Of late we’ve been looking online at various gardening forums where there’s been many questions that go like “Can we put our tomatoes out in the back garden now?” and at times we are thinking the same, what with our lack of patience combined with the wonderful weather we’ve had recently (although it’s tipping it down here today).

You’ve got to remember it’s only April and you know anything can happen weatherwise here in the UK. We read on the Gardener’s World website here: “Tomatoes can suffer outdoors during spells of cold weather, with ideal temperatures from 18 – 24°C and no lower than 13°C” so we’re being careful and not putting most plants out until mid/end of May. They still will be left outside during warmer days and taken in at night (if we remember) to help with the “hardening off” process.

As we’ve a lot of seedlings in pots indoors we’ve put a small handful of tomatoes plants out to make a little bit of space (to put more pots in). We’re taking a big risk but it’s only a small number and they are under makeshift protection made from bubble wrap and kebab sticks, jam jars and seed tray lids up on bricks. It may not be the most glamorous of frost protection but who cares what they look like if they do the trick.