It’s been a fantastic year for tomatoes. After last season’s blight-hit summer, I’ve had a bumper crop, managed to dodge disease and discovered some great new varieties.
Growing tomatoes is more of an addiction than an annual crop for me, one of the first edibles I attempted and something that takes over not only the greenhouse but large parts of the garden.
This year, I grew nine different varieties, some old favourites, others seeds and plants I had been given to trial by different seed firms; you can read about the beginning of the season in ‘Tomatoes – a Growing Addiction’.
As in other years, I put two or three of each variety into growbags in the greenhouse – a way of safeguarding a sample of everything against blight. The rest go into pots and are lined up against the sunny back of the garage. This year, somehow, I ended up with more than 50 plants.
In a very non-scientific test, I put one plant into a pot filled with Dalefoot’s Wool Compost for Vegetables and Salads, and another into one filled with my homemade compost mixed with some Soilfixer SF60; both products were sent for me to trial.
Did they make a difference? All the plants fruited well. The Dalefoot compost was definitely slower to dry out and the plants grew strongly. My own compost dried out quickly but the added boost of Soilfixer product did see the plants growing as well as any of the others despite the frequent ‘drought’ conditions. Next year, I will try mixing it with some of my usual multi-purpose, peat-free compost.
So, what of the all-important taste test? Again, a subjective measure but then taste always is.
For many years, ‘Sweet Million’ was my cherry tomato of choice but this year I was given seed for ‘Cherry Baby’ by Unwins and ‘Sweet Aperitif’ by Thompson & Morgan. ‘Cherry Baby’ was a definite winner with the family. Dainty fruit with a really sweet flavour – they were often eaten before they had left the garden.
‘Sweet Aperitif’ produced slightly firmer fruits with a good flavour but not as sweet as ‘Cherry Baby’.
Although the name, ‘Indigo Cherry Drops’, suggests one of the smaller fruiting tomatoes, actually they are larger than the others. Sent to me by Thompson & Morgan last year, it wasn’t particularly popular with the family but, as I had seed left, we decided to give it another try.
The colour is amazing, starting off purple and ripening to a deep red. We didn’t like them raw – not sweet enough and with a tougher skin – but this season we tried cooking them and they were much better with a good flavour.
Likewise, we decided ‘Montello’ from Marshalls is better cooked although it is sold as a baby plum tomato. For us, the texture was too ‘mushy’ for eating raw – great pan-fried, though.
‘San Marzano’ from Franchi Seeds (a seed I bought) is sold as a cooking tomato, one that Italians use for pasta sauce. Mine never seem to get as big as the picture on the packet suggests but they are reliable and have a good flavour.
One of the tomatoes I had been particularly keen to try was ‘Heinz 1370’ from the Dobies’ Rob Smith Range. A heritage variety, it is the tomato behind Heinz Tomato Sauce. It produced enormous fruit that were perfect for cooking – easier to skin than smaller varieties, good flavour and you need only a few for most recipes. I was sent plug plants to trial but am hoping to try growing these tomatoes from seed next season.
Another good cooker is ‘Principe Borghese’ from Franchi Seeds (another variety I bought). Again, the size makes it easy to skin – no fiddling around with hundreds of tiny tomatoes.
I was also sent plug plants of ‘Red Tiger’ by Thompson & Morgan, which proved to be another tomato with an interesting appearance. The stripy skin is quite thick but the flavour is good and it certainly gives a different look to a salad.
Finally, my favourite tomato last year was ‘Costoluto Fiorentino’ from Franchi Seeds and it didn’t disappoint this season. Not the prettiest of tomatoes but little beats it for versatility or flavour. It’s one of the few big tomatoes that I like raw and it also cooks well – delicious roasted. It is definitely on my must-grow list for next year.
And what of the blight that hit many parts of the country? I did get some early in the season on a few tomatoes that I put into the main vegetable beds when I ran out of room and pots. They succumbed by mid-summer and were quickly removed, luckily before it spread to the rest of the crop. I’ve tried growing tomatoes in the ground in various sites in the garden over the years and each time they get blight. I won’t be trying again.
As for the rest of the crop, a few of the outdoor tomatoes were showing signs of blight by early October so we picked the fruit and cleared the lot. The greenhouse has only just been emptied and then only because it’s needed for other things.
There was a little green fruit left to ripen and that is now safely in the kitchen, gradually turning red.
One of the best things about tomatoes is that they are a versatile crop. You don’t need huge amounts of space – I potted up some tumbling varieties into a hanging basket for my Mum – and they really are something that tastes so much better fresh.
• Seed and tomato plants were sent in exchange for fair reviews by Unwins, Thompson & Morgan, Marshalls and Dobies.
Two questions please Mandy – firstly, when do you start sowing them in the greenhouse and secondly, what do you use your greenhouse for over winter?
I usually start sowing around March that way I don’t have to protect them for too long as the greenhouse isn’t big enough for all the plants! I sow into seed trays, and put into heated propagators. The plants then get pricked out into 3ins pots. The greenhouse is kept just frost-free and used to overwinter dahlia tubers, things that don’t like it too cold – tiger lilies etc – or too wet – echiveria. I also start all my other seeds in there.
Interesting review, Costoluto sounds useful. I have found so many varieties grown outside have tough skins. Have I understood correct that you have found the ones grown in the garden are more prone to blight than even ones grown outside in pots of compost?
Yes, anything I put into the ground outside gets blight – and I’ve tried two or three different places over the years. Won’t be doing it again!