Author: MTT

When should I sow my Tomato Seeds?

I ask myself this question every year. The seed packets say “sow in late winter” (when’s that?) or “late January to March” (more understandable) and, in different years, I’ve tried sowing from early January through until early April. I think the answer depends upon a lot of variables some of which you can control and…… Continue reading When should I sow my Tomato Seeds?

Waterbutt in the Polytunnel – A final conclusion

As I’ve said more than once (here and other places) I’ve been intrigued by the question of whether putting waterbutts filled with water into the greenhouse/polytunnel can beneficially affect/improve the temperature in the polytunnel. To try and come to a conclusion, I built a Raspberry Pi temperature sensor with four sensors (see here). I put…… Continue reading Waterbutt in the Polytunnel – A final conclusion

Recipe: Chicken, Swiss Chard & Noodles

This recipe is a new one for us, because I’m wheat free(ish) and my better half isn’t, we’re always looking recipes that can be created as both. The original recipe called for spinach. Swiss Chard is easier to grow and available from early in the year and (in our opinion) better. Ingredients (for 2) Noodles…… Continue reading Recipe: Chicken, Swiss Chard & Noodles

Starting the Year

Right, first day this year when the weather seems to have been good enough to think about being out in the garden. The ground seems to have been so soggy this year that walking around will do the grass harm and there’s no point in digging the ground as it will be in clods and…… Continue reading Starting the Year

Raspberry Pi: Moving Files in a Network

I’m gradually building a network of Raspberry Pis for different things and, I suppose, its the way that an Internet of Things (IoT) would get built. At the moment, what I’ve got is a couple of Raspberry Pi Zeros with temperature sensors connected to them in different locations (one in the house and one in…… Continue reading Raspberry Pi: Moving Files in a Network

Tomatoes: Determinate, Indeterminate, Semi-Determinate, Cordon or Bush: Pruning & Harvesting

Over the years I’ve been growing tomatoes, I have learned more and more about them and have a better understanding about how they behave so I thought I would write what I know about the three different growth habits of tomatoes and how to grow them. There are three different types of tomato plants: Determinate;…… Continue reading Tomatoes: Determinate, Indeterminate, Semi-Determinate, Cordon or Bush: Pruning & Harvesting

Should you grow Multiple Stems on Indeterminate Tomatoes?

There are essentially three different types of tomatoes, Indeterminate, Semi-Determinate and Determinate. They are defined by their growth habits. In this article we are going to consider growing Indeterminate tomatoes on a non-commercial scale. Indeterminate tomatoes are usually grown in the UK as cordons.  A single stem is trained vertically upwards, either up a cane or…… Continue reading Should you grow Multiple Stems on Indeterminate Tomatoes?

Creating a Headless Raspberry Pi System from an Apple Mac

I’ve a few Raspberry Pis which I run Headless (without their own screen and keyboard) from my Apple Mac using a combination of Finder, VNC and SSH to run the applications. I recently decided to upgrade one of them (a Pi3) to Stretch to see if it was any better (and to play with the…… Continue reading Creating a Headless Raspberry Pi System from an Apple Mac