There’s nothing quite like dreaming about summer on a cold February day and that’s what I’ve been doing as I review the results of last year’s tomato Gardening Trials and plan for this season.
It was a strange growing season, slow to start – at one point I began to wonder if the plants would ever set fruit – but it finished with a flourish. We had a bumper crop and were eating kitchen-ripened tomatoes well into December.
The summer’s heatwave meant watering was even more of a mammoth task than usual. I grow all my tomatoes in pots as I find they always sucumb to blight in the ground – it wasn’t a problem last year in the hot, dry weather. Making sure each pot was stood in a tray or saucer helped to conserve precious water and got the plants through.
As ever, I grew a mix of old favourites and new varieties with seed gifted to me for the tomato Gardening Trials. There were a few great discoveries and a couple that didn’t find favour with the family. Obviously, weather, growing conditions and personal taste all play a part in the way the tomatoes performed and our conclusions.
Having spent several happy years as a student in Cardiff, I was delighted to be given seed for ‘Y Ddraig Goch’ (Red Dragon) by Dobies. It’s a British-bred variety and the first to be registered with a Welsh name.
It proved to be a winner with us with a lovely flavour and skin that was not too tough. Definitely one to grow again.
‘Nagina’ was grown from seed given to me by Burpee who don’t sell direct to the public but supply the big seed companies – it’s available from several this season.
This was a plum-shaped tomato with medium-sized fruits that are billed as blight resistant – something I wasn’t able to test in last year’s tomato Gardening Trials. It had a lovely sweet flavour and a firm texture.
‘Matina’ was part of a collection of seeds given to me by Nutley’s Kitchen Gardens as a thank you for contributing to a social media campaign. It was very juicy with a sweet, delicate flavour and soft skin.
‘Yellow Mimi’, given to me by Chiltern Seeds was a prolific cropper and we had masses of the small yellow plum fruits. It has a nice bit of acidity, with a good flavour, but slightly tough skin.
Chilterns also gave me seed for ‘Celano’, a red mini plum tomato. It again had a good flavour but tough skin – possibly the weather conditions were the reason as high temperatures can cause this.
‘Bloody Butcher’, part of the Rob Smith range at Dobies, was far nicer than its name suggests! It was extremely juicy – almost a bit watery – with a slightly acidic flavour.
‘Rose Crush’, supplied by Burpee, produced enormous beefsteak tomatoes that had a good flavour and a delightful pink hue. However, we weren’t keen on the texture, which was a bit ‘woolly’. It’s another that is blight resistant.
‘Beefmaster’, from Chilterns, is an award-winning beefsteak variety but we found it a bit flavourless. Again, it could be the growing conditions or just personal taste.
When it comes to growing a large variety suitable for sandwiches, I think I will stick with my old favourite, ‘Costoluto Fiorentino’.
There are several new varieties lined up for the next tomato Gardening Trials and I will be starting the seed off in the next few weeks. Let’s hope for a summer of sunshine and no blight!
Read about my other garden trials here.
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