Tomato patch refresh

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Tomato patch clean-up is just as important as planting. Here's what to do with your tomato patch at the end of the season.

Remove the remaining fruit and ripen any green tomatoes on a warm windowsill.

Pull the plants out of the soil, roots and all if possible. This will help to reduce the level of tomato pests and diseases that could linger.

Mix some Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser into the soil.

After a busy few months of growing tomatoes, the soil will have become depleted of nutrients and organic matter levels will have declined.

Yates Dynamic Lifter is a rich source of concentrated, composted chicken manure, blood and bone, fishmeal and seaweed and will help improve soil health and structure.

Refresh the mulch layer on the soil. Lucerne, pea or sugar cane straw is ideal as they help protect the soil from the elements and as they break down add valuable organic matter to the soil.

Choose your next crop. It's important to practise crop rotation and not plant any vegetables in the same patch that are related to tomatoes, which includes plants like potatoes, capsicum, eggplant and chillies.

Crop rotation helps to minimise the build-up of pests and diseases that can infest plants in the same family.

Leafy greens like spinach and silverbeet or brassica crops like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower are fantastic for growing after tomatoes. — Courtesy of Yates

Now that you've cleared your tomato patch, you might be wondering what to do with all those ripe tomatoes. This spicy tomato relish is a crowd pleaser and great to use up the last of the summer tomatoes.

2kg ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced

750g onions, peeled and sliced

Salt

4 to 6 fresh red chilli peppers, chopped finely (use 6 if you like it hot)

2 cups malt vinegar

2¼ cups brown sugar

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon mace (substitute nutmeg)

1 tablespoon flour

1½ teaspoons mustard powder

Place tomato and onion slices in a large bowl and sprinkle with a little salt. Stand overnight.

Drain the next day and place in a saucepan with the chilli peppers and 1½ cups of vinegar. Bring to the boil and boil for five minutes.

Mix all remaining ingredients in a bowl to make a smooth paste with the remaining vinegar. Stir the paste into the vegetables. Cook slowly and stir regularly for 1 hour.

Spoon into hot, clean jars and seal.