[EJCTM]

Each summer there are a number of tomatoes that have dropped onto the ground and have been munched by the woodlice or slugs before I have got to them.

Also, a fair amount of our compost is obtained through kitchen waste (which often includes tomatoes that have gone mouldy in the fridge). When the compost is ready, I dig it into the earth before planting to add more organic matter.

For the last 2 years, both through adding my compost and from the fallen fruits from the year before, my tomatoes have grown by themselves! Last year, my crop was so heavy, I ended up having to cook and freeze most of them!

With the addition of a bit of chicken manure from my chickens, I have had free tomatoes for 3 years running.

This probably goes against all the expert gardening advice, but it works for me!

[tosca100]

I think most of us would be happy with a heavy FREE harvest!

[GrannieAnnie]

Sometimes I get volunteers growing, but I save my tomato seeds anyway, so mine are always free too!

Many years ago, my Brian's friend worked at the local sewage plant, he was always getting free tomatoes!!!!!   

[Poolfield2]

I found several volunteers in my new flower bed after the addition of large quantities of homemade compost. I didn't notice them til they were about 2' tall

[sunshineband]

Shame it is too late for tomato plants now... I had about ten came up in the bed I added compost to about six weeks ago 

[mumofstig]

I grow marigolds in the greenhouse to stop the whitefly on my toms and I already have seedling marigolds growing where I pulled the plants up last week.
They could at least wait until next year if they want to be helpful 

[Jamie Butterworth]

When i worked in the park on work experience we were weeding the formal flower bed when we stumbled accross a voloutnere tomatoe plant, i managed to persuade them to keep it so now there a big tomatoe plant in the middle of the formal gardens

[GrannieAnnie]

So THAT'S where I left that cheese and tomato sandwich!!   

[DD.]

The other "volunteer" Jamie's got is obviously a cheese plant.

OK, I'm off.

[Jamie Butterworth]

 

[rachelr]

please how do you get seeds from tomatoes. I dried them out and everything but they never grew. Am i doing anything wrong
Rachel

[Janeymiddlewife]

please how do you get seeds from tomatoes. I dried them out and everything but they never grew. Am i doing anything wrong
Rachel

You need to wash off the gel that comes with them, although i expect some people will say they don't bother

see this http://gardening.about.com/od/totallytomatoes/ss/TomatoSeeds.htm

[rachelr]

thanks for the tip. I was not doing the fermenting thingy

[Ropster]

To save seeds this year I squeezed the seeds out of a particularly tasty cherry tom from the supermarket onto a bit of kitchen roll, Spread thenm out with a knife and then left the paper to dry in the sun. come planting time i riped the paper into bits with a seed on and planted irt paper and all. They were prety much 100% germination. may just have been luck but ill be doing it again this year

[DD.]

The problem with that is that you don't know what you're saving.

Whilst you seem to have got away with it, you could have been saving the seeds of an F1 hybrid and ended up with anything.

This goes for anything from the supermarket, unless you can identify the strain.