clumps all over the front garden, they with our stalwarts of fuschia,margaritas, red hot pokers, azaleas , firestorm And St John Wart shrubs, created a striking scene. Many neighbours stopped and asked what the pretty little burgundy/black flowers were. They also stopped me to ask if my trial Petunias were real or plastic, because the bright pink against the blue bungalow is pretty hard to miss. So although I hate the thought of growing just one type of flower, it does look very effective and the garden designers were right. I haven’t made my mind up if I will just grow a single variety or not in the future, but it has given me pause for thought.
It’s a little difficult to write about the greenhouse this month, because, quite frankly, not a lot is happening in this heat. But here’s a quick run-through.
The Office.
- I started off Blue Moon and Pink Moon Radishes along with Rainbow Beetroots. They germinated fantastically quick, but the soaring temperatures had me moving them outside to the cold frame then into their final growing spaces within two weeks. I also had the same success with lettuce, mint and wildflower mixes.
- Unfortunately the heat has now stopped all germination and I have lost a lot of the seeds to not being able to keep things moist enough. The compost just kept drying out all the time. The Brussel Sprouts died in the cold-frame and the second batch died in the greenhouse. I will try these again in the autumn. Joseph’s Coat Amaranths thrived in the heat, with seedlings appearing in less than three days. I’ve sowed them in batches, so I have many of them in various states of growth to prolong the season. I love their patterned leaves.
- Marigold Strawberry Blonde was a huge success too. I marvel at how they change colour as they mature. I will definitely buy these again. Strangely the African Marigolds that were supposed to be in citrus colours are a burgundy red, so the two complement each other. The African ones were not a T&M product and to be honest I am not someone who complains to companies who give out the wrong seeds in the packets, because a) they may have been a more expensive seed b) it worked out well with my colour theme and c) life is too short to complain!
- The Eating and Sweet peas have been sown, grown and left to scramble up obelisks outside.
- The purple carrots and yellow courgettes are outside but I fear if we have a water ban then the veg won’t form. Although there are fruits just forming on the courgettes.
- We have had,and are planning more trips in the motorhome this summer, so for now The Office is just ticking over. I’ll sow more when the weather is cooler, maybe at the end of July. Perhaps it will still be too warm until September and then I will have even less to write about during the summer!
- Perhaps the biggest surprise for me in The Office is I somehow managed to grow a wildlife border in between the aloes, money tree, cactus and violas. The strappy-leaved houseplants died in the intensive 40° heat so cornflowers, corncockle, veronica, marigold and poppies filled the gaps, along with some amaranths. I’m thinking the wildlife border happened by me either emptying dried out compost pots in the border, or from the nerve damage in my fingers and accidentally dropping seed packets or pots I’d just sown with fresh seeds. Either way, I’m happy with the results.
In Ty Mawr.
- I nearly lost the crops as I couldn’t find any shading paint. I am pretty sure the only reason that the fruit and veg survived is because the English marigolds were so big they provided them with shade.
- The tomatoes took a really long time to get growing. We tried tomato feed granules, more water, less water, newer compost, but in the end it was leaving the windows open at night that triggered the regrowth. In regards to them, I am trialling two sets of Ferlines, one that has had a natural coating put on the seeds and one without. The one with is in the lead with fruits and flowers forming. I am then comparing these to Yellow Stuffer in terms of colour versus colour. Yellows are taller with fruit just forming, but reds are more prolific.
- We harvested the garlic, and the onions are not far off. The Rainbow Beetroots are almost ready. The Italian White ones love the heat.
- The Orange sweet peppers currently have leaf curl, I’m not sure if they will make it. The sweet peppers I grew from Lidl Snack peppers I ate are really strong. I hope I get some fruits soon though.
- With my aubergine trial the T&M aubergine is tiny and seems to stop growing once it’s put in its final,position – same as last year. The same mix from Lidl Shop bought seeds are doing a lot better. Triple in size. The other third company seed, (but a different variety) are also doing okay. None however have any flowers yet.
- The Chilli Fire Bucket got full so we split the plants. Three are in the border near the tomatoes and the slugs have had a go at them. Although the slugs were dead after, I feel sorry for the slugs as when I was transplanting the chillies the leaves made my fingers sting. The chillies in the border are slower than the fire bucket which has fruits forming.
- The slugs ate my other Amaranthus Oesburgh and the Nicotianas. The marigolds kept all the pests away from the crops. Plenty of aphids and caterpillars made their home there in the borders of Ty Mawr but the resident blackbirds usually keep the numbers down.
- The most successful crop to date is the Cape Gooseberries. They are romping away, and as they climb they form discreet flowers, then the fruits almost like magic appear. I cannot wait for these to ripen, they look delicious.
- The hanging shelves are empty as the elevated position in direct sunlight is far too hot. I did think about growing pots of cactus but I don’t really know if this is a good idea as I have an aloe vera overload as it is!
- Dad’s spider plant is looking lush. It sits on the path of Ty Mawr. It survived the brutal cutting back and cold snows earlier in the year.
One final thing before I sign off, Mark and I went over to my brother’s house and both Mark and my brother finally to erect his greenhouse. I spent a happy few hours with my nieces teaching them to grow their own foods. I gave them aubergines, sweet peppers, mint,strawberries and radish. Mum came over later on in the and gave them tomato plants.
My other brother has taken on an allotment and his wife has opened a baguette shop in the City of St Davids using local produce. More excitingly they are going to be opening another local business soon, in a well-known tourist hotspot in St Davids!
Mum has redesigned her back garden and I gave her my sail shade as we can’t use it in our garden, I won it in a gardening competition ages ago.
The only redesigning I have done in our garden is buy a hammock and plonked it on the back lawn to watch the sun setting! It’s the best £30 I’ve spent this year.
Since what’s happened to me in the last few years, we have all decided to follow our dreams. I was hoping to return to work, though sadly it’s not possible. So for this year my mission is to encourage the family in their pursuits and to spend more time in my garden relaxing in my hammock.
My name is Amanda and I live in Pembrokeshire with my fiancé and our garden is approximately 116 meters square. I want to share with you my love for gardening and the reasons behind it, from the good to the bad and ugly. I want to do this for my own personal pleasure. If you would like to take the journey with me then please read my blogs and share with me your gardening stories.
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